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Tower bridge opens to allow ships into the pool of London (classic route, Stage 1)

The routes

Classic route

Historically this route started in Southwark at the southern end of London bridge and used the old Roman Watling Street (A2 in the British road numbering system) to reach Dover. It then followed Route National 1 (N1), a road created during Napoleonic times, from Calais to Paris where it ended at point zero, a bronze plaque set in the pavement in front of Notre Dame cathedral. Modern day traffic conditions have seen these roads change in character and the original route is nowadays not suitable for a leisurely cycle ride. In England, much of the A2 has been improved with up to four lanes of fast moving traffic in each direction, while in France the completion of the autoroute (motorway) network and transfer of responsibility for non-motorway roads from national to local government has led to a downgrading and renumbering of N1 to D901. Despite this, the largely unimproved D901 is a dangerous road with fast moving traffic.