Grand union canal from Northolt to Paddington

Tostaryman

Hi all,

I live out near Watford and am intending to start commuting into London 1 or possibly 2 days a week (depending on the legs!) now the summer evenings are close. I just wondered what the towpath is like from Northolt into Paddington as that route looks good on paper. I note its an official cycle network so I'm presuming its in quite decent nick. Does anyone here use this regularly and can you confirm what its like?

Cheers

OldSkoolKona

I've ridden along it at the weekend and its a nice route, not sure how great for a commuter route though. If I remember right, the bit from Northolt in is in ok shape, the bit where it breaks off the main Grand Union canal (near the M4) can be a bit muddy.

Would love to do the whole length to Birmingham some time though 8)

Tostaryman

Thanks for that. I agree that miles of towpath probably isn't the ideal commute but due to the distance I'll probably only be doing it once a week tbh so I think that'd be ok. Besides to be able to cycle into central London without traffic sounds like a definite bonus to me! I'm just converted my old mtb back to full rigid and stuck some semi-slicks on so that should be fine for what you describe

OldSkoolKona

Yeah, I did in on my commuter (slicked up '95 Kilauea) and its a really nice stress free ride (with the usual give respect to pedestrians clause). Mrs OSK and I rode it last summer all the way from Brentford to Limehouse (along Regent's canal) then back along the river (with a cheeky pint at the Morpeth ;-))

SmellTheGlove

Parts of the towpath are gated which can be a drag, but in principle it's not bad. Slicks and rigid forks should be fine.