I slept OK as the room was surprisingly quiet despite being in the centre of Watford. I was still concerned by the loss of the credit card and my own stupidity but relieved that I did not actually have to get up before dawn to be on my way. I had planned today to be the easiest day being confident that I could stay on the canal towpath all the way into central London. I felt that I had enough time as my train back to Shrewsbury was not until 1830 from Euston.
The only potential problem was that the forecast was for rain until mid-morning. Given how wet 2023 had been including the floods of the week before I had been very lucky to date. I had packed a brand new Altura waterproof but it had remained unused. Looking out of the window, I could see that it was wet but with fine drizzle and so I left it packed on the top of the pannier above my bags of now used clothes. So just after 9:00am (luxury) I made the two trips down in the lift and fixed the panniers to the bike.
I have stayed in Watford quite frequently mainly before and after NFL games at Wembley but also when I completed the Serpentine Swim – the third part of the London Classics. We had also stayed at the Premier Inn in July when we went to see Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park and I had stayed in early October for Wembley again. On each occasion I had seen signs for the cycle way that I needed to follow to Rickmansworth to rejoin the canal. I had always promised myself that one day I would try the route and here I was.
Well almost. I spent the first twenty minutes of the day trying to find the path while still avoiding three lanes of traffic in each direction. It was drizzling and I had managed to lose the nose clip of my clear glasses which were now so close fitting that they kept steaming up! My gloves were wet and so vision was limited. I finally found the cycleway and headed out into the countryside. The path was wet, with puddles but it was a relief to be away from the traffic.
I passed along what was obviously a disused railway and what would probably have been quite scenic were it not for the steam on my lenses. To my left I could see lots of ponds and lakes. I then came into Rickmansworth, emerging onto a dual carriage way and having crossed it I joined the Grand Union towpath. The weather was clearing and I was finally able to see where I was going.
The next few miles were very steady but I discovered a new hazard. The tow path was quite narrow and as I was wary of being too close to the canal on my left I was tending to cycle on the right hand side on the worn path. Shortly after joining the path I felt a heavy impact on my helmet where I had clipped a low hanging branch and within another half-mile it happened again. I decided that it was probably safer to concentrate on where I was going rather then taking in the scenery. Which was a great shame, as to my left were many lakes and pools. This was a very pleasant ride, if a little slow. I realise that I should perhaps have taken more time to enjoy the surroundings but I was aiming to get as far as possible in case of unforeseen events.
I forced myself to stop a couple of times to take some pictures and promised myself that I would have a break when I reached the junction at Bull’s Bridge where the Grand Union divided into two routes – one which would go to Paddington and the other arm which terminates at Brentford. As I progressed the towpath got wider and I was able to relax. I passed West Drayton and was joined for a while by a very busy railway line. I was just thinking I would soon need to be turning when I sensed that my back tyre was deflating and indeed my arrival at Bulls Bridge coincided with a rear wheel flat tyre.
It’s true that I was better prepared than I was the day before (who says you can’t learn at my age) but I was still a little nervous as I had never removed the back wheel of Shirley which involves dealing with disc brakes in addition to chain, derailleur and sprockets. Many years ago when I bought my first bike from PDE cycles in Yeovil, Dave had shown me how easy it was to remove and refit a back wheel but even after nearly forty years rear wheel changes make me slightly apprehensive and often lead to trapped fingers. So I decided that the main thing was to take my time and I was secretly grateful that I had not been sightseeing earlier in the day.
I methodically removed all my luggage, the wheel and the tyre. All the time I was interrupted by large numbers of workmen from an adjacent building site who were clearly making their way somewhere to buy lunch. I removed checked the inside of the tyre and removed a small thorn. I installed a new inner-tune and reversed the process. With the tyre fitted but not inflated I managed to juggle all the bits into the correct place with only one graze to my finger! A quick blast of CO2 and I was able to repack and reload all my luggage. Time-wise it was hardly a Formula One pit-stop but I had managed to stay relaxed throughout.
I passed by the building site via a short towpath diversion and then reached Bulls Bridge where after taking a couple of pics I joined the Paddington arm of the canal. The next part of my journey was a real surprise. I had imagined that I would be close to housing, people and traffic but I actually had the easiest and most relaxed part of my journey. There was a very good surface and I appeared to be largely alone as I passed by lots of open spaces before coming to short sections of more built up country. By now I was getting hungry having not had breakfast so determined to stop when I came to a suitable cafe or supermarket. I knew that I was following a broad curve through the northern suburbs of London (Southall, Ealing and Wembley) but I soon forgot this and enjoyed the range of scenery, I encountered a few other path users including a very frustrating couple of hundred yards behind a young jogger with earplugs in who was completely oblivious to my repeated shouts to “bike”, “bike”! I then reached a diversion (which I now know was near Park Royal) but it was well signed and I was able to follow the route back to the towpath.
After another couple of miles I finally reached an open area of land and saw a cafe in a church. An ideal place to stop. And it was – the scone and butter was delicious and I really appreciated the coffee. But the real surprise came when I looked at the map. I was barely a couple of miles from the end of this branch of the canal at Paddington basin. The last section had been the easiest of the journey and actually quite relaxing. I looked at the map and decided that I would have time to continue onto the Regents Canal with the aim of ending the journey at the back of Kings Cross station.
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I set off and immediately began to encounter the biggest hazard of the trip so far – crowds and crowds of people on the towpath. I passed where the Regents Canal went north and cycled to the end of the Grand Union itself. I weaved through crowds of people enjoying the bars and restaurants and so came to the end of the canal that had been beside me for so many miles over the last three days. I then made my way back to Little Venice which I remembered from a few years before when I had gone to Gemma’s in Belsize Park prior to our attempt to cycle to Yeovil in a day (another story!).
I took a couple of pics, joined the canal and then immediately left it as it passed into the Maida Vale tunnel. I found it again but as I was heading along the path, a passing pedestrian let me know that the path that side was closed and so I had to retrace myself. Despite all the negative publicity about cyclists people throughout my journey had been very helpful and interested. I crossed the canal and descended to an area where I had to walk past what were clearly narrowboat homes complete with gardens, chairs tables etc. A wonderful way to live in the middle of a great city.
I was then able to start cycling and passed by Regents Park. Often at Gemma’s I had walked or in the day run from her house down into the park and so it brought back memories as I passed the enclosures at the Zoo. Time for more photos.
The next part of the journey was through Camden Lock and there were huge crowds everywhere. I had to resort to walking most of the way past the bars etc and to be honest I found the sheer number of people quite scary. Pressing on though it soon got quieter and I reached my final destination – the newly developed area around the back of Kings Cross. In 2020 Nick and I had spent a couple of hours here prior to our trip to Scotland and I had always had it in mind that this would be the termination of my trip. I took a couple of pictures of a Eurostar train entering St Pancras and then headed along the back streets to Euston.
I was quite early and so when a saw a pub overlooking the back of the station I decided it was time for a well earned pint. I sat on a bench outside and watched the world go by. I messaged Susan to say I was at Euston and should therefore be on my train booked at 18:24. It was now just after 1500 so I needed to find a way to spend my time. Guess what I chose to do? A walk into the station, a large cheese and onion pasty from the Pasty Shop and then a detour to the Euston Tap where I say outside, enjoyed three pints of dark Stout and tried to dry out. I then used the toilets to change my clothes to a dry top and socks and enjoyed watching the world go by. I had completed my journey successfully and only had a relaxing journey on the train to get home again.
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How wrong I was!! At 1800 I went to the station concourse and joined all the commuters waiting. No surprise that the train was late being called but I was quite relaxed as I had a booked seat and more importantly a booked bike space. Finally the train was announced and as usual there was a mad rush of people to join it. Quite relaxed (it was good beer) I made my way to the turnstile. Then while the crowd was still waiting through the ticket checks they began to say that the train was ready to depart. I finally reached a ticket check and asked the chap where I should put my bike. He said in the first carriage nearest the barriers.
I wasn’t sure this was right. Having travelled on this service before I know that it consists of two 5-car units with one of them being detached at Birmingham and the front five going onto Shrewsbury> I had deliberately booked this service as I would not need to change. So I asked another Arriva person on the platform and said that I was booked with my bike to Shrewsbury. He pointed again at the same rear car. I boarded to find that the two bike racks were already taken by a couple travelling to Birmingham. I checked with yet another Arriva person on the train who said that I needed to join the front of the train as I had suspected. I disembarked Shirley and began to make my way along the platform. The train doors were all closing and it was looking as though it would leave without me. I began to run and another Arriva person shouted that I should not be running. I can only apologise for my very rude response. As I had dreaded the other bike area was at the other end of the train – ten carriages away. All this anxiety was not good but fortunately I was able to reach the door, open in and literally fall over Shirley as we crashed in together. As I stopped the train actually pulled away from the station. All this aggravation caused by people who could not be bothered to do their job right. Thank you (Not) Avanti trains.
Battling against the motion of the train I managed to secure Shirley into the bike compartment and I then literally fell into the first seat in Coach A – a long way from my reserved seat but I was more than willing to discuss the matter further with the train manager if necessary!! The train was busy until Milton Keynes but then much quieter. Sadly I was dark so I was not able to see where the line passed the canal but I was finally able to relax and feel positive about what I had achieved and think about the whole experience – the subject of another post.
I was in the quiet coach but my annoyance levels were considerably raised at Birmingham International where a group of very loud, probably drunk people go into the carriage. From the volume of their conversation I can only assume that they had friends at the other end of the ten car train who needed to be updated on the move. I endured their noise all they way during the long stop over at New Street and all the way to Telford. I suppose I’m quite anti-social but I longed for the tranquillity of the canal side and time for nature and my own reflections. I refrained from saying anything but it was a disappointing end to the journey.
This was not the case when I reached Shrewsbury and knew that I had completed my first multi-day, long-distance trip. I used the lift to descend and made my way to the car park where Susan was waiting for me. Queens Head where I started my journey was only about 20 miles away but a novel and interesting part of my life behind me.
So hopefully more plodding and pedalling to come.
FINAL FIGURES
| Day Miles | 38 |
| Overall Miles | 296 |
| Day Time | 4 hours 20 mins |
| Overall Time | 30 hours 20 mins |