London to Birmingham via Grand Union Canal?

[Tigerbiten]

The start and the finish of the canal du midi where it had a hard surface was ok.
The bit in the middle which was single track mud with tree roots when I did it, was a bit to much like hard work.
I ended up bypassing most of that section on the road.

Luck ............

 

[CXRAndy]

If you're doing something like that enjoy it, slow down and see the country, stop admire the sights, take photos etc.

If you just want to get there fast, take a road route

 

[uphillstruggler]

go for it i say, think about your milage and capability, the tow path is hard going physically in places due to being a bit rough/rutted.

loads of places to restock food/drink and camping spots if your not too fussy.

if you do take your time, its not dull at all (imho) but i like the scenery/architecture that you get along the canal.

you also have the train line nearby with plenty of jump on points, if things go wrong.

all the best with this

 

[Somecyclingbloke]

Hello, late to the party here!

If you haven't done it yet, it's well worth it. I completed the journey in two days and was absoloutely ruined by the end.

I cycled the route in late May on a Crossway hybrid and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a challenge.

A summary is at the bottom!

The Journey

I arrived in Birmingham on a train at 9AM (Thanks to Corona there were no hotels open, so an early morning start wasn't possible) and set off for Fazeley Street, where I started the 125 mile journey back to London.

The towpath after leaving Birmingham was generally easy going. The weeks before I cycled were particularly warm so the path was well dried out, allowing me to make good progress towards Knowle Locks. I underestimated the distance between Birmingham and Knowle, although it was only 10 miles, it took a while to reach the Locks. Once there, I didn't spend much time admiring the scenery and began the first "countryside" stretch of the route.

After Knowle, there was nothing other than countryside until I reached Warrick. The towpath gradually becomes more uncomfortable the further away from any town you go, so by this point I was being shaken all over the place. My progress slowed and the 25 miles from Knowle to Warrick took a few hours at least. After the Hatton Flight (Which was very busy!) I arrived in Warrick where I took my first break.

There are plenty of places to grab lunch and a drink around Warrick and Leamington. Be aware of potholes in the towpath as you enter Warrick, as I managed to perform a frontflip off of my bike and almost ended up in the Canal!

After Leamington the towpath became what you would expect a countryside towpath to look like, progress is very slow between Leamington and Napton.

After arriving at Napton, I took another break as 7 years ago, my family and I went on a canal holiday along the Oxford Canal which started here, so I took some time to remember a fantastic point in my life.

It's a good job I took a break, as you need as much energy as possible to conquer the next seven miles to Norton. The towpath was almost un-passable at times. The below photo doesn't look bad, but in May, it is very overgrown and at points the path simply drops away into the Canal.

I would recommend taking a road from Naptop to Norton as this wasn't remotely enjoyable.

The towpath improves somewhat as you approach Braunston and is stoned/paved up until the Braunston Tunnel. Which I would recommend using a map to navigate over.

After arriving at Norton, the towpath widened up significantly and generally remains "rideable" until Stoke Bruerne, where it narrows and becomes fairly overgrown, similar to the above image. At this point it was mostly open countryside so sun lotion, if doing this in the summer, is a must.

By this point it was very late in the day. The sun was almost gone and although I brought lights I was absoloutely knackered, having cycled almost constantly all day. I found a spot just off of the Towpath and set up a small tent, chained my bike to a bench and stayed overnight just outside Stoke Bruerne.

I set an early alarm on my phone and reluctantly left my "Comfortable" sleeping bag, packed up and set off.

Travelling through open countryside as dawn breaks was my favorite part of the journey and I would recommend doing this route simply because of this experience.

Other than coming into London, Milton Keynes was the easiest part of the ride. As the towpath is wide and tarmaced. I made great progress. The path after Milton Keynes is generally good, the closer you come to London the better it becomes.

I stopped off in Rickmansworth to quickly say hello to a family member before beginning the final leg to the Paddington Basin.

That was the end of the Journey for me. I jumped on a train from London back home and spend the next few days recovering from various bruises and the sheer distance.

Summary

Overall Rating: 8/10

Pros:

1. It's flat along the canal
2. Scenery is fantastic
3. Many places to rest or camp
4. Train stations along the route if there is a problem

Cons:

1. Towpaths can be appauling to cycle on
2. Long distance
3. Low bridges (for someone who's 6' 5' (Please be careful!)

I'd recommend:
- A pannier rack
- Regular breaks
- Bike with suspention (This was hard enough on a bike with suspension, I wouldn't recommend a road bike!)
- Lots of spare tires. (I got very lucky and didn't have a single puncture, however I'd recommend several repair kits and inner tunes)

Hope that helped. If you have any questions I'll gladly answer!

 

[plustwos]

Has anyone here done this?

I'll need to find somewhere to put my phone and a small battery pack to keep it charged up. I hope to only use it if I get lost,

Get lost? On a canal? My wife and I did it starting from the Stratford canal around 1958 and it was all there then; doubt if anyone's pinched some of it.

Ken

 

[l4dva]

Thanks somecyclyingbloke! Great write up, I still haven't done this sounds more tempting after reading this though.

Thanks!

 

[StickyPTFE]

I cycle along the canals a lot, generally the surfaces are great. However, the more rural you go, the worse the towpath becomes. I once cycled from Kidderminster to Market Drayton, after I passed Wolverhampton the towpath was almost impossible to ride through. It was certainly 'doable' but I wouldn't want to do 100 miles of it.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

The Shropshire Union (the canal from Wolverhampton to Market Drayton) has a notoriously bad towpath, partly because lots of it is in cutting and water just falls down the sides to pool on the path. For a long time Google Maps would route you that way. They've now "fixed" their data and send you up the A41 instead. 🙄

 

[StickyPTFE]

The Shropshire Union (the canal from Wolverhampton to Market Drayton) has a notoriously bad towpath, partly because lots of it is in cutting and water just falls down the sides to pool on the path. For a long time Google Maps would route you that way. They've now "fixed" their data and send you up the A41 instead. 🙄

That explains a lot. I learned a valuable lesson about Route planning that day.

 

[l4dva]

Small update on my quest to cycle the entire route via the canals. I decided to do the section local to me, Paddington to Watford (plus the ride to Paddington and back home again from Watford via the roads).

Managed to get my first tubeless puncture that didn’t seal fairly soon after joining the canal at Paddington. Also made the school boy error of not carrying anything to repair it other than a co2 inflator which I also tried out for the very first time too. Obviously the air leaked straight out the puncture that hadn’t sealed. Quick search on google maps and I found a bike shop that was open and only 1 mile away (HUB Custom bike near Kilburn). So I walked over to them and they kindly plugged the hole and I picked up another co2 can just in case. Great service from the guys at Hub custom bikes, I would highly recommend if your nearby!

I then set off again and continued on the canal, making decent progress and enjoying the scenery. The puncture and visit to bike shop wasted quite a lot of time so it was approaching lunch time and I only had a few basic snacks to keep me going – which was my second error, not taking enough food supplies!

I got as far as Uxbridge but then the canal path was closed for works, I then had to try navigate the roads to re-join the canal further on. This was pretty annoying stopping and starting at every junction to get phone out. After a doing this for a little while I decided to call it a day and head home. I managed to navigated myself back to familiar roads and then back home.

Overall it was a great ride (apart from not being properly prepared). Managed to cover 73km, which was my longest ride on the cyclocross bike too. I’m guessing it was about 40% canals 60% roads. If I had managed to stick to the canal all the way to Watford the route would have been much longer. I’m tempted to give that another go in a few months with aim to make it all the way to Watford this time. Of course learning from my errors and taking puncture supplies and loads of food. I have already stocked up on tubeless plugs, tyre patches and more tubeless sealant.

The complete ride to Birmingham realistically for me would need overnight stops. You really don't make quick progress on the canals, and its better/safer to take your time and enjoy the ride. Especially where the paths are not well maintained. I’ll continue experimenting with bike packing gear in the meantime, the large saddle bag that I used on this ride was great. A handle bar and frame bag could be on the shopping list soon too.

 

[Chris Denman]

Did it in one day a few years back. Got the train from Denham early in the morning and got to Birmingham about 9 and rode back, a group of 6 from the WDMBC .The group stayed together for a while but split on some of the rougher sections .Got back to Uxbridge at about 9.30 , the last of the 4 who completed the ride were back at 11.30 and 2 abandoned as ran out of lights and energy! Not the most enjoyable ride as some of the tracks are like magnetic grass and bumpy but we wanted a challenge and it certainly ticked that box.

 

[DiggyGun]

We started a ride on the Oxford Canal a few months ago. Part of it was Tarmac and about one yard wide. However this soon changed, to a compacted mud path about a foot wide, which was close to the edge of the canal one side and overgrown brambles, nettles on the other.

We went down this a while, but had to keeping getting off the bike to walk the bike past the obstacles. In the end we turned round and went back to the Tarmac section and into Oxford. This though had its own problems, as this end was rammed with people enjoying themselves, on bikes, walking, dogs and boaters. Just made the progress very slow, so a 110 miles in one day, maybe pushing it.

 

[Wooger]

I used to live on the canal in Herts, and now live in Brum.

This seems lots easier than it is, as the surface is mud, flints, gravel outside towns - which is most of it. I'd go for an MTB, and certainly lugged tyres due to the mud. Cyclocross stuff would work but not be pleasant for that distance.
The parts in towns frequently have children, anglers, runners on them and will slow you down a lot.

It's also dull for very large stretches as the canal is in a cutting with no scenery other than the canal itself. Would not recommend.

 

[tribanjules]

Would think the part around Lapworth would be very plodgy after this rain this week! MTB for sure

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I can think of far more interesting and quicker way to ride between the two.