Cycle Geekery: Stony Stratford to Newhaven (AKA The Shakedown)

January 30th was our go day. We started off very close to Wolverton Train Station, took a mixture of the Grand Union Canal and NCR6.

The GUC in winter is very muddy, which makes the narrow and sometimes pathless parts only enjoyable for those with high fitness, thighs of steel and a love of slow progress.

We abandoned the canal paths and also somehow lost NCR6. Unsure if signage was poor or we were not paying attention, either way, we ended up not being on the right cycle way somewhere outside of Bletchley.

We ended up going down the roads that roughly ran alongside the GUC all the way into London. I am a novice and found the road into London we took which is the end of the A5, was just too congested and too crazy for me to feel safe to cycle, so we did do a bit of walking into the centre. Anyone confident on a bike would be fine though, it is just quite busy.

Once in London, we had a rest day and then started the Avenue Verte which begins at the London Eye and continues from inner London, over the North and South Downs and eventually stops in Newhaven, where you hop on a ferry to continue the cycle route.

One thing that needs to be said about the Avenue Verte (UK side) and the other cycle routes we took on this journey; the signage is bad. Often it was unclear where to go, we frequently found ourselves stopping and consulting our phones for guidance, which naturally creates a situation of starting and stopping a lot. Often you can't get into a rhythm because its not clear where you should be going. (We met another cyclist in London, who offered to show us where to go. He had met a couple of people on the Avenue Verte lost at exactly the point we were.)

It does improve the further south one goes, with generally improved signage and allowance for cyclists. And weirdly less aggro from cars or pedestrians either.

Special mention for the Forest Way and the Cuckoo Trail (lovely cycling) which were both the highlight of the routing on the English side.

The entire journey found path quality was generally okay (except for GUC) although cycle route 6 was incredibly lumpy (mainly tree roots) and unkempt.

Some of the stretches of the Avenue Verte, in particular one bit in Sussex on route 21 (we think!), it was the last bit and was crazy muddy (as in: ankle deep, boggy) with the path having been chewed up massively by horses.

Many parts of the journey made me wonder how anyone could do it on a road bike, though I understand many have. Perhaps it is much easier in summer.

It took us 8 days, one of which was a rest day, we did roughly 40km a day. I'm settling in, but things still hurt!