From some of the blogs I read, I had heard about Sustrans' problematic Notional Cycle Network, which was muddy, or circuitous, or illegal to cycle on, or physically impossible to access.
So I decided to see for myself. I had a friend living in Putney, and had been wanting to visit Hampton Court for a while. Enter National Cycle Network Route 4, which runs between those two points.
Here is a summary of the environments which I encountered, then some thoughts.
- Thames River Path
- Footpath
- A bit muddy
- Full of pedestrians
- Footpath between sports field and Wetlands Centre
- Footpath
- Not wide enough to pass kids on bikes coming the other way without seriously slowing down
- Also full of pedestrians
- Queen Elizabeth Walk
- Am I meant to be on the road here? Or the pavement? Is pavement cycling illegal here? The road is nose-to-tail with cars. Overtaking on the other side of the road it is. My more nervous friend sticks on the pavement. Ah, now I'm at a busy junction and the route goes left on the pavement. Quick, get through the line of cars.
- Rocks Lane
- Footpath
- Cycle path separated from pavement by a line of trees. Pedestrians on both though.
- Incredibly bumpy because of tree roots
- Ranelaugh Avenue
- How do I get there? Cross as a pedestrian?
- Barnes
- 'Quiet' back streets
- Parked cars on both sides of the road, making it 1 lane wide
- Drivers do not slow down when they see you - several tonnes of metal being aimed straight at me was not a pleasant experience any of the several times it happened. I would not let a child on those roads.
- Barnes Green
- Paved footpath
- Dismount for this bridge? Remount now we've crossed? Or is this a pavement? Oh, here's a sticker on a lamppost. That probably means it's ok to cycle.
- Vine Road
- Reasonably quiet road
- Do I go down Scarth Road or Vine Road? Scarth Road looks quieter. Oh, a 'Cyclists dismount' sign at the end. Walk the bike across to Vine Road.
- Upper Richmond Road junction
- Traffic lights
- Busy, quite a lot of cars
- Uphill start with drivers waiting
- Priory Lane
- Busy
- Fence directly on my left, no pavement - if someone comes at me, I've nowhere to bail to
- I don't know if my friend is dead somewhere behind me, but I'm not going to slow down to check, I'm too scared.
- There seems to be some kind of bidirectional cycle path narrower than a bicycle on the pavement on the other side of the road. I wonder if I'm supposed to be on it. Too late now, can't stop long enough to cross the road. Looking at it afterwards on StreetView, no, there was no way of getting to it without a) knowing it was there already and b) dismounting and walking to it.
- Roehampton Gate (road)
- Quiet
- Roehampton Gate
- Medium-busy roundabout
- What are all these cars doing in a park?
- My friend (who had survived, as it turns out) can't handle roundabouts with traffic, and has to dismount. There is no way to walk to where he needs to be to carry on, though.
- Sawyer's Hill
- Congested road
- Full of racing cyclists
- Also full of cars
- We are going too slowly for everyone, cyclists and drivers, in a park with a 20mph speed limit.
- We bail onto other park roads as soon as possible.
- Richmond Park
- Car-free paved roads
- Difficult signage
- We miss the signs for the NCN4 repeatedly, and instead have a pleasant cycle on the mostly car-free tarmac roads of Richmond Park. Then give up for the day.
In conclusion
I have no idea who the target user for this mess was supposed to be. You need a mountain bike to deal with the Thames Path and the tree roots, and a racing bike to keep up with the traffic even in Richmond Park. You need to be able to accelerate to 20mph uphill, be willing to be driven at head first, and know when to take the lane and when to dive out of the way. You also needed to be willing to cycle at 5mph on pavements behind pedestrians.
As a utility route, it is utterly useless. It does not provide a safe, direct, pleasant route from any A to any B.
As a leisure route, it is worse. What do I want from a leisurely Saturday afternoon cycle? To travel slowly side-by-side with a friend, chatting away, paying little attention to my surroundings.
We can make all the excuses for the National Cycle Network that we like, but in the end, at no point whilst on the NCN did we manage that. On foot, I can manage it just between my house and the shops - I am not requiring anything outrageous!
NCN Route 4, Section 2 is not suitable for:
- people on city bikes
- people on road bikes
- people who don't know how to deal with traffic
- people who just don't like traffic
- people who are not physically fit
- people who don't like stop-starting
- people who can't read maps
- people who like to go fast
- people who like to go slow
I think that covers 100% of the population of Britain.
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