bike paths in london?

I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about 16
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...).
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a lin
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park? If so, I'll rent a bik
and have some fun. Just don't feel like fighting London traffic fo
'fun" rides..

thanks, fabi


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On Mon, 31 May 2004 23:48:35 +0000, fabiosav wrote:

I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about 16-
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...). I
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a link
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park? If so, I'll rent a bike
and have some fun. Just don't feel like fighting London traffic for
'fun" rides...

If you go to the LCC webpages, you can order free cycling maps by phone.
Or go to most Tube stations - cycle maps for the local area are
in the leaflet racks near the exit.
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=37

Are you in London over Bike Week? If so there are plenty of rides and
social events you can come along to.
http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=411

On Mon, 31 May 2004 23:48:35 +0000, fabiosav wrote:

I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about 16-
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...). I
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a link
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park?

Depends which area of London you are in.
Which area will you be staying in?

You can follow the Thames river for a very large part - right from the
centre, down round the Millenium Dome, then past the Thames Barrier
and down to Erith.

There are canal towpaths, and a path going up the River Lee.
But for these a road-racing bike probably has wheels which are a little
delicate. An audax/touring bike will be OK.

"fabiosav" wrote in message
.. .
I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about
16-
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...). I
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a
link
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park? If so, I'll rent a
bike
and have some fun. Just don't feel like fighting London traffic for
'fun" rides...

thanks, fabio

Any nice off road path in London will be rather full of people,
except, perhaps, in the morning when you are going to work.

New York City has Central Park where the bike racers gather. The
"Outer Circle" in London's Regent's Park is the nearest thing to a
London equivalent, although that has one traffic light, and a stop
sign, on the circuit, which is about 3 km, I think.

London does have many back streets with little traffic, and good
routes through these are mapped. It's even better now thanks to the
"congestion charge" that cars are forced to pay in central London,
and also to the "ring of steel" anti terrorist measures in the
"City", the financial district.

The maps are free - it takes 19 of them to cover all of London, out
to the borders. Central London is map 10. They are posted on the
web. It's Transport for London which hands them out now, no longer
the London Cycling Campaign. See the TfL web site www.tfl.gov.uk for
more information. The web site with the maps is, I think,
www.londoncyclenetwork.org.uk You don't get a good view of the maps
on the web, though, and the site always seems to behave rather
strangely for me.

Jeremy Parker

Try www.sustrans.org.uk


Vivian
-------
"We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school".
No Surrender

"fabiosav" wrote in message
.. .
I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about 16-
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...). I
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a link
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park? If so, I'll rent a bike
and have some fun. Just don't feel like fighting London traffic for
'fun" rides...

thanks, fabio



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"fabiosav" wrote...
I'm going to be in London for 10+ days, and ride a road bike about 16-
28MPH (e.g hesitant to go on paths packed with strollers etc...). I
prefer safe off-road (but not mountain bike) paths. Anyone have a link
to any maps? Is it worth riding in any park? If so, I'll rent a bike
and have some fun. Just don't feel like fighting London traffic for
'fun" rides...

thanks, fabio


As someone else mentioned, the canal towpaths are a lot of fun, but don't
expect 28 mph. Another option might be to put the bike on the train and head
for the countryside surrounding London. Don't expect paved bike paths, but
there are a lot of lightly travelled back roads that provide pleasant
riding. I remember the Oxfordshire Cycleway as being a really nice route
made up of lightly travelled back roads, there are probably others like it.
--
mark

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