I started the day feeling
surprisingly fresh, mentally at least.
We made another early start, aiming to get to the Thames Barrier before
the final day of the Premier League finishes.
Today we actually left on time, and made very good pace from Slough toStaines .
Today we actually left on time, and made very good pace from Slough to
We joined
the river towpath at Staines and followed it
all the way to Shepperton. This route
was brilliant, with good pace, flat surfaces, and great scenery. We crossed the river with the Shepperton
Ferry, and followed the towpath again all the way to Hampton Court, via Walton
on Thames and Sunbury. We made great time to reach Hampton , although the towpath was busy with
other cyclists (for another charity event). Since we’d arrived at Hampton before midday, we
carried on to Twickenham for a lunch stop.
The morning had seemed to fly by,
it hadn’t even occurred to me that we were now on the tidal section of the
Thames, starting just by Teddington, and were now deep in Greater London.
We then followed the roads
through to Richmond ,
and were grateful for the not-so-busy roads.
At Richmond it was back on the towpath
following the river right round to Putney
Bridge . Where the
excessive rain of the past few weeks had left puddles of mud, this made this
footpath much more interesting by trying to avoid walkers, cyclists, dogs off
leads, and tree routes! Here the
cyclocross bike came into its own, handling the muddy, stony, and uneven
surfaces well.
From Putney to Westminster it was back on the roads, having
to deal with a very busy King’s Road, which had a lot of gridlocked traffic on
it. Fed up with breathing in the fumes
of taxi’s and buses, I decided it would be quicker to get off the road and walk
up the pavement instead. However, I
hadn’t reckoned for the tide of Chelsea FC fans walking in the opposite
direction to Stamford
Bridge !
However, once the King’s Road was
finished, it was on to the Chelsea Embankment, which was much quieter and had a
lovely cycle path down the pavement by the river. Soon after, it was on the best part of the route
so far – the Cycle Superhighway up Millbank.
The blue painted smooth tarmac seemed to allow the bike to just glide
down the road towards Westminster .
A quick stop outside the Houses of
Parliament, and it’s onto London
Bridge for a final quick
stop before the final leg of the journey.
We crossed the river one last time and went straight on to Greenwich and the Cutty
Sark, and then the final few miles to our ultimate destination, the Thames
Barrier.
We had made it!
I felt quite emotional at the end
- probably more relieved, but very happy at the personal achievement. There
was much back slapping and high-fiving, before slumping on the nearby
benches. We arrived just in time to catch the last 10 minutes of the Premier
League season. The two Manchester United supporters in our group went
from ecstasy to agony within
minutes at hearing the scores.
We had a long deserved break at
the Thames Barrier, before we went our separate ways; Shum cycled back home to
Redhill, while Paterson, Foster, and I went to our overnight stop at the Canary
Wharf Hilton Hotel, on the Isle of Dogs.
This meant cycling back to Greenwich , where we could take the foot tunnel underneath
the Thames . Unfortunately, the lift at
the other end of the tunnel was broken, which meant after all our excursions,
we had to lift our bikes and climb the steep spiral staircase!! Once
checked in at the hotel and suitably refreshed, we set about milling about Canary Wharf
for a decent restaurant. I just wish I'd bought something more suitable
than flip-flops to wear! We celebrate
and enjoy the evening with a few well earned drinks.
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