Cycling London's Capital Ring: Woolwich to Crystal Palace

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As described in my previous blogpost, I arrived at North Woolwich at about 1pm and I crossed the Thames via the Woolwich foot tunnel to emerge at the southern portal, which is the official start of the Capital Ring. I cycled onward, and managed to reach Crystal Palace 19 miles away by 6pm. Here is my gpx track, together with all the other segments I have cycled.

The fine weather held out, clearing to give some late afternoon sunshine, making for a pleasant ride, comprising the now familiar mix of parks and open spaces, connected by a variety of suburban streets. The salient issues with the route were:

The path climbs out of Woolwich via Maryon Park using a steep flight of 115 steps: I carried my bike up - wish I had one of those super lightweight carbon jobbies!
the path up to Severndroog Castle was stepped: but the gradient is shallow and I was able to push up these pretty easily
the path down from Severndroog Castle has a short flight of steps, easy to carry down
(I think the steps mentioned above can be bypassed by following the Green Chain signs.)
a fair proportion of the route is off-tarmac on dirt paths, no problem after our hot, dry spell, but I imagine quite muddy after rain and in winter
the Capital Ring is coincident with the Green Chain walk for most, but not all, of this walk. This makes for some rather complex double signing, but its OK when you get used to it

None of these were show stoppers at all, and I really enjoyed the ride. Highlights for me included:

Thames riverside path out of Woolwich
the view over London and surrounding countryside from Severndroog Castle atop Shooter's Hill (entrance fee; I was lucky to catch it open, google for opening times)
the descent through Oxleas Woods
Eltham Palace; closed to prepare for an art deco fair, but they allowed me across the moat for a peep around the courtyard;
Downham Woodland Walk: a ribbon of woodland which has been preserved and provides a pleasant greenway running through this housing estate
Beckenham Place Park: the house and landscape garden are being restored to their former glory
Crystal Palace Park, especially the old terrace and Egyptian Sphinxs, all that remains of the old Crystal Palace; plus, beware of the Dinosaurs

A confession: between New Beckenham station and Penge East station, suffering from park-fatigue, I diverted from the True Path and omitted a couple of park perimeter rides to stay on the straight road between the two stations.

I called it a day at Crystal Palace, and got the train back to Clapham Junction, where I picked up the mainline train home.