Urban cycling, with the kids

With my wife and our two kids, we planned to cycle a very small part of National Cycle Route 1, which connects Dover to the Shetland Islands, mainly via the east coast of England and Scotland. But before beginning, there was time to pause and gaze out towards the north beneath the statue of General Wolf, the victor of Quebec, which still bears the scars of Second World War shrapnel. We looked down towards the Maritime Museum and the fantastic buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and beyond toward the Olympic stadium. To our west was the City of London, with its ever increasing skyline, and I thought to myself what a brilliant place to start a bike ride.

We turned back on ourselves, past a large group of Japanese tourists standing astride the meridian line, and zoomed down the only hill on our route towards Greenwich Village.

Passing the impressive and recently renovated Cutty Sark, we descended beneath the Thames into the Greenwich foot tunnel before resurfacing at Mudchute, an area of rich soil created by the silt that was dug out during the building of the Millwall docks. If you have time there’s a great city farm just off the route here, Mudchute Farm.

The route then winds its way through the docks to the towering spires of capitalism that is Canary Wharf, where you join the Thames footpath. The kids were thrilled to get a wave and a toot from a passing police boat. We left the Thames and headed north along Regents Canal into Mile End Park, with its great community-based indoor climbing centre.



Next we turned right onto the Hertford Union Canal – it’s along this stretch of water we pass numerous people sitting atop their narrow boats enjoying an afternoon beer in the sunshine. London’s ridiculous house prices have seen a large increase in people choosing this affordable watery way of life. London is dotted with free moorings, where you can stay for up to two weeks without charge. Turning away from the water into the busy Victoria Park, known locally as Vicky Park, we slalomed our way through rollerbladers, prams and dog walkers. There’s a fantastic play ground here and the kids insisted we stop, with shouts of, “Dad – playground! Dad, there’s a playground! Stop!”

We got off the bikes and spent the next hour climbing all over the new playground and watching the local kids ride the very good skate park on bikes, skateboards and scooters. Remounting our bikes we headed due north on the Lee Navigation towpath. In the late 1990s I used to live in this area, and then the only people on the muddy towpaths were a few dog walkers, the odd runner and a drunk or two. The area is now almost unrecognisable from back then. The previously muddy paths have been resurfaced and the rundown or deserted factories now converted to cool apartments and art spaces, not to mention the small matter of the Olympic park.

We headed past Hackney Marshes, famed for its number of football pitches, and onto Walthamstow Marsh Nature Reserve. The reserve has been a real success story, seeing rare plant life such as the Creeping Marshwort flower return, and the Essex Skipper butterfly re-establish itself.

We’d ridden at a very leisurely pace and decided it was time to turn around and head for home, via hot chocolate and another play in Victoria Park. We’d had a great, almost traffic-free ride and promised ourselves that next time we’d push on to the Lee Valley Country Park and beyond.

Find out more about the outdoor sports on offer in the area at www.visitleevalley.org.uk