An After Work Canalside Bicycle Adventure
My ride to Camden Town, however, was loads of fun! Why? I'll tell you and share a few of the photos I took along the way.
Getting Lost
You might think that it would be impossible to get lost riding along a canal from A-B, but at some point around Maida Vale, the canal forked and I ended up riding around the basin trying to figure out which way to go. Suddenly my bike had given me back my sense of adventure. I was no longer riding on autopilot, I had to think, to wonder and even to ASK someone which way to go. In getting lost I discovered a lovely little canal side floating cafe and a puppet theatre on a canal barge. Two things to return to at a later date. Making mistakes required me to explore and find these places and speak to new people and to look around. So often in London I feel like an ant, mindlessly travelling within the hive. On wednesday I looked around. I looked up. Fellow People! Trees! Sky! Who knew?
Weeeeee!
I failed to properly capture it in the photo, but at Lisson Grove there is a tiny alley that allows you to rejoin the canal side after it goes underground after Little Venice. It's REALLY steep. At a guess I'd say 40%. I tightened my brakes and gently hopped down. I felt like a child and caught myself saying "weee" and "wahoo" as I bumped down. It was a bizarre and industrial little alley and something about it made me feel like I was naughty for being there. As the slope steepened and the bend tightened I felt relieved that my brakes had held up, unlike on a certain first downhill out of Land's End last summer.... |
| Steep Down at Lisson Grove |
A New Perspective
At one point along the ride I came across a sign saying NO CYCLING. It was clear to me that I was meant to join the road and leave the towpath, but I was too curious. I cycled along and then past a small community of canal barges: hones that people had made in narrow boats. The boats were moored together and near them little gardens, bicycle sheds, barbecues. One boat selling 'house' plants, another selling cakes. A little community within a community with a barter system and communal areas. A young woman cheerfully shouted at me as I rode past, "Cheeky! No cycling it says"... I replied, "I know, I know, but I really wanted to investigate!" She laughed and told me to take care. It seems like a little thing, but a friendly encounter with a stranger is a joyous thing in London sometimes. Especially at the end of the week.
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| The House Boat Community near Lisson Grove |
S p a c e
It's pretty rare to get a feeling of having space when living in London. Certainly it's the first thing I notice when I leave the city. But along this stretch of Regents Canal, inside the park, I felt it. I had wide cycle paths, the space of the water beside me, and being lower than the roads nearby I felt I could breathe and enjoy the openness of the path ahead. No cars to squash me or people in my way. Bliss.
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Going Through Regent's ParkCamden Lock
Camden Lock is one of my favourite places, and so it was a lot of fun to end my ride here, weaving (carefully) in and out of the drunk Friday-escapees and to meet my friends Richard and Danny for dinner and a show.
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| Camden Lock THIS SUMMER I AM GOING ON A LONDON TO ISTANBUL BIKE RIDE, RAISING MONEY FOR SOME LOCAL CHARITIES. PLEASE CHECK OUT MY FUNDRAISING PAGE. THANK YOU :) http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/fundraiser/madnewtrides |
I like it, will look forward to more, you're trip to Istanbul sounds interesting but I love local cycles that make you open you're eyes to new experiences.
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