There were forty eight riders on the start list for this
year’s London Ride, but that was because the organiser had missed two more
because he did not check his spam folder.
The victims were in a generous mood, however, perhaps
because it was a beautiful Spring day and the coffee at Pembroke Lodge kiosk is
pretty good and comes promptly.
Early birds at Pembroke Lodge
Obviously, the main purpose of the London Ride is to give us
all a nice day out on the bike headed into the Metropolis rather than, as on
most other Wednesdays, away from it. But
it also gives us all a chance to ride with club members we do not normally go
out with; this year, though the bulk of riders were A and B groupers, there were
regulars from every other part of our club; Cheam and Morden, Saturday Beginners
and Easy Riders. The idea for this year’s
ride was for us all to try out the cycle shuttle service in London’s newest
sub-Thames road tunnel at Silvertown but on the way we went through
Mortlake and Barnes, Hammersmith and Holland Park, Kensington Gardens and Hyde
park, Marylebone and Bloomsbury, Covent Garden and Embankment, Blackfriars and
Tower Hill, Whitechapel and Limehouse to lunch at West India Docks.
A few bikes having lunch at The Ledger Building, West India Docks
It was a pity that Wetherspoons had not banked on the warm
weather, for a pub which on every recce had been well-nigh deserted, was packed
to the gunnels, sans curry, sans zero Guinness sans garden peas, sans half of
everything. That was trivial, though, compared
to the fact that Clive’s group arrived with the news that David J had had a serious
tumble and was on his way home with Jennie on an Uber. Broken collar bone, broken shoulder
blade, Tottenham season ticket holder. Get well soon, Dave.
Singing in the sun. Covent Garden
Evolution gone mad. The traffic light tree.
I had been fretting that the river crossing would be awkward
but John’s group went early, the bus drivers were flexible and the only modest wait
was undergone by the group whose leader made a tiny directional error enabling the
crafty lot following behind to nip in and take that waiting bus. By then we had suffered a second accident,
when Chris H was wiped out by a reckless madwoman on a Lime Bike doing a
quarter of a ton over the bridge spanning Bow Creek. Unlike the perpetrator, Good Samaritans Bob
and Mick A stayed behind to help Chris out, Mick taking him to St George’s
A&E on an Uber. Dislocated shoulder
blade. Get well soon, Chris. Bob finished the ride on his own, which was a shame, for him and for us.
The accident put a real damper on my group for a shuttle bus ride in silence and for the ride back through
Greenwich, Deptford, Millwall, Walworth, Kennington, Vauxhall and Pimlico to
cross the river for a fourth time and finish at Battersea Park.
Thanks are due to my five co-leaders; Clive, Simon L,
Madeleine, John A and Tim G. Thanks also
to Maggie, Clive, Simon , Dave W, Tim G, John, Madeleine and Dave V who each accompanied
me on at least one of the recces and who provided important input.
Thanks, too, to everyone for your good humour and patience,
but we all agree that especial thanks must go to the Met Office for the weather
they provided.
Here are the reports from group leaders.
Clive's group
.....at the tree sculpture...at Greenwich, the old Naval College
....and looking back across the river to Canary Wharf
Simon’s group.
It’s a special pleasure to lead a beautiful ride through
London, especially on a sunny day. Credit goes to Paul for route design,
and successive London mayors for creating surprisingly quiet cycle routes
through the city, on a route that passed so many interesting sights and superb
views. My group was a mixture of A and B group riders and we all enjoyed
a relaxed ride through the heart of London, only encountering traffic at
Shaftesbury Avenue, where an ambulance crew were treating someone who I think
was hit by a bus.
.....on the river at Greenwich
...weaving along the river on the Greenwich Peninsula
After a sunny lunch we went a bit off-piste through the
heart of Canary Wharf, down past Billingsgate and the traffic light tree
sculpture before rejoining Paul’s route for a smooth bus ride under the tunnel,
and more outstanding views of the city from Greenwich. Thank you to Dave
B for back-marking, and especially to Paul for devising such a varied and
scenic route.
My group
....at the Cable Street Mural commemorating the so-called riot of 1936 when the dockers confronted Oswald Moseley's Nazis
Madeleine’s group.
....at Cable St
- After
all the rain and lack of inviting cycling weather, it was great to be back
in saddle ride and test those winterised thighs
- Lunchtime
sun basking was glorious, as were the wonderful building and marvellous
toilets at the lunch stop
- We
followed the post-lunch route to a blind alley in Silvertown, which
luckily I recognised as the wrong place to be. After backtracking, we
rejoined the correct route - just behind the group that was supposed to be
behind us! So we had a little more basking at the Silvertown Shuttle stop
- and plenty of time to get organised on the next bus
- After
an attempt at an early finish (to let the legs rest at last) the whole
group - with the exception of their valiant leader- voted to take the uber
boat from Greenwich to Waterloo. The leader went on alone, but was soon
caught up by the rest of the group when they discovered the waiting time
for the boat. All made it onto trains at Vauxhall, a little later
John’s group.
The fifth group started out from Pembroke Lodge in splendid
sunshine and made good, enjoyable progress through the south London suburbs,
except for a very lengthy wait at the Sheen level crossing.
When we reached Holland Park we found that we had caught up
with the earlier group and so we passed them and had a very pleasant ride
through the London parks.
When we got to our lunch stop we found that there was a
considerable wait for food and so we decided to ride on to the shuttle and seek
lunch south of the river. We stopped at the riverside Cutty Sark in Greenwich
and then rode into the final stretch of an excellent and well planned route.
.....on the Silvertown shuttle
When we got to Kennington we began to split up, one going
for the train from Vauxhall, two more making their different ways across
Clapham Common, two more splitting off in Tooting, leaving one more heading via
the Wandle Trail to catch a train in Sutton.
A splendid day out.
Tim’s group
Over fifty cyclists must have met at Pembroke Lodge today to
enjoy a day in what proved to be the warmest temperatures this year so far. Our
chief leader had organised us into six groups and I was to lead the last group
out. We welcomed Gareth W who joined us for the first time today and together
with a couple of others ten of us left for today’s adventure.
All went well as we left Richmond Park, crossed the
river and made our way through to Holland Park where we ran into two other
groups who were availing themselves of the public facilities. Having rallied
them along we continued on-route to Kensington Gardens for a group photo
opportunity. Cycling on past a variety of landmarks and places of interest we
eventually got to the river where we picked up the cycle path that took us all
the way to Canary Wharf.
....in Kensington Gardens
The main hazard seemed to be the unpredictable
behaviour of those riding the black e-bikes who didn’t seem to adhere to any
accepted road etiquette or safety standards. We narrowly escaped a few
potentially dangerous collisions.
The ‘Ledger Building’ was surprisingly busy compared to when
we did the recces but we all had a welcome break and got suitably fed and
watered. After a brief group reshuffle nine of us set out on the afternoon ride
towards the Silvertown Tunnel. As we approached we caught sight of a previous
group who had seemingly made a slight detour which meant that we arrived at the
cycle shuttle first and immediately boarded without delay. The driver was
particularly cooperative and accommodating as we swiftly passed through the
tunnel to emerge on the other side. A new experience for most of us !
The rest of our ride went smoothly as we passed though
Greenwich and other areas south of the river to reach our final destination at
Battersea Park for tea. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to making
today’s ride a success and to all in my group for being so kind and
appreciative. Always a pleasure to lead an eager and enthusiastic group of
cyclists. A good day had by all my group.
.jpg)
