You may have noticed, Monday mornings around 9am, a raggedy (in truth, very few of us wear lycra) gang of somewhat er, mature cyclists pedalling away from the village. That would be us, Shelford Spokes Cycling Club, setting off on our weekly jaunt around the quieter lanes of South Cambs. Typically we do 25 miles at a relaxed pace, pulling in for refreshment half-way and returning home in time for lunch. Very occasionally we venture further, putting the bikes on the train to Ely and cycling back.
But Monday, October 5 saw us putting the bikes on the train to Tottenham Hale from where it was just a short hop to the Lea Valley towpath, gateway to a 26 mile ride along the waterways (rivers, canals and docksides) of East London. It is a delightful, traffic free route, completely flat and with lots to see along the way, though one must be mindful of the need to duck under bridges, rattle over cobbles and generally keep an eye out for dogs, mooring spikes and oncoming cyclists.
 |
| 26 miles clockwise from Tottenham Hale |
Six miles on down the towpath saw us at Royal Docks where we put the bikes on the London Cable Car and soared high over the Thames - the view from 90 meters up was superb - to Greenwich. Alighting on the south bank we followed the Thames Path around the Greenwich peninsula, through the Old Royal Naval College, past the Cutty Sark and on to Tower Bridge. Only here were we in traffic, albeit briefly, and arriving back on the north side we pulled in at St Katherine's Dock for a well earned pub lunch.
 |
| The view from the cable car |
Refreshed, if rather full of pub nosh, a few miles more along the gentrified docksides took us via Limehouse Basin to the Regent's Canal and thence via the Hertford Union Canal back to the Lea Valley towpath and Tottenham Hale Station.
Returning on the train, having left Shelford at 9am, we home shortly after 5pm. What a contrast from our usual rural rides. And, thankfully, nobody fell in the canal. Well done, team!
 |
| Shelford Spokes at the Cutty Sark |