Kent Traffic Free Routes?

[londoncommuter0000]

Does anyone know if there are places in Kent where one can do a couple of hours cycling, without any cars?

I abhor the motor car. I consider it a blight on our planet. And I have very little patience with the bleating that 'Oh, it has done so much!' Maybe it has. But at the hands of the idiots who are supposed to be 'in control' of it, the motor car has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

But my wife and I fancy a cycle ride tomorrow. If there are routes with no cars, that would be just dandy.

Cheers.

[gaz]

Zero cars, very limited options. Largely traffic free, a few to choose from. Of course it depends how you're travelling to Kent. If your aversion to cars is so great that you won't travel to Kent in one and need to start and finish at a station both lists get shorter.

How far do you expect to cycle in a couple of hours, what sort of surface conditions are you prepared to contemplate?

General info here, select "cycling" from the activities drop-down menu.

[londoncommuter0000]

Zero cars, very limited options. Largely traffic free, a few to choose from. Of course it depends how you're travelling to Kent. If your aversion to cars is so great that you won't travel to Kent in one and need to start and finish at a station both lists get shorter.

How far do you expect to cycle in a couple of hours, what sort of surface conditions are you prepared to contemplate?

General info here, select "cycling" from the activities drop-down menu.

I told my wife about this thread. She said, 'Can you reply to that kind gentleman: "I'm sorry, but I'm a whiny git",'.

Pff. She doesn't know me.

Anyway, thank you!

[gaz]

A small number also appear on : https://vimeo.com/kentconnected

[Jon Lucas]

Catch a train to Gravesend and cycle east along the NCN route following the Thames estuary. This is traffic free for a while, but then takes you onto some wonderfully quiet lanes, where you will meet very few cars, and into the surprisingly lovely countryside of the Hoo peninsula.

[squeaker]

Does anyone know if there are places in Kent where one can do a couple of hours cycling, without any cars?

A few laps of Betteshanger Country Park? Charles Henry managed 53 in 3 hours last summer

[Cyril Haearn]

Does anyone know if there are places in Kent where one can do a couple of hours cycling, without any cars?

I abhor the motor car. I consider it a blight on our planet. And I have very little patience with the bleating that 'Oh, it has done so much!' Maybe it has. But at the hands of the idiots who are supposed to be 'in control' of it, the motor car has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
..

Plus One for thread drift before crossing the start line
Correction: killed millions

[ANTONISH]

Catch a train to Gravesend and cycle east along the NCN route following the Thames estuary. This is traffic free for a while, but then takes you onto some wonderfully quiet lanes, where you will meet very few cars, and into the surprisingly lovely countryside of the Hoo peninsula.

This is an area local to me and is popular with a lot of cyclists.
The NCN route along the old canal tow path is very pleasant - the surface isn't so good but can be done on a road bike.

[Cugel]

Does anyone know if there are places in Kent where one can do a couple of hours cycling, without any cars?

I abhor the motor car. I consider it a blight on our planet. And I have very little patience with the bleating that 'Oh, it has done so much!' Maybe it has. But at the hands of the idiots who are supposed to be 'in control' of it, the motor car has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
..

Plus One for thread drift before crossing the start line
Correction: killed millions

Don't forget the tens or perhaps hundreds of millions the car has seriously maimed, in it's relatively short history upon Planet Erf. Then there's those who have been made miserable by the death or maiming of their loved ones. And the victims of it's pollutants who are awarded an early death. Also, cars are possibly some of the worst kind of litter, choking everywhere with their parking.

Once upon a time I used to go to London for various working purposes, typically by train from NW England to Euston. I generally stayed at the daughter's hoose, which was then in Barnes. On arrival in Euston I always walked to Barnes, via various routes containing as much park-traversing as possible. It took about 3 hours. Going on Sunday afternoon was best, as the traffic was far lighter then.

When working in London I often walked about of the evening time, gazing tourist-like at the architecture and going to various places of interest. It always amazed me that anyone drove a car anywhere in London. They seemed to spend 60% of the time sat in junction queues, stinking away, with the rest spent accelerating and decelerating madly in between the waiting spots. They all looked very unhappy.

Why are private cars allowed in London at all? The public transport is everywhere. London sans cars would also provide road capacity for 10X the number of bikes, perhaps including cycle rickshaw thingies rather than stinking taxis driven by loons. I often wished I could have cycled about in London rather than walking everywhere. I wouldn't dare. I'm a very experienced cyclist but London cycling looks something of a gauntlet to run.

Cugel, drifting far from the Kent quietway question.

[Cyril Haearn]

Plus One for walking in towns for fun, it is often quicker than the bus (so what?), and one sees more than cycling

Do we get an award for thread drift, talking about six unconnected things before breakfast?

[gaz]

I generally stayed at the daughter's hoose, ...

Does she have a loose moose?

[londoncommuter0000]

Catch a train to Gravesend and cycle east along the NCN route following the Thames estuary. This is traffic free for a while, but then takes you onto some wonderfully quiet lanes, where you will meet very few cars, and into the surprisingly lovely countryside of the Hoo peninsula.

This one?

http://www.the-river-thames.org.uk/thames-path-walk-cycle.nsf/cyclingroutes/Greenwich%20to%20Gravesend

[londoncommuter0000]

Does anyone know if there are places in Kent where one can do a couple of hours cycling, without any cars?

I abhor the motor car. I consider it a blight on our planet. And I have very little patience with the bleating that 'Oh, it has done so much!' Maybe it has. But at the hands of the idiots who are supposed to be 'in control' of it, the motor car has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
..

Plus One for thread drift before crossing the start line
Correction: killed millions

Don't forget the tens or perhaps hundreds of millions the car has seriously maimed, in it's relatively short history upon Planet Erf. Then there's those who have been made miserable by the death or maiming of their loved ones. And the victims of it's pollutants who are awarded an early death. Also, cars are possibly some of the worst kind of litter, choking everywhere with their parking.

It has also effectively stopped me from walking anything but short distances. Our big Tesco is a 30 minute walk from here. I could take my big rucksack and walk there. But the route takes me across .. I don't know how many side streets. And of course, once I am crossing any of these side streets, car drivers and motorcyclists are supposed to stop and let me cross. But the drivers and the motorcyclists didn't get the memo. Almost every single time I walk anywhere here, I have the choice: I can accept that I'm a piece of dirt and cede passage to my motorised overlords... or I can stand my ground. When I have tried the latter, I am systematically threatened, and have had vehicles deliberately aimed at me.

Cycling is the same, of course. I could take my tourer with four panniers and go shopping at the Tesco. But since the council here has created loads of places on the actual carriageway where drivers can park their cars legally, there is probably about 70% of the route which is effectively single carriageway. And I have not yet met a driver or motorcyclist here in SE London who will actually stop and let a cyclist past if the latter has priority. They will drive or ride straight at you, in the full knowledge that your instinct not to be killed, means you will back down.

South East London is as close to utter hell on earth, as I can imagine. I absolutely hate it here.

As a result, I almost never walk or cycle. To my utter shame, I have taken the car to drive to the Co-Op, which is seven minutes on foot, just so I can avoid confrontation with drivers.

[Cugel]

I generally stayed at the daughter's hoose, ...

Does she have a loose moose?

The grandchildren are loose therein but are more like small bulls looking for the china.

Cugel, generally exhausted after a London visit.

[Cugel]

Plus One for thread drift before crossing the start line
Correction: killed millions

Don't forget the tens or perhaps hundreds of millions the car has seriously maimed, in it's relatively short history upon Planet Erf. Then there's those who have been made miserable by the death or maiming of their loved ones. And the victims of it's pollutants who are awarded an early death. Also, cars are possibly some of the worst kind of litter, choking everywhere with their parking.

It has also effectively stopped me from walking anything but short distances. Our big Tesco is a 30 minute walk from here. I could take my big rucksack and walk there. But the route takes me across .. I don't know how many side streets. And of course, once I am crossing any of these side streets, car drivers and motorcyclists are supposed to stop and let me cross. But the drivers and the motorcyclists didn't get the memo. Almost every single time I walk anywhere here, I have the choice: I can accept that I'm a piece of dirt and cede passage to my motorised overlords... or I can stand my ground. When I have tried the latter, I am systematically threatened, and have had vehicles deliberately aimed at me.

Cycling is the same, of course. I could take my tourer with four panniers and go shopping at the Tesco. But since the council here has created loads of places on the actual carriageway where drivers can park their cars legally, there is probably about 70% of the route which is effectively single carriageway. And I have not yet met a driver or motorcyclist here in SE London who will actually stop and let a cyclist past if the latter has priority. They will drive or ride straight at you, in the full knowledge that your instinct not to be killed, means you will back down.

South East London is as close to utter hell on earth, as I can imagine. I absolutely hate it here.

As a result, I almost never walk or cycle. To my utter shame, I have taken the car to drive to the Co-Op, which is seven minutes on foot, just so I can avoid confrontation with drivers.

I sympathise. When I visit the daughter and brood, now in Richmond, I find myself completely exhausted after 3 days of people&car pressure. Richmond is possibly less fraught than many other areas of London ("Surrey" as the daughter likes to claim ). Nevertheless it's stuffed with parked cars everywhere, often of the ludicrously expensive ilk, parked on pavements as well as the often narrow roads. In addition, those driving roar about doing 40mph inches from the pavements and those using them. As you mention, many are also ill-mannered, inconsiderate and highly aggressive if delayed by even a few seconds.

There's the congestion and pollutant charges these days. But this doesn't seem to reduce the traffic by any significant amount. Given that drivers of cars seem to spend a very long time doing often very short drives from A to B, where they are then charged two arms and a leg for parking, I just don't understand why anyone wants to use a car. Is it just status? It seems to be in Richmond but that's a queer place stuffed to the brim with strivers in the various rat races.......

Cugel