Shared path – care and courtesy. The family friendly section is all the riding within the Great Park.
Not surprisingly as we enter a Royal Park, perfect cycling conditions await - similarly alongside the Olympic rowing course at Eton Dorney – and very good on all sections between (NCN 4 signage guides you through Windsor side streets) and beyond. Feeders join in the park so that there are plenty of ride options (Spoke 7a 0 and 1.8; Spoke 7b 2.1 and 3.4). Or used to be: the path round Virginia Water, admittedly busy at weekends, is now banned to cyclists, ridden or pushed! And the same directive applies for the short section through the deerpark of Spoke 7b. Currently therefore Spoke 7a is suspended, and Spoke 7b rerouted to enjoy another rideable option.
After a run down on the western edge of the park, Windsor is skirted through suburbs (6.9 and 7.3 Windsor & Eton links) before crossing the Thames and resuming off-road up the towpath to the magnificent Dorney Lake rowing course 8.9. Here take Spinoff 9 L for NCN 4 to Reading 10.1 and then Spoke 8S R 10.7 for Slough and West Drayton. The route ends with two miles of Jubilee River – a bird watching highlight.
