It is 9.30am and I am in Hampton Hill, Middlesex about to begin a 100 kilometre ride around London, not a race but an organised route with a few questions to answer on the way as proof I have covered the route. I am carrying no luggage to-day so there will be no pictures of this one.
About 20 riders set off in the direction of Twickenham and soon pick up the path alongside the river Thames. The view alternates (with the river always on the same side!) between fields and interesting looking houses, Victorian/Edwardian? I have no idea, but they are all very nice to look at as we ride along. On through Syon Park and Hammersmith to Shepherds Bush and Kensington then passing the famous Portobello Road market. Into Hyde Park I miss the memorial to Princes Diana, oh well, a future visit to look at it.
We pass the Albert Hall and on to Buckingham Palace, after which problems occur with road closures due to building work in connection with the up-coming Olympic Games.
Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street, Saint Paul's and the City are next on the list before we ride through Saint Katherines dock and into Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs.
From here it is a walk through the Greenwich foot tunnel under the river then to pass the Cutty Sark and another walk (due to the Olympics) into Greenwich Park.
The approach to and the ride immediately after 'The Dome' is not the best I have ridden, not yet having been developed as some of this area has. I can usually find interest in disused factory area's, but not this one. There is now a cable car over the river at this point, I had not seen that before.
The route follows the Thames path through Rotherhithe and Bermondsey along cobbled roads which are not the best to ride on (my map falls off on two occasions) to eventually take us along the river path through the masses of tourists at Shakespeare's Globe theatre and HMS Belfast - we cycle at walking pace, or walk (again).
Out of the crowds and over the bridges of Westminster and Chelsea before entering Battersea Park. As attractive as this and the next 25 miles is, after an uninspiring section and tourist crowds I have lost interest, I just want to get it over with.
The next destination is Putney then on to Richmond Park with attractive sights of the deer but to add to my lack of interest, it begins to rain!
From here it is another ride alongside the river and over the bridge at Teddington Lock before passing the film studio's and on to Hampton Court Palace.
The final section is through Bushey Park and on, after almost 68 miles, to the finish at Hampton Hill - at least the rain has stopped.
'Sightseer' is certainly an apt title for this ride, I cannot count how many important and interesting places I have passed to-day, apart from the cobbled roads after Greenwich it is a wonderful tour of the capital. Will I ride it again? Probably, but on my touring bike with wider tyres and and a little less pressure in them. Then again, do I really want to ride those cobbles again and then contend with the throngs of tourists along the south bank? Probably not.
As an antidote to the London ride I rode the 'Mid-week Tour of the Cotswolds' on 18 July. Another 100 kilometres on a circular route from Witney, near Oxford. I saw the first two hours of it through the rain, but what an enjoyable ride.
Taking in country lanes and villages to Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower Slaughter, Northleach, Burford and Minster Lovell - and a table heaving with home-made cakes at the end.
I have more planned for 18 and 25 August.
As an antidote to the London ride I rode the 'Mid-week Tour of the Cotswolds' on 18 July. Another 100 kilometres on a circular route from Witney, near Oxford. I saw the first two hours of it through the rain, but what an enjoyable ride.
Taking in country lanes and villages to Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold, Lower Slaughter, Northleach, Burford and Minster Lovell - and a table heaving with home-made cakes at the end.
I have more planned for 18 and 25 August.
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