I love the Rea Valley cycle route. My love for it is unhindered by the fact that I still don't know how to pronounce it (the 'Rea' bit, that is. Not 'Valley', 'cycle' or 'route', I hasten to add). To be honest, I love any urban cycle route that gives you a completely different perspective on a city. It starts in the backstreets of atmospheric Digbeth, takes you through Edgbaston, Balsall Heath, Kings Heath, Stirchley, Northfield, Kings Norton and out to the Waseley Hills. This sounds like a heck of a long way, but in fact is only 10 miles. And you get to take in at least 4 parks along the way.
It's fairly flat and relatively easy, so a lot of people from south Birmingham actually use this route to commute if they work in town - you can join up with the canal network in Gas Street basin also. Speeding merrily along the River Rea, through some of Birmingham's best green spaces and then onto the canals: that's got to be a hundred times better than sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Pershore Road every morning. And it's good for the environment too, of course. What's not to love? Well, it's not all parks and canals, unfortunately. But at least it brings a different perspective to an otherwise dull potential commute. read more