65km London Wanderer
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Ride Overview
A glorious ride in every which way. Nearly every pedal stroke brings another, ‘Hey! Look at that’ moment, whether it be for the plethora of fine views, for the architecture (both ancient and very modern), or whether it is because of the many beautiful parks, not least the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. There are an endless succession of coffee/cafe/pub stops too but above all, it is a very companionable ride due to the many long straights of cycle paths - up to 7 kms of straight-line cycling on the Greenway for example - meaning that riding alongside your companion without fear of traffic is safe and easy to do. The route includes many of London’s most famous sites, from Buckingham Palace, ArcelorMittal Orbit in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and St. Paul’s Cathedral, which no matter how long a Londoner you may be, still bring pleasure and pride that such lovely things can be seen so near to home. The route includes riding up the Mall, beside the Thames, along the historic Mile End Road and through the City, using many of London’s new dedicated cycle lanes. In short, it is a route for Londoner’s to see again with new eyes, the charms and glories of their city.
Ride notes
After a quiet glide beside the silvered Thames, riding in front of very grand houses of Chiswick Mall, you soon hit your stride along the new Cycleway of C9 which takes you through Hammersmith and onto Kensington High Street.
Chiswick Mall
Whatever the season, whatever the weather, and however familiar they might be to a life-long Londoner, the next few kilometres of traffic-free cycling through the Royal parks is always a treat. In spring there are over a million bulbs planted in great swathes, in summer the verdancy of the huge acres is a green tonic.
Buckingham Palace and some of the million bulbs of the Royal Parks
Then, it’s back to the Thames and the ride along Victoria Embankment has to rank as one of the best city cycle rides in the world. As the river twists its way through the capital, the views are a heady mix Baroque and Brutalist, and everything in between. You ride from the centre of political power, through the country’s legal and financial heartlands. Since the Tudor times the city’s entertainment heart has always been on the south bank and across the river, you’ll see that has not changed with the South Bank Centre, the National Theatre, the Globe theatre, the Tate Modern, all striking in their riverside design.
Moving on, you pass the Tower of London, and then the route enters a very different London, for you now enter the commercial heartland of the city - based around its docks. The route passes London’s second oldest dock, St. Katherine’s and then rattles over a section of cobbles along Wapping High Street. It’s a shaky ride and magnificent as you ride in the shadow of massive warehouses, now gentrified into loft conversions worth millions of pounds. There are some of London’s oldest and most famous pubs here as well. At Wapping stairs, the pirate Captain Kidd was hung whilst the imperturbable Thames tides covered his body three times.
Wapping High Street and warehouses
After riding through the historically rich Limehouse and Poplar, you arrive at the Royal Docks, once the largest in the world. They are huge. unbelievably enormous and once were the heart of Britian’s trading Empire. Nowadays the architecturally impoverished sheds ExCel, are owned by Abu Dhabi and Chinese companies.
From the docks, things green up considerably as you ride through trees and parks to Beckton and onto the Greenway. This 7km cycleway rides on top of one of the Victorian Sewage outflows created by Sir Joseph Bazalgette in the 19th century. There are spectacular views across to the towers of the City, and as you near it, of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Riding around the traffic-free Olympic Park, a fabulous legacy of the 2012 Games is another joy of this ride. The modernist architecture juxtaposed with spectacular gardens through which the once desperately polluted river Lee runs through (it is now one of the cleanest city rivers in Europe) is nothing but a joy.
From the park, the route heads back into town along the Mile End road - all on segregated cycle lanes. It is one of the most dynamic areas of the city, a global mix of cultures and people. You ride past some of the country’s oldest Jewish cemeteries, mosques, almshouses and the markets and smells are a huge distraction. Then, it’s through the City, passing the Bank of England and St. Paul’s Cathedral to mention just two of the impressive monuments, and out into Fitzrovia.
St. Paul's Cathedral
The final leg of this endlessly varied ride is through the West End. Museums, universities, and institutions such as the BBC line the roads and the houses become ever larger and grander. As you ride through Holland Park, one of the most beautiful and expensive residential areas of the capital, the homes are stupendous in scale, both economic and grandeur. Then it’s a short skip through Hammersmith back to the start.
Ride practicalities
Note; There are short sections of the ride which are not on cycle-segregated lanes, notably Kensington High Street and Cheapside. There are sections too, through Fitzrovia where the lanes are just painted on the roads rather than properly segregated, but here the traffic is usually slight.
START/FINISH: George &Devonshire Pub, Hogarth Roundabout DISTANCE: 65km TOTAL ASCENT: 340m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: Asphalted cycle lanes and roads through out MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Chiswick (nearest to the start) LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: Bazalgette’s outflows, Extravagant Genius, The Crocus Carpet, The Greatest City on Earth RECOMMENDED FOOD AND DRINK; Chiswick; The George and Devonshire, Wapping; Urban Barristas, The Captain Kidd, QE Olympic Park: Timber Lodge, The Last Drop
Every route on this website has been carefully researched as well as ridden. However situations on the ground can change quickly. If you know of changes to this route, or cafes, pubs and the like which you think other cyclists need to know about, feel free to share your thoughts below.
If you enjoyed this guide, why not subscribe to the website so as not to miss other inspirational routes?
wheremywheelsgo.uk is a Feedspot UK Cycling top website