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TBH I think cycling on some urban towpaths is pretty shit. I found it difficult to maintain anything beyond jogging pace if you're being considerate. The added stress of all the pedestrian interactions and all the extra hazards like mooring bollards and narrow sections under bridges just make them far from ideal for shifting cyclists along at any great volume or speed. I also saw a lot of cyclist riding on them like locals drive along narrow country roads i.e., with very little consideration for anyone else.
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I don't use canal paths because of dog walkers who know it's shared use but let Fido off the lead to roam far and wide and joggers with headphones in who invariably can't run in a straight consistent line making passing impossible. They're also pretty depressing dog turd and rubbish strewn places to look at up here. That said, any time I have used them it's the rusty MTB brigade that seem to charge through like total wallopers too so the lingering impression is that canal paths are theatres for some kind of Darwinism with humans competing to demonstrate their total selfishness.
That said, I should invent some kind of puppy/kitten death to illustrate the evils of bipedal transport to illustrate my point better
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Yes, don't underestimate the amount of anti-cyclist feeling by other towpath users. It may be different outside of London, but there are riders who are easily the match of any bully in a motor vehicle on the streets. Some canal user groups (probably many, but I only know a few) are angry about it. Not the biggest problem in the universe, but you can see how fast some people go if you stand on the Regent's Canal towpath for a short while during the morning peak hour (but it also happens at other times).
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Oliver Schick
Just read that and tbh it sounds like Mark Townsend is a thoroughly shit dangerous cyclist projecting his faults on others...