Avenue Verte: Clapham to Gatwick

A good longer route for beginners - for a video guide scroll to the bottom.

Even in London there are riverside views like this.

This route mostly follows the first thirty and a bit miles of the Avenue Verte, though to make life easier I skipped the first short section through central London.

The Avenue Verte, for those who don't know, is a cycle route that goes from London to Paris, using mostly country lanes and off road cycle trails.  The going is good on this portion, and mostly on smooth tarmac, so any bike will work if you want to attempt all or some of the route. Some sections are busier than others, if you want to take kids its worth getting the guidebook and working out which parts are best for you.

Most of the route is pretty clearly signed.

From Clapham the ride will take you 31 miles to Gatwick, through backstreets, riverside paths, parks and on cycle ways along Sustrans National Cycle routes 20 and 21. Two parks on the London side of the North Downs provide good stopping places for a cafe meal and a comfort break, both Morden and Oaks Park make excellent stop off points. You atre also never too far from shops,or a railway station should you need supplies or want to call it a day. After a long stretch of fairly level going the route climbs upwards across the North Downs at Farthing Down, a beautiful wild hill top park. After that it is a dip down on the southern side of the downs and the going flattens out again.

Crossing the bridge over the M25 and then quickly under the M23 isn't as noisy as you would expect and you soon forget the traffic rumble as you zig-zag along country tracks towards Redhill.

From Redhill its a short blast along backstreets and tracks to Horley, where you pass under the railway, dismounting to use the underpass. Apparently the Cure wrote a song about this subway, an unofficial blue plaque says so. Another tells you the distance you are from London(46km) and from Paris(458km), that's just under 285 miles to go if you fancy keeping going. Alternatively it really is just half an hour to Gatwick where you could get a flight to Paris if you fancied.

But if you are sensible, or a little tired the best thing to do is get the lift, which is right next to the cycle path, up to the station and catch a train home.

The Mark 3 at Clapham Junction station.

The route is mostly very clear and signs show NCN 20 through London and NCN 21 once across the M25, also the Avenue Verte symbol appears on lots of signs. Between Earlsfield and Carshalton the route also follows the River Wandle and signs for the Wandle Trail will also help you find your way. But relying on signs alone may be a dangerous sign, in some places where a sign would help there isn't one, in a few places a finger post has been twisted round to point on the wrong direction. In order to avoid getting lost a copy of the Sustrans official guide to the Avenue Verte is helpful, it has clear maps and a step by step discription. Find it >here <. Alternatively the Ordnance Survey Maps (Landranger 176 and 187) have the cycle ways marked with a green dotted line so can be a useful way to keep track of where you are.

A video of this route:

More cycling films are on my Youtube Channel