Where is it? At the beginning of the ornamental canal just after St Katherine’s Dock, east of Tower Bridge.
What’s quirky about it? San Francisco bangs on about its steep and eight-hairpinned Lombard St being the ‘crookedest street in the world’ (it’s not: San Fran’s own Vermont St is steeper, and the crookedest street in the world is Wall St, har har). Well, this is London’s bike answer: a six-hairpin traffic-free scoot down on to a canal towpath.
Why bike there? Calm, delightful, traffic-free canalside cycling from touristy St Kat’s Dock to… well, as far as Paddington or Birmingham, if you want (see Quirky London 10). The Ornamental Canal has a trim, Dutch new-build feel to it.