Cycle Paths

[pdarnett]

Does anybody think it's a good product and also worth the price?

MS.

I've got one as was one of the first adopters, very handy. Just needs to have some kind of repulsor technology to push people out of the way.

 

[jhruk]

Thanks for map jhruk - wish I'd had it Sunday. Will definitely look at the north Lea valley too.
Can anyone recommend any other good places to ride down here in the south east (ie Essex, Kent, Herts, Suffolk) with easy paths away from traffic? I know there are wonderful places down in the west country, Wales and in the north but I can't get there so easily.

Hatti.

In the absence of any other replies here are a few more suggestions:

London to Dartford - Thames Path

Follows the Thames Path NCR-1 east. Can be hard to follow between central London and Greenwich but after that it's very easy and surprisingly quiet, even at the weekend.

To join at Greenwich from NE London you could use either the Emirates cable car at Victoria Dock (which allows bikes but requires a head for heights) or the Greenwich foot tunnel from Island Gardens (provided the lifts are working). Or join further along using the Woolwich Ferry, the Woolwich foot tunnel, or, probably the easiest, the DLR to Woolwich (off peak only for non-folders).

From Southend I suppose you could use the Dartford Crossing. I haven't tried this, but others have.


Thames Path London-West

Just follow the Thames Path west from Central London or select a station to the west and cycle back. Can be quite busy in places at weekends.

Potters Bar to Letchworth - The Great North Way

Quiet 32 mile mixed Hertfordshire route with a good map, mostly following NCR 12. Good rail connections all along.

Gravesend – Rochester

Follow NCR-1 from Gravesend then 179 from Higham around the Hoo Peninsula. Off road as far as Hoo Junction then quiet roads until you get to Rochester. Train back from Rochester. You could use the Tilbury-Gravesend Ferry (Mon-Sat Only)

Braintree to Stansted – The Flitch Way

Former rail track. All off road except where it passes through Great Dunmow, which is the highlight of this otherwise rather tedious path. Braintree Station is at the east end and Stansted Mountfitchet is the best station at the west end as the cycle routes to Bishops Stortford are poor.

Teynham to Canterbury or Ramsgate

Alight at Teynham or Faversham and join NCR-1 heading west. Continue to Whitstable then either take the Crab & Winkle Way to Canterbury or continue along the coast towards Ramsgate (coffee at Kudos?). Good rail connections back from Canterbury and along the coast.

London to 'The North' - Grand Union Canal

The canal has two arms in London starting at Little Venice, where it joins the Regent's canal, and the Thames at Brentford. Can be good cycling in parts, but rather slow in others. I'm afraid I can't recall which are the best sections and they may have made improvements since I last rode it.

The Regent's Canal, from Limehouse Basin to Little Venice, must be one of inner London's longest off-road routes but I find it much more enjoyable on foot than on a bike.


The map from my previous post was from Opencyclemap.org For route planning cyclestreets.net uses the same maps, an overlay of Openstreetmap. It's also available on various apps for your phone.

 

[mountainsport]

Thank you jhruk for putting in a lot of your effort highlighting places for us where to ride.

MS

 

[Woosh]

Jhruk
A very big thank you. Fantastic detail - you should be a bike trip guide!
Some of those look really good - I will definitely try and do most before the end of the year. The crab and winkle one appeals, 'specially as my best friend lives in Canterbury.
Thanks once again. Maybe we can all create a 'great route' guide with easy paths all over the UK?

Hatti

 

[CameraDealer]

Wissy
We do an electric horn on our Big Bear. It is really loud. Most people would hear it above traffic noise or music.
It would probably scare the living daylights out of pedestrians though, 'specially the elderly.

Hatti

I didn't get an electric horn with my BB! You'll be hearing from my solicitor and just be sure I'm going to divert via Southend when I dock in Dover and throw a large brick through your window.

To get on topic though, my wife's holiday has been marred by a bloke who just stepped out to his left when she passed him on a shared path near Lake Annecy. She managed to ride the ten miles to our motorhome but her arm is so sore that she can't ride again yet, about five days later. He was very nice about it though, accepted blame and apologised. I'm still going to have him kneecapped though.

The worst part of the whole incident was having to pay for a call to England to ring you for advice on a fault that developed on the King Meter. It must have cost almost a pound, and me being an OAP and all. The fault by the way folks was because of the crash, not the fault of Woosh.

All credit to you though for being in on Saturday and sorting it out brilliantly. I think that in view of how helpful you were I'll tell my lawyer to go easy on you and make it a small brick.

 

[Croxden]

All credit to you though for I think that in view of how helpful you were I'll tell my lawyer to go easy on you and make it a small brick.

Just make it a Leica and have done.

 

[CameraDealer]

Just make it a Leica and have done.

No problem, I've got loads of them, and their optics! Currently using a Digilux compact on holiday.

 

[jackhandy]

. The fault by the way folks was because of the crash, not the fault of Woosh.

Rubbish!

All crashes are the fault of Woosh.

 

[Woosh]

Cameradealer,

OK OK, , point taken, I'll get a horn sent out....but don't wave it around or the others will be wanting one too.
Re Mrs Cameradealer's arm, I have strong links with some heavily tatooed Swiss nasties who do zehr gut kernee kernapping. - (only in the summer. In the winter they are very gentle ski instructors).
10 euros per kernee.
Just say the word.

Hatti

Jackhandy - do you mind? My PC crashed 3 times today and that was down to Microsoft, not us!

 

[flecc]

My PC crashed 3 times today and that was down to Microsoft, not us!

But who was driving?
.

 

[Woosh]

Bill Gates I guess......

 

[MikeyBikey]

If you'd just waited the few seconds it takes to rein the dog in there would have been no unpleasantness.

"Here Fenton, Fenton!...". Another show for Robson Green, 'Extreme Dog Handling'!
Seriously though, I find it strange that authorities say "stay off footway, for safety, or we'll fixed penalty notice (FPN) you. But if we're too mean to build a cycleway, then it's alright to cycle there, coz of the magic 'shared use' pole or bollard sign". Need a swift .... up the ...., they do ;-) . Cheers, Mikey

 

[shemozzle999]

Hi all.I don't know about anyone else but I refuse to use shared cycle paths and would sooner use the road and I guess its the same everywhere because most of the people have headphones in/on there ears !!!! I even bought a electric horn 120 decibels and they still don't or wont hear it but the Spanish have much better ideas as you can see from the pic and this is from a Country that is broke !!!!!!.
Regards Steve

If you want their attention get one of these:

http://www.icecreamvanspares.co.uk/harvin_chimes.html

 

[CameraDealer]

If you want their attention get one of these:

http://www.icecreamvanspares.co.uk/harvin_chimes.html

Seriously bad advice. I bought one of these and the first time I used it eight children came rushing out of their doors clutching enough money for a Mr Whippy with a chocolate flake.

I crashed into one of them and his father is now suing me. You'll be hearing from my solicitor too!

 

[KeithH]

Can a pedelec survive a dunking in a canal?
I also can recommend the Lea/Stort north of London, despite going for 2 unscheduled swims in my pre-electric commuting days. Neither was ethyl alcohol related and on both occasions my phone survived.
The Anchor and Hope in Hackney and the Old Barge in Hertford are both good for rehydration. There are 3 good bacon butty stops as well.
Keith

 

[Woosh]

Can a pedelec survive a dunking in a canal?
I also can recommend the Lea/Stort north of London, despite going for 2 unscheduled swims in my pre-electric commuting days. Neither was ethyl alcohol related and on both occasions my phone survived.
The Anchor and Hope in Hackney and the Old Barge in Hertford are both good for rehydration. There are 3 good bacon butty stops as well.
Keith

I don't like the thought of falling in. B - - - - r the bike. Can't you get Vile's disease or whatever its called, comes from rats or something ? Some of the water up there last weekend looked a bit green and scummy - definitely not my idea of a fun swim. But you survived KeithH, so maybe I'm wrong!
Anyway, if the bike did go in I'm guessing it would need a few days for some serious drying out
Hatti.

 

[RobF]

I don't like the thought of falling in. B - - - - r the bike. Can't you get Vile's disease or whatever its called, comes from rats or something ? Some of the water up there last weekend looked a bit green and scummy - definitely not my idea of a fun swim. But you survived KeithH, so maybe I'm wrong!
Anyway, if the bike did go in I'm guessing it would need a few days for some serious drying out
Hatti.

There's river directly in front of my static caravan.

Children sometimes play in it, which can be irritating.

A couple of times when I've seen an adult I've advised them to give the children a good wash afterwards because of the rats on the riverbank.

The children rarely come back.

 

[EddiePJ]

Some of those look really good - I will definitely try and do most before the end of the year. The crab and winkle one appeals, 'specially as my best friend lives in Canterbury.

Hatti

My eyes lit up at the place name Whitstable. A friend was only telling me just last week about the brilliant sea food restaurants in the area. Boy do I have a passion for sea food. That ride is now firmly on the list of rides to complete asap.

 

[flecc]

I don't like the thought of falling in. B - - - - r the bike. Can't you get Vile's disease or whatever its called, comes from rats or something ?

Yes, Weil's disease, leptospirosis, spread by rats in watery habitats. Anyone getting immersed in dirty or stagnant water should get a checkup afterwards.
.

 

[JohnCade]

A couple of times when I've seen an adult I've advised them to give the children a good wash afterwards because of the rats on the riverbank.

The children rarely come back.

Do they get eaten by the rats?