My ride to work: Bethnal Green to Kensington

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Route From Bethnal Green, usually via one of two routes. The lively one takes me from Wellington Row to Columbia Road, into Hackney Road and then Old Street (dodging drunken Shoreditch nightclubbers); then Clerkenwell Road, through Holborn and Soho (more drunken revellers), down Piccadilly and up South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park to Kensington.

Distance Seven potholed miles, largely flat. The most punishing climb is out of the Hyde Park corner underpass.

Weather Cool and blustery. Very dark now at 4.30amam.

Badly behaved drivers An errant milk float in Theobald's Road; a shady character roaring into my path from a Soho side street in a Mercedes.

Dozy pedestrians None today, but nightclubbers in fancy dress are a Shoreditch hazard, and I'm always alert for drunks and prostitutes on the Soho stretch after several close shaves. Foxes in my street frequently run across my path.

Distractions There's always something going on on my route: I once watched two bloodstained meat porters brawling amid the carcasses as I took the Smithfield's market route.

Time taken 25 minutes if I guiltily ignore the occasional pedestrian crossing on a deserted road; 30 minutes if I'm entirely law-abiding and cycling into a 20mph headwind.