Canal towpath. hmm!

[Jimod]

Ok I've now been getting the chance to go out and play on my new shiny electric bike. This morning I was out minding my own business on the quiet Sunday roads. I came to a bridge over the union canal near Whitecross and looked down. There it was, the "TOWPATH" It looked inviting and would actually take me to within 3/4 mile from my house. I gingerly went down the slope onto the towpath and once there I started to peddle. I always said I used level 5 power all the time. I knew those words would come back and bite my butt. 15mph the begger got to before knew it. Anyway, down to level 2 and a better speed.

The reason for this post though, is to ask a question about towpaths. This one was terrible all loose stones and not very wide. Are all towepaths like this? People from my area have said they have done this towpath for miles and enjoyed it. I turned off the canal at the first opportunity which was about a mile outside Polmont and came back by road.

Does anyone here live near Falkirk and know the path in question. Have you done it on a bike and enjoyed it?

Hopefully, if I've done it right, there should be a pic of the towpath in this post.

 

[Biged]

Not all towpaths are like that.... some are much worse!
I really enjoy that sort of riding, its more challenging than tarmac but the scenery is much more pleasant and the great thing about towpaths is that they are nearly almost level.

 

[steveindenmark]

Towpaths....I used to dream of towpaths but this is the sort of tracks I ride:-

Actually I am like Biged, I like these sort of tracks.

I do not know if this is any good to you:

Falkirk - Stay & Play in the heart of scotland

Towpaths can be good or bad you just need to ask around to find out which is which.

Steve

 

[fishingpaul]

If you can use the canal to avoid steep hills or make the overall distance shorter it can be worthwhile,otherwise the surface can slow you down compared to roads.

 

[Scimitar]

Last time I used a towpath it was fine on the way out, but on the way back it was littered with anglers. They don't appreciate someone riding a bike over their rods...

 

[rooel]

My wife and I rode along the Union Canal towpath from the Falkirk Wheel to Edinburgh a couple of months ago (30 odd miles and up to the limit on my wife's Technium Agattu battery) and had no problems other than immediately east of the 600 metre tunnel outside Falkirk where we enountered a landslip blocking the tow path, but we managed to haul the bikes over that without slithering down into the canal. Most of the path was compressed hard top (whin dust etc), with fine new asphalt topping from the outskirts of Edinburgh. Perhaps some heavy rain in recent weeks has damaged the area around Whitecross.

 

[kitchenman]

They vary. I started out on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Aldermaston thinking how easy it was going to be to get to Bath. It wasn't long before it was clear that I would be lucky to make Newbury! ... Things I learned:
Make sure your bike is suitable for the varied terrain. (A Cytronex road bike is not! - A UM Fast4ward which has thick 2" wide tyres is!)
Having a throttle makes life alot easier. Sometimes the act of pedalling can make you unstable. Not having to worry about pedalling means you can concentrate on balance and not falling into the canal or into a brambly hedge
Sometimes there are sudden inclines and sharp turns over bridges. If your bike is not agile then be prepared to get off and push. Again having a throttle makes pushing easier. I used the throttle and push technique quite alot last weekend! ..

 

[Jimod]

Rooel, That'as how I seemed to remember the towpath but it wasn't like that at Whitecross. I'll go down to Glen Village and get on there and see what it's like. Can you go all the way from Falkirk to Edinburgh without getting off the canal?
Jim

 

[Cyclezee]

I regularly ride the towpaths beside the Grand Union in the Milton Keynes area. The sections in the city are fine, but when it gets more rural it can be rather tricky and care is needed.
The intrepid Wai Won Ching came for a ride with me recently and despite some of his epic rides (see here eZee electric bicycles: press), he did not feel at all comfortable. I left him quite a way behind at one stage and was worried about where he had got to, well, it was one of my bikes he was riding

 

[Caph]

The canal paths round Nottingham are in better condition than the one in your photo but I think the thing that makes the most difference is having decent suspension and wide tyres.

 

[rooel]

Yes, dead flat and on the towpath all the way from the Falkirk Wheel to the old canal terminus at Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Sustrans route 754: there should be no need to get off the canal, but you would be well advised to get off your bike to walk across a few aquaducts such as the one over the Almond valley, and another at Slateford.

 

[fishingpaul]

Guess it depends on where you live,my local birmingham canals have very good paths for riding now,but i can remember the very same stetches of canal being in a very poor state in the 1970s,with many crumbling and steep sloped bits making them very hard work to use,indeed i can remember as a teenager finding impassible bits,nowadays the paths are wide and very easy.