Dave
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Post by Dave on Jul 10, 2013 10:41:46 GMT
Just a bit of chitter chatter. We went down to London on Monday to see Micky Bubble at the O2 (and great it was too, amazing light show but very loud and bass dominated to my ears) but Bubble was his usual great self. We stayed overnight near the O2 and next morning set the Sat Nav for the Bicester shopping outlet. We told it to avoid 'tolls' (meaning the Congestion Charge for central London) and at about 11am set off. Two awful hours later we had just cleared London and got on the A40 - an absolute bl**dy nightmare journey to that point. I don't think I got higher than first gear for about an hour. Cross hatched areas at traffic lights totally ignored and scooter and cycle riders with death wishes. During this part of the journey we even saw two emergency ambulances with all blue lights flashing and 'howlers' and 'two tones' going beserk and they were just stuck there, going nowhere - God help the poor sole inside or waiting for it to arrive. I could not live in central London if they paid me to do so. Ian, how do you commute in and out of there and retain your sanity? Dave.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 10, 2013 10:54:28 GMT
London itself can be awful, Dave.
The best way is to fly!!
To get round the other side of London as you had to do, one way is to go out and take the M25 orbital road. It looks a long way on the Sat Nav but you generally move pretty fast with a slow down normally at the SW side. I have no idea why that it, but if you pick your time, it's OK.
You could have gone to the Bluewater shopping place and nearby, Lakeside. London is much bigger than people think when you travel from one side to the other!!
I live on the borders of Kent and Surrey though, so I don't have to put up with it, Dave. I'm in the country. I rarely go to London in a car.
I just got a new sat nav for the car and it goes around traffic jams which is handy!!
Around Bicester is Fairport Convention country.... (Just a bit further north is Cropredy)
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Dave
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Posts: 480
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Post by Dave on Jul 10, 2013 16:41:43 GMT
The best way to get from one side of London to the other may well be to fly, certainly for those that don't have to pick up the tab! . But for us mere mortals they 'con' us to buy a car so that we can be truly mobile - not in central London though. On a slightly more positive note, when we got home the new car (Volvo V40 D2) had done a little over 1300 miles from new and the trip computer thingy told me those 1300+ miles had been done at an average 54.2mpg, and that included an hour stuck in bottom gear in London. I have heard good things about Shell V-Power Nitro diesel (better mpg and smoother running) so today I've filled up the 'empty' tank with it and will see if the hype has any substance. Cheers, Dave (motorist).
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