Commuting along Grand Union Canal's Paddington Branch from Alperton to Bloomsbury (and possibly further)

[Etern4l]

BTW Looks like there was a spate of similar attacks in the area around 6 years ago:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/cri...-into-canal-in-spate-of-attacks-a3197896.html
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/lon...nal-by-thugs-i-m-leaving-london-a3191256.html
https://road.cc/content/news/181826-police-link-six-attacks-cyclists-london-canal-same-gang

One example of a more recent broad daylight attack:
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news...in-canalside-robbery-in-milton-keynes-2941183

Google also serves up tons of horrific stories from Birmingham.

I imagine only a small fraction of these incidents is getting reported in the media or even online....

 

[Chap sur le velo]

Don't know if OP is still reading but you won't be averaging anything like 15mph on the canal. Avoiding pedestrians, dogs etc will slow you down. At some point you'll also meet with a volunteer group who will very politely encourage you to go even slower and share the space for all.

I live close by the canal east of the city. During rush hour the no of cyclists on the roads has easily doubled since lockdown. They mainly avoid the main roads and use the quieter ones.

So my advice is, get the bike, practice at weekends and when you are confident join the club. You'll enjoy it.

 

[Etern4l]

Don't know if OP is still reading but you won't be averaging anything like 15mph on the canal. Avoiding pedestrians, dogs etc will slow you down. At some point you'll also meet with a volunteer group who will very politely encourage you to go even slower and share the space for all.

I live close by the canal east of the city. During rush hour the no of cyclists on the roads has easily doubled since lockdown. They mainly avoid the main roads and use the quieter ones.

So my advice is, get the bike, practice at weekends and when you are confident join the club. You'll enjoy it.

Sounds like the section of the canal described above is very different. The West London section of interest to the OP can hardly be described as busy, even during peak times (and definitely not in the evening). This is obviously for a reason. Some fellow local cyclists I queried after the assault described the route as scary, nobody but me was actually using it regularly. I must say though, I quite enjoyed it until the assault!

 

[megumin999]

Sounds like the section of the canal described above is very different. The West London section of interest to the OP can hardly be described as busy, even during peak times (and definitely not in the evening). This is obviously for a reason. Some fellow local cyclists I queried after the assault described the route as scary, nobody but me was actually using it regularly. I must say though, I quite enjoyed it until the assault!

I am very sorry to hear that happened to you and I hope you're doing well now Etern4l. I did not expect that section to be dangerous but I can imagine no cameras or lighting makes it worse. Have you gone through it since or heard any updates after your assault? Right now I'm trying to weigh up the savings vs safety of riding along the canal to work instead of using the Tube.

Don't know if OP is still reading but you won't be averaging anything like 15mph on the canal. Avoiding pedestrians, dogs etc will slow you down. At some point you'll also meet with a volunteer group who will very politely encourage you to go even slower and share the space for all.

I live close by the canal east of the city. During rush hour the no of cyclists on the roads has easily doubled since lockdown. They mainly avoid the main roads and use the quieter ones.

So my advice is, get the bike, practice at weekends and when you are confident join the club. You'll enjoy it.

Since my original post I didn't end up buying the ebike due to not needing it because of lockdown and wfh but now I need to go in more regularly. I would be riding in from the west which is less crowded but more dodgy from what it sounds like. I'm looking at alternate routes as well.