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    🚲 London’s hidden river valley cycle: East Barnet to Wood Green by bike



    You can cycle from East Barnet in north London to Wood Green, entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.

    The route is 8.3km long (5.2 miles) and makes use the Pymmes Brook greenway – a beautiful river valley – as well as cycle lanes on Bounds Green Road and Telford Road, plus two Low Traffic Neighbourhoods around Bowes.

    If you find this video useful or you just enjoy watching it please remember to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon so you’re alerted to new videos, as I try to post new ones like it every week.

    And if you like what the channel is doing, you can also contribute to the London Cycle Routes Patreon below. It really helps keep the channel going: http://patreon.com/londoncycleroutes

    You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1355284088?ref=wtd&share_token=aI434NL9C1SjwxTjlPol8WIURej4rac1ivoZjBhB84OxszEFZm

    And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1h9Hxm57fPvZmcuSXajM_Wu0G0s6f_bs&ll=51.505213496092054%2C-0.1285238120117249&z=12

    I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle London map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XlpvN9R-Wg7qZHyezO8y-eVlftr4e0WX&hl=en&ll=0%2C0&z=11

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    24 Comments

    4. James on

      Always wary of "hidden" in anything related to London, but I think it's justified here! Used to pop up to say hello through the window to my friends in Barnet during lockdown because of this route.

    5. trissybabes on

      London Borough of Barnet not pulling its weight? NEVER! Great route and a fascinating video, thanks so much for visiting some North London routes, looking forward to more in the future… 😂

    6. Henree reeman on

      Great video as always! It's a real shame that boroughs like Barnet have such poor cycling infrastructure, especially because Barnet is huge and one of the most populous boroughs in London. I really hope they can realise how cost-effective high-quality bike infrastructure can be!

    8. earljenx on

      Thanks for the route – this is my local area and use Waterfall Walk and Arno's park loads.
      Just one note – I commute through Arnos Park most evenings and I have never seen the gates locked at night.

    9. Adam Edwards on

      Brilliant to see this as I've cycled so much of this. There is an equally good path in the next valley west from Totteridge to Barnet, but it doesn't really go anywhere particular at the Barnet end.

    10. Xelt4 on

      Good route but at 4:34 you note barnet should have a crossing of some sort on osidge lane… but they literally have a zebra crossing a few meters behind where you were (to the right of 4:18)?

      You must've seen as it's not new, quite obvious and easy to access from the direction you came 😅

    13. Stephen Saines on

      "Man running for the bus" at end of vid..was a woman!

      Great vid. All very doable to this outsider, but what really rang the bell for me is "Waterfall Walk". I Googled for it, and will explore it more online later, but it appears on the map to be a section of 'Pymmes Brook Trail' of which there's ample and more reference online.

      That's absolutely the kind of route that cyclist 'ex-Londoners with a yearn to return' fixate on. Routes like that make a city livable and more.

      Oh man….

    14. Eton Mess on

      Love you videos. Wish Lewisham was better for cycling so you could do a few more down here. I live in Forest Hill and it so needs to improve.

    15. Heather Draper on

      Excellent. I know this route very well. There is however a quicker way which avoids any inclines if you carry on through Arnos park to the end & continue the road opposite (Ashridge Gardens), turn right (Powys Lane) and continue left on North Circular until cycle crossing to Palmerston Road. Continue straight & re- pick up the New River Path at Finsbury Gardens.
      Love these videos. Keep them coming 🙏🏼

    16. guronanak on

      As a Barnet resident I don't have too many good things to say about the cycling infrastructure. Too many of the road surfaces are so terrible for bikes, and it feels like the people responsible for the roads want to kill cyclists. I've been round the Arnos Grove park and Waterfall whats its a few times, and though it is nice riding I get upset when I need to cross those roads, especially at Osidge Lane.

      I admit though it is nice to see Barnet featured in this series.

      PS. Which borough is responsible for the A5 from West Hendon to Edgware, Barnet or Brent?

    17. Dan on

      I find that particular crossing over the North Circular to Tewksbury Terrace can be quite dangerous. It goes green for pedestrians and cyclists the same time that it goes green for vehicles on Station Road, so frequently cars/lorries turning left off Station Road run straight through the pedestrian crossing!

      An alternate option is to exit Arnos Park onto Wilmer Way and take the segregated bridge over the North Circular to Ollerton Road and then carry on through the Bowes LTN. This has the disadvantage of Wilmer Way being quite busy though.

    18. Go Away I'm Sleeping on

      The first feature of my dear old London Borough of Barnet on this channel… hopefully not the last once they build the network of cycle routes their recent Climate Citizens' Assembly recommended!

    20. K Rob on

      I love the Pymmes brook green ride. It's possible to come from Trent park using some multipurpose routes, those quiet roads then follow the brook.

    21. K Rob on

      Station road can have HGVs making u-turns that gets rid of those plastic bollards plus with car parking on both sides and traffic the buses barely get by the bollards that's why there's none left. A more pleasant route by Station road to Wood Green High street would have been to use the crossing at Station road, use New River Path to Western road where you have a choice of going through Mayes road (get busy rush hour) or the quieter bit by Corburg road then use the cycle path on Mayes road there's two exits one on Caxton road that takes you the the library alley on to Wood Green High Road or the newer bit by Martins walk that takes you to the Wood Green end of Alexandra road.

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