Cycle routes in London inspiring you to get on yer bike!
The extensive traffic-free Greenways routes are a great way to ease into cycling in the capital and you could even take the family. Many of London's most memorable bike rides are hidden away – Regent's Canal weaves its way from Little Venice into some of the East End's most fascinating nooks and crannies and cycling is a great way to explore the city. Choose a route or, even better, plan your own on TfL
Choose your route:
Paddington to Hayes - 14 miles - 3.5 hours
Around Little Venice and Paddington, the Grand Union is a bit of a disaster for bikes: boat-owners, justifiably annoyed with cyclists whizzing past only inches from their homes, have erected knobbly barriers to prevent you riding on the towpath.
It gets a bit more promising from the junction with the Harrow Road - a nice, wide, paved towpath, surrounded by playgrounds in the shadow of the Trellick Tower. Soon, on your right, is Kensal Green Cemetery, and on your left Wormwood Scrubs Park. You wind through North Acton before you get to the best bit, where the canal crosses over the top of the North Circular (A406) at Park Royal - you can actually see an eight-lane highway pass under the water. Around the same point you start
to see floating riverside offerings sent from the Hindu temple at Neasden. From here on it's all parks - Sudbury Golf Course is on your right, although the towpath gets a little scruffier from around Greenford onwards. You're also reminded that, only about 70 years ago, it really was all fields around here, and there are still remnants of the canal's relationship with light-industry in Southall and Hayes (Taylor Woodrow, Nestlé, EMI).
It gets much prettier around Cowley and Uxbridge (Bulls Bridge, Stockers Lock) but, if you're knackered, you can always lug your bike back on the train from Hayes & Harlington or West Drayton back to Paddington. John Lewis and Derek Adams
To plan your cycling route visit www.tfl.gov.uk/cycling
