Brand new to London -- looking for good routes in and out of Islington to bike-friendly routes

Hi, I am looking to become a new member as I've recently moved into Islington on Essex Road. I am hoping there may be some tips on what corridors to take to leave and re-enter the area. I see lots of nicer roads on the outer limits of London, but just don't know the safest way to get there. I find London traffic a little intimidating.

Looking for route suggestions as well (40-80km)

Hi @Geoff, once you’ve officially joined the club and get full forum access you will find there are load of routes on the forum, both “official” club routes and everyone else’s rides which you can download. There are also plenty of people to show you those rides!

Worth keeping an eye on https://islington.coordinate.cloud/ for when Islington Council cycle training resumes. Includes 1:1 adult training which might assist with getting used to deal with London traffic. I think the training is stated to resume sometime in August.

If you sign up to the ICC intro ride you'll get to see a decent route out of London as well as learn how to ride safely in a group. You can also cover the latter in Group Skills but that's done on the Inner Circle at Regent's Park so not as useful for helping you plan routes out of London

There really aren't any good routes. The one we use the most often is the A1000, which is reasonably wide and straight, but still pretty busy. It's very much the least-worse rather than actually good option though.

You'll feel much safer riding at a group, or try when traffic is low (e.g. a Sunday morning!).

There's also no shame in throwing your bike on a train to Brookman's Park or Potter's Bar or somewhere like that. You can be in the countryside in like 10 minutes that way.