With time to myself for a change and a mileage challenge to smash, I decided to get my bike out of the garage and set off for a journey along the Grand Union Canal. This was one of my staple long run routes through the summer of 2011 and for some unknown reason I just have not been back this year but on bike I knew that I would be able to go further than my previous out 10 miles and then back 10 miles. I armed myself with a rucksack containing some drinks, a few snacks, and a rain coat then just cycled away admiring the wildlife in or around the canal.
I eventually reached a T junction where the canal split off (I never knew a canal could do this!) so decided to carry on my journey, rather than turning back, just to see what lay over the next horizon. I was soon powering down a long slope as the canal went through lock after lock after lock while silently hoping the route went somewhere interesting because the uphill cycle back did not look fun.
I eventually hit a section where I was forced to join a road to cross over a bridge back to the water path but saw signs leading off down the main road either to Kew Bridge or Richmond Bridge. I knew these locations well thanks to my runs alongside the Thames so went for a longer cycle to Richmond Bridge via Syon Park where I joined the Thames Path and headed back to Ealing via Richmond and Kew.
It was a cracking ride, although I came back splattered with mud thanks to pools of water on the canal paths, and I will definitely be back out to explore this route in future..
- Miles run today: 0
- Miles walked today: 0
- Miles cycled today: 24.95
- Olympathon total so far: 33.27 miles
- Olympathon position: 9th
