# Cycling The Thames Thames Path V Sustrans 4



## Disco Bike (28 Feb 2011)

Hi, 

I organise small trips away for groups of 20-30 people, (it's a business of sorts). We do lots of other things as well so cycling is more of an occasional thing for us. However there are a lot of cyclists on board and I cycle to work 16 miles round. 

I'm planning a trip down the Thames from somewhere about 75 miles out of Kew. It would take up 3 days and be a really easy trip, suitable for anyone who rides a bike a bit. Not for hardcore cyclists who would be very bored, it is more of a social thing riding some of the way in the sun and spending lot's of time in the pubs.

Day 1 30 miles, 




day 2 25 miles - so can have a beer at end of day 




day 3 20 miles



I really wanted to do this on the Thames path but have been looking around and there's loads of very annoying yet possible true advise taht you are not allowed to cycle on the Thames Path. You should use Sustrans 4.

so things I'd be keen to get words of wisdom on are

1. Where to start? It needs to have a train station to get everyone out there (I am planning to use a bike transporter to get all the bikes out, as I am expecting they won't all fit in the bike carriage!)

2.Is it really a bad idea to cycle down the Thames, I was really keen to go along the river, and not use roads. Does the Sustrans route 4 do that? I was looking at the the sustrans mapping tool here http://www.sustrans.org.uk/map?key=London&type=RG#501885,169536,3
and I can't see the river ( I think the route might be drawn on top of it?) 

Any advice welcome, also will need to find B and B's fro the group and most imporatantly pubs, so would be great to hear from anyone in the know.

Thanks!


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## Bodhbh (28 Feb 2011)

I tried to cycle down the Thames path from Windsor-ish into London last year and sections of it are definately non-cyclable. I was on a MTB, but even so it becomes more trouble that it's worth with gates/stairs/pedestrians and you'll end up taking the road. Once you start getting into London it becomes a wide and decently surfaced path, but out there definately no.


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## Disco Bike (28 Feb 2011)

hmmm thanks!


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## Bodhbh (28 Feb 2011)

No idea on B&B's, I'd probably arrange to have overnight stops in Henley and Eton/Windsor as they look okay places to hang out for the night and have a few beers by the river. If it was me, I'd go right thru to the Thames barrier in the East, the ride across London via the river is well worth doing inself although maybe you all Londoners and want to get out of town rather than thru it.


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## Norm (28 Feb 2011)

I must have cycled a different path to Bod as I've ridden from Windsor to Kew along the Thames without a problem - one of my bestest memories was a day cycling from Maidenhead to Kingston along the Thames, then back on the A308. 

There are some sections where you aren't actually cycling right beside the river (Staines and Walton, for instance) but you'll generally be within a few metres and if you are "only" doing 25-30 miles a day, you won't be harem-scarem amongst the walkers anyway.


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## sheddy (28 Feb 2011)

bookmarked


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## Disco Bike (28 Feb 2011)

Norm said:


> I must have cycled a different path to Bod as I've ridden from Windsor to Kew along the Thames without a problem - one of my bestest memories was a day cycling from Maidenhead to Kingston along the Thames, then back on the A308.
> 
> There are some sections where you aren't actually cycling right beside the river (Staines and Walton, for instance) but you'll generally be within a few metres and if you are "only" doing 25-30 miles a day, you won't be harem-scarem amongst the walkers anyway.




Were you actually on the Thames Path Norm? or were you on the Sustrans route 4? I'm currently thinking I'll take maps for both and do which ever works best... 

really appreciate all of you guys comments )


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## Bodhbh (28 Feb 2011)

Norm said:


> I must have cycled a different path to Bod as I've ridden from Windsor to Kew along the Thames without a problem - one of my bestest memories was a day cycling from Maidenhead to Kingston along the Thames, then back on the A308.
> 
> There are some sections where you aren't actually cycling right beside the river (Staines and Walton, for instance) but you'll generally be within a few metres and if you are "only" doing 25-30 miles a day, you won't be harem-scarem amongst the walkers anyway.



Hrmm the path i was following was directly by the river, there unless there's one futher out or the otherside. Maybe more of it is ridable then I remember, but I deffo got turfed off onto the road at least a couple of times. North side I think, you don't cross till the ferry at at Shepperton iirc?


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## dellzeqq (28 Feb 2011)

I've cycled back from Windsor and you do have to mess about a bit at Staines, but the only big choice you face is where NCN4 cuts out a loop of the Thames at Barnes. Actually it's not much of a choice - NCN4 is dull, and the Thames path is do-able all the way to Deodara Road in Wandsworth, although it requires patience - there are lot of walkers and some of the path has tree roots across it. You do have to take a small diversion in around the Fullers brewery in Mortlake

East of Deodara Road you should really walk the bike through Wandsworth Park. You then get on to small roads that take you to a cycle bridge over the Wandle Delta (not quite as big as the Mississippi or Nile Deltas, but big by South London standards) which then takes you on to an unlovely road past the dump.

From that point on it's not easy - you have to dodge back and forth on to roads, and I'm guessing that the connection north of Battersea power station is still a way off. On the other hand there are some lovely lengths of path - having stopped for coffee in Battersea Square you get to go around St. Mary's Church and then past Montevetro. At Vauxhall you can wind your way around the MI6 Tempietto (I'd tell you all about it, but I'd have to kill you afterwards) and on past St. Thomas's - although Lambeth has tried a non-legal closure of the path at St. Thomas's. You should walk past the Saatchi gallery, because Charles Saatchi, go-cart racer and collector of tat, owns the Embankment, and you should also walk past the Oxo Tower. Some of the path between Tate Modern and the Globe is closed at present, but it's worth persisting and going on to the Golden Hind, under London Bridge, and on to Tower Bridge and the Design Museum. From here it gets kind of awkward as various freeholders ignore their planning agreements and keep the riverside path gated, and there's big construction activity west of Woolwich. It might even be worth taking a diversion north of the Thames through Canary Wharf, although don't attempt to park your bikes outside unless you want to front out the security guards...

East of Woolwich the path winds around the O2, past A Slice of Reality, although, again, there is some development and periodic closures here. You do, however, get to see the Barrier, which is nice.

My suggestion would be to pm Topcat1, who is the Thames Path Expert.


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## Norm (28 Feb 2011)

Bodhbh said:


> Hrmm the path i was following was directly by the river, there unless there's one futher out or the otherside. Maybe more of it is ridable then I remember, but I deffo got turfed off onto the road at least a couple of times. North side I think, you don't cross till the ferry at at Shepperton iirc?


The ferry at Shepperton was indeed part of my route.  

Now you mention that bit, you are right and there was some road required between Staines and Shepperton. 

I was travelling without a map (I'd only intended to go as far as Windsor) and I can't remember exactly where it was but it was generally (aside from near Chertsey bridge, IIRC) pretty quiet. Most of the tarmac sections were surfaced access rather than public roads.


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## Disco Bike (28 Feb 2011)

oh brilliant, that's great, really useful. I am actually finishing at Kew, but I'm getting tempted to schedule in another through the city from there to the Thames barrier with all this good advice!

I'm currently mapping a route using a combo of footpaths and the sustrans, using map my ride and the cycle streets mapping tool (why won't map my ride just show me the map with the cyclepaths on it unless I'm not logged in! Grrr!). I'll share it when I'm done. 

So I think we've got from Windsor covered, I wonder if anyones done west of Windsor. I'm gettng quite excited, thanks for all your help!


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## andym (28 Feb 2011)

The Thames Path/riverside is pretty doable east of Tower Bridge and on down through Greenwich and the Greenwich Penninsula. There are one or two places where you need to head back inland eg at Dockhead in Bermondsey, but nothing that presents any significant issues. 

Sections of the route (eg Richmond) will be busy at weekends but quiet the rest of the time. The South Bank is always busy and would be problematic with a large group of cyclists: the most considerate thing would be to get off and walk for a bit on that section.


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## Norm (28 Feb 2011)

West of Windsor? That's my back garden, that is.  The first 7 or 8 miles west of Windsor are easy cycle track to the north of the Thames, skirting the Eton Rowing Lake (one of the 2012 venues). 

There is a section of around 200m just before you go under the M4 which should be walked, but I usually ride it slowly without a problem. 

Under the Sounding Arch and you come to Maidenhead Bridge, cross to the south bank and follow the road as far as Cookham. It's not a bad bit of road, over Widbrook Moor with Cliveden visible across the river, but I'm not sure what it's like from there to Marlow and onwards.


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## Bodhbh (28 Feb 2011)

Norm said:


> It's not a bad bit of road, over Widbrook Moor with Cliveden visible across the river, but I'm not sure what it's like from there to Marlow and onwards.



Reminds me, the Rebellion Brewery and shop are at Marlow (well Marlow bottom) 

If any fuel needed putting in the tank, moral needed lifting, medicine was required, etc.


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## Disco Bike (28 Feb 2011)

Bodhbh said:


> Reminds me, the Rebellion Brewery and shop are at Marlow (well Marlow bottom)
> 
> If any fuel needed putting in the tank, moral needed lifting, medicine was required, etc.




Probably all three!


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## Norm (28 Feb 2011)

The Rebellion place is a bit of a pain to get to from the river, the High Street and A4155 are not good places to take a group - although I love riding along the High Street solo as the traffic is usually moving much slower than I do.  

Besides, I prefer Brakspear in Henley. 

I'll see if I can get out this weekend to scout it from Cookham to Marlow and possibly on to Henley.


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## Brains (28 Feb 2011)

I've ridden this route a number of times.
We live on the river at Greenwich, my brother lives on the river at Putney, and we have good friends who live on the river beyond Dartford.
We have also ridden to Bath along the K&A canal 

To cap it all my wife won't ride on roads with cars, so I have followed the Thames cycle route very closley.

It is ridable all the way on a touring bike, maybe not on a pure road bike though
You need to ride it a couple of times to get to know the route as it squiggles and wiggles
You need to be able to read a map (well. And have a bar bag to put it in)
Most of the route is on the south side of the river, there is a point around Kew when it's on the north, but mostly it's south

The big deviations away from the river that I remember are;
The bit around the River Cray near Dartford (A bridge is due to be built for the Millenium, which millenium ??)
The bit downstream of the Thames Barrier (a scrap yard that will not grant access, and Boris can't make them)
The bit around Battersea Powerstation 
I'm sure there were others


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## Disco Bike (18 Mar 2011)

Hey guys, once again thansk for all the input. I've been looking into it further and basically the Sustrans route 4 does deviate significantly from the path. The Thames path according to maps does seem to run all the way along, but may be difficult to cycle due to not being allowed/there being obstructions to bikes/ rubbish paths. However we plan to try and go with the Sustrans route which stays close to the Thames although not on it, as a back up. Best thing to do if anyone else ever wants todo this in the future is to order the sustrans map from their website. It's very helpful. Thanks, Disco.


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## TigCshaff (2 Mar 2019)

I found this thread when planning to cycle the Thames- and the following may be of use.....its now March 2019, so a few years on!
The idea was to see how far we could comfortably cycle in a day, as planning to cycle the Eurovelo from the source of the Rhine. 
_Figured 25-30 miles a good starting point, so booked an overnight stay at Egham.
We live in Marlow, and intended to catch the train to Richmond and cycle the Thames path back, but Marlow to Reading demands a few changes, and needed to book bikes in advance. There are only 2 bike spaces and they were taken-it was Feb half term and great weather so not surprising._
_Instead, we cycled from home to LONDON__. _
_Now, _I may be speaking out of turn, and walkers will undoubtably disagree, but cycling the river path from Marlow to Windsor is doeable. Take the minor road behind All Saints Chuch in Marlow-the big steeple church by Bisham bridge, and the road passes the lock, and weaves through a housing estate. Pass over a large field to your right and under a bridge and you're on the river bank. There are fields to cycle across on route to Bourne End, and the railway bridge to carry your bike across after Boune End marina, swing gate styles to squeeze your bike through, and sections through sailing clubs and housing where signs ask to dismount. Otherwise, I haven't been asked not to cycle by passing walkers. _It's a beautiful, scenic, quintessential English setting, and a shame to stick to the roads._
We did decide to cycle by road along side of the river from Cookham to Taplow, just because _I remember_ there being little wriggle room along the path, and we were getting a bit fed up of sloshing about in mud at the stiles.
The river road, over Taplow bridge takes you via Bray along the Thames, Dorney Lake and new Windsor. The cycle route suggest to follow the Jubilee river, and its a pleasant cycle, but again I've never had difficulties or objections cycling the former route.
From Windsor to Egham, I searched every way to continue the river, but it seemed impossible, so we took to minor roads, bisected the Long Walk and cycled Old Windsor to the Devere Hotel (kindly, they let us use their luggage room to store our bikes overnight). We'd only cycled 20.4 miles, and realised that we could have easily added on another 10 miles today. Cycling on the flat is so much easier!
The next day, I really wanted to cycle past Runnymede Magna Carta monument, which meant the river path, rather than the busy road. _It is a footpath and not a cycle route, but again, no issues cycling it. The road is close to your right, so any objections meant that we could easily zip onto the road._
_Passing though Staines via the river and then to Chertsey, I knew here, at the Kingfisher inn, we would need to cycle route 4 along the road, as the river fragments. The cycle path is well marked and rather than the busy road, keeps on a designated part of the pavement._
_The last section into London, surprised me, as the scenery remained wonderful, paths widened and it hardly felt like we were in the largest city. We did need to navigate though the busy streets to refind the path, but cycle route app that I'd downloaded was really useful and stopped me getting lost a few times._
Hampden Court, we could not resist pushing our bikes to the cafe in the grounds and enjoying a coffee, before cycling the last leg to Richmond train station. With difficulty, we spotted the centre train carriage to take our bikes- no reservation required, and got back to Reading, where we were collected, loaded bikes on car racks and back in time for supper. My tracker had stated a total of 46.6 miles. The second day, had been easy cycling too, and we realised we could have done the lot in one day. 
But, the answer is that 80% is accessible by the river path and the other sections generally well marked out for cyclists. The paths were quiet, except in London, but later in the season may be busier.


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## Yellow Fang (6 Mar 2019)

Is sustrans route 4 the one that goes to Oxford. If so, I'd be tempted to take that rather than the Thames Path. It is somewhat hilly, though very pretty. I'd cut out Didcot though. I have not gone all the way from Reading to Oxford along the Thames Path, but some of it is rather grassy and difficult by bike. Around Reading the path is narrow in places, you share with lots of pedestrians. Some bits of the river bank are private, so you have to carry your bike over footbridges.


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## TigCshaff (7 Mar 2019)

Hi Yellow Fang,
Yep, thats the one. I dipped onto the route 4 a few times, when difficult following the river path. The idea was to see how far we could comfortably ride on relative flat ground, compared to cycling around Henley, Turville, Frieth, Marlow and Wallingford. My comfort zone is in the mountains- I can walk a lot further in a day in the SE than on the hills in Cumbria! Maybe, we were lucky not to pass many pedestrians, but when cycling along the river path, I rarely do. I dont think people mind if you're considerate and get off your bike at appropriate times. Im reading the threads about cycling the Rhine, but seems a bit of a logistic nightmare to get bikes over to Andermatt, so may think again


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## icowden (11 Mar 2019)

I cycled Walton to Staines on Saturday (and back again). You can either follow the river and take the ferry at Shepperton, or you can nip up and over Walton Bridge and down through Shepperton to get back to the river. Probably about 10 minutes longer, but when you discover that the Ferry doesn't start until 9 and it's 8.30, still quicker. However, although you can follow the towpath for a short distance, the road itself becomes one way and what's left of the riverside path gets very thin and pretty much impassable. It then turns into a tough-mud offroading event at Dumsey Meadow.

The better (and only sensible) route is to follow #4 to Chertsey Bridge. Then you drop down onto Thames side at which point you have a lovely cycle ride on a fairly decent path all the way up to Staines until you get to the town centre at which point there are a couple more #4 detours away from the river.


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