leicester to london canal paths

boris · Post by **boris** » 26 Jan 2017, 1:10pm

I am thinking of cycling the grand union south from leicester to london. Can you tell me how bad the towpath gets in some sections? We will have 40mm tyres tourers and have done the leeds/liverpool so would not have too much trouble with singletrack , but would like to be forewarned.
which bits woul you bypass . I have to avoid hills if at all possible.
By the way , have the middle sections of the grand union to brum improved recently or are they still muddy singletrack?
Any other recomendations for a flat ride of 100 to 200miles would be welcomed.

mercalia · Post by **mercalia** » 26 Jan 2017, 6:00pm

I have been on the Grand Union Canal from London as far as Ivinghoe some time ago when there used to be a YHA there. I gave up going any further. As far as I can remember was ok but toward Invinghoe was only grass - at the time there were some kind of works going on and my wheels/mudguards clogged up with mud. rather boring realy. In London some cyclists have been mugged so you need to keep alert....is also very narrow you get people fishing so ann added obstacle

The Aylesbury arm I remember being very nice and has a nice surface

millimole · Post by **millimole** » 26 Jan 2017, 10:22pm

I'm a volunteer towpath ranger / lock-keeper with the Canal & River Trust in Leicestershire- I know the section between Leicester and Kilby Bridge intimately. Frankly, beyond Aylestone, while it is rideable, I wouldn't recommend it if you are wanting to make serious progress. My recollection is that south of ?Kilby it's not much better.
I would strongly recommend considering Sustrans Route6 as far as Milton Keynes, and taking to the canal from there. Route 6 is a genuinely good ride, particularly between Market Harbourough and Northampton.

Edit to the above - which was written in a bit of a rush:
The canal towpath through Leicester itself has been improved recently and is very good, but tends to get busy with walkers in the city centre. It remains very rideable out into the suburbs- until you get to the cafe at Aylestone, where it becomes grass/mud - and it stays like that, so at Aylestone you might divert onto the parrelel Sustrans route.
If you follow Sustrans route 6 south from Leicester, it gets a bit 'lumpy' / scenic around Gumley & Foxton, but you can then follow the old A6 downhill into Market Harbourough and from there it's the old railway track (The Welland Valley Way) with very gentle gradients, and a couple of tunnels into the outskirts of Northampton. South of Northampton Route 6 is on-road through Salcey Forest with no hills that I can recall. This takes you to Milton Keynes.
When I used to cycle from Leicester to London (exactly 100 miles to my mother-in-laws door) I generally took the A5 from Woburn through Dunstable and St Albans, which although it sounds daunting wasn't too bad traffic-wise, and doesn't have any significant climbing. Once you are south of Milton Keynes your route options are limited to either main roads, or very circuitous diversions to avoid them, as I recall.

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boris · Post by **boris** » 27 Jan 2017, 2:40pm

wow, this is a fantastic newsgroup , thanks for the info

mercalia · Post by **mercalia** » 27 Jan 2017, 3:28pm

a few more memories coming back about the section I have rode on. It not all boring - the narrow bits were the London sections and generaly boring. I seem to remember some pleasant bits out side London no pictures sorry. But was rideable no issues, on my Dawes 1-Down 26" with 1.75" Marathons, so not a Mt bike. As I said the Aylesbury branch was very nice.

Jon Lucas · Post by **Jon Lucas** » 27 Jan 2017, 4:29pm

boris wrote:Any other recomendations for a flat ride of 100 to 200miles would be welcomed.

Ride up the west side of Lincolnshire. When you get to the top, ride down the east side.

Cyril Haearn · Post by **Cyril Haearn** » 27 Jan 2017, 6:57pm

boris wrote:wow, this is a fantastic newsgroup , thanks for the info

+1

mercalia · Post by **mercalia** » 27 Jan 2017, 11:43pm

see this post and the link therin about muggings on canal paths in London

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=111974

millimole · Post by **millimole** » 28 Jan 2017, 8:31am

mercalia wrote:see this post and the link therin about muggings on canal paths in London

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=111974

These are very worrying reports, but they need to be put into perspective, particularly for the OP.
There is no detail about the time of day these attacks happened, and I suspect that they didn't happen when there were other people about.
The fact that these reports are newsworthy indicates that they are rare and unusual events. I've never heard of such attacks in the Canal & River Trust Region that I work for. What I do hear about, in the same geographical area, are people (not just cyclists) being injured or killed when on the roads - so we have to ask 'what is the relative risk' of each route?
I guess that lone cyclists (and walkers, or joggers) are seen as easy targets on a narrow thoroughfare, particularly in an urban setting, maybe during the evening, by some desperate miscreant. The same could apply to narrow paths, or even some lanes.
Don't let this type of rare event spoil your enjoyment of the canals.

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boris · Post by **boris** » 31 Jan 2017, 12:43pm

''Ride up the west side of Lincolnshire. When you get to the top, ride down the east side.

''

for this idea
I put a route on google maps from the west end of the lincoln railway track across to boston kings lynn , cambridge and back via sleaford. Apart from the towns which tend to be on a 50 foot bump the route is pancake flat for 200miles plus. The next problem is the wind . I need to pick a week when it will be northwest for a few days then south east, or I could go with a very large mate and stick to his wheel.

millimole · Post by **millimole** » 31 Jan 2017, 6:04pm

My experience tells me that if you don't have hills then you have wind. The reverse does not seem to be true though.

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mercalia · Post by **mercalia** » 31 Jan 2017, 9:13pm

millimole wrote:My experience tells me that if you don't have hills then you have wind. The reverse does not seem to be true though.

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A worthless piece of junk ! : my brain to my iPad using my fingers and Tapatalk

yes but like a sailing ship you wait until its behind you so you can sail along :lol:

As a kid I had a fantastic ride from Kings Lynn to Lowestoft with a strong wind behind me

Annoying Twit · Post by **Annoying Twit** » 4 Feb 2017, 3:40pm

boris wrote:Any other recomendations for a flat ride of 100 to 200miles would be welcomed.

I haven't done a 200 mile ride, but Lincoln and back is very flat, only one notable hill. About 180km in total.

Mistik-ka · Post by **Mistik-ka** » 4 Feb 2017, 3:56pm

mercalia wrote: yes but like a sailing ship you wait until its behind you so you can sail along

I commuted by bicycle to the same place of work for more than twenty years — generally with a head-wind both ways

.

I recall fondly only three occasions when I had a tail wind going home.

The funny thing is that I had a colleague who commuted to the same place for the same shifts as I did, but from the opposite direction, and he claimed the wind was always in his face both ways too! :lol:

.

Postboxer · Post by **Postboxer** » 4 Feb 2017, 7:30pm

Has anyone ever made a bike mounted anemometer? Linked to the bike computer to give some idea of what the wind speed actually is? It would be interesting but would remove one excuse as to why I'm going so slowly. In a time trial situation it could give you an idea when is best to use extra effort.

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