Old street via regents canal?

roger_merriman
roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
edited January 2015 in Commuting chat
As subject I have to be in town for lunchtime tomorrow in old street.

I was assuming that following regents canal out of rush hour would be okay? And since it's supposed to rain, though I have decent mudguards if it's too mucky I'll end up plastered, so what's the surface like?

For The return I'll make land rover noises along the embankment, since I'm on the old MTB.

Comments

  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    roger merriman wrote:
    As subject I have to be in town for lunchtime tomorrow in old street.

    I was assuming that following regents canal out of rush hour would be okay? And since it's supposed to rain, though I have decent mudguards if it's too mucky I'll end up plastered, so what's the surface like?

    For The return I'll make land rover noises along the embankment, since I'm on the old MTB.

    The towpath is paved from Little Venice to Old Street (I'm not sure west of Little Venice). It'll be busy around Camden (at any time - because you have to negotiate the market area) and you'll have to use back roads for a short distance in Islington as the canal goes underground.
    Ben

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  • samsbike
    samsbike Posts: 942
    Surface is a fine, if not a bit slippy.

    Note that are also some tunnels which can only be done one rider at a time. Camden Mkt bit is best walked as the wooden flooring there is very, very slippery.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    cheers, both, the old MTB bike has huge amounts of grip from soft compound tyres, and I have used it on wet decking, in some of the woods in Surrey etc. But yes wet wood is remarkably slippery.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Wet wood makes ice look grippy!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    The Rookie wrote:
    Wet wood makes ice look grippy!

    was fine, plenty of grip from MudX/Racing Ralph was very wet wood was raining heavily at the time, did end up on some cobbled bridges in Camdem as I missed one sign so ended up on the wrong side of the canal for 100 yards.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    From Brentford Lock it should be canal all the way... Grand Union, then Paddington Branch, then Regents canal... I am of course very familiar with the Grand Union canal as it's my commute into work
    left the forum March 2023
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    From Brentford Lock it should be canal all the way... Grand Union, then Paddington Branch, then Regents canal... I am of course very familiar with the Grand Union canal as it's my commute into work

    Ooh I hadn't thought of that, though would make it a fair bit longer route, both time and distance but at pootling speed would be a idea for a nice day.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    roger merriman wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    From Brentford Lock it should be canal all the way... Grand Union, then Paddington Branch, then Regents canal... I am of course very familiar with the Grand Union canal as it's my commute into work

    Ooh I hadn't thought of that, though would make it a fair bit longer route, both time and distance but at pootling speed would be a idea for a nice day.

    Yeah, I would expect somewhere between 1.5 to 2 hours... bit of mud to negotiate this time of the year, but in spring/summer very pleasant
    left the forum March 2023

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