Rapha Festive 500, London Waterways - Day 3: Thames Path and Wey Navigation

Featured waterways: River Thames (from Kingston to Weybridge), Wey Navigation, River Mole, River Wandle 

Distance ridden: 81km 

Cumulative distance: 224km

Distance left: 276km

Terrain: Gravel, Muddy track, 50% on tarmacked road 

Weather: Overcast, light rain, 8 degC

Nutrition: Water, half a banana, Ryvita with peanut butter

Route on Strava:

It's good to get out of the house at 9 o'clock. The first day I managed this, on day two I was out at 9.30. Today, was a lethargic 10.30am. But hey, one is allowed a Christmas hangover. Today's ride focused on South-West London. So I cycled over to Kingston. Instead of taking the main Hampton Road with all the other club cyclists and trying to beat my Strava time on this popular segment, I dropped down onto the gravelly Thames Path to reach Hampton Court Palace.

Hampton Court Palace

For sure, if you are wanting to ride at training pace this is not the route to take, but it is a very leisurely and scenic way to get to Hampton Court. It was almost midday by this time, and more folks were flocking there for their Boxing Day walk. However, it was still possible to ride through okay and share the path with other cyclists as well as walkers. I am not sure it would be quite so easy to ride through in the afternoon, though.

Hampton Court is one of those places I really enjoy visiting - the palace, the quaint flats overlooking the River Thames, the barges, and the independent bijou shops on the high street make this the sort of place I could hang out in all day.

I am not sure I would want to live there though. I think it's all right to be there and be cut off from the rest of the world for a short while, but I would worry that I might end up with a very insular outlook on the world. And on a more practical note, the traffic on the roundabout heading towards the M3 can be a nightmare!

River Thames at Hurst Park, near Hampton Court

So I continued along the Thames through Sunbury, Walton, and on to Weybridge. Up to Hampton Court, the terrain had been compact gravel. Once past Hurst Park, the track was muddy - at times very muddy and it would have made for a decent bit of cyclocross training.

Talking of sport, there was a lot of that going on here. As well as cyclists, there were joggers, people playing football in the nearby park, canoeists, and a bit of stand-up board paddling - something that has really taken off this year.

Once at Weybridge, the Thames fed into the River Wey. Rather than follow the signs to get onto the River Wey, I followed signs for Addlestone to reach the Wey Navigation - a canal parallel to the River Wey. I figured that this would be less muddy than the main river.

Initially, I thought my hopes of avoiding a mudfest were dashed as the start of the Wey Navigation was so claggy - even with the straw laid on the ground to make it passable. The path was narrow, and at times I worried I would slide and fall into the water! I felt a little guilty that the friendly folks around there looked at me expecting to bid me "good day" or "Merry Christmas", but I couldn't look at them as I was focused on my bike handling!

After a couple of hundred metres the path rose up to a higher elevation and the ground was much drier than earlier. I heaved a sigh of relief and was able to appreciate my surroundings, which were very pretty - even under the gloomy skies.

Eventually the path reached the road, at New Haw Lock. Sadly, I had to make the prudent decision to return home as the sky turned deep grey and the drizzle became more like rain.

Wanting to get back sooner rather than later, my route home was practically all on road. I went through Byfleet, Cobham, and Stoke d'Abernon where I briefly rode alongside the River Mole. Then I continued on through |Oxshott, Ewell, Cheam and Sutton. These are all places I was familiar with, having done training rides there on my road bike.

At Carshalton I entered Beddington Park to pick up the Wandle Trail, which follows the river Wandle to Croydon. It was quite a surprise to bump into Louise Mahé, a fellow cycle racer who I have raced with in the past. It had been ages since I last saw her, and so it was quite a fluke to just randomly cross paths with her just outside Croydon.

I could hang out at Hampton Court all day!

Eventually I reached home, just as it was getting dark and the rain became heavy. Weatherwise, it had been a grim Boxing Day. But I must say I was glad to have been able to get out and ride along the Thames and go through the pretty side of Hampton Court, as well as to discover the Wey Navigation. This year's Boxing Day is certainly an improvement on last year's when I left my house as a mountain biker and returned home as a drowned rat after being caught in torrential rain and sploshing my way across muddy trails in the local parks. 

Today had certainly been a fun day.

Related posts

Festive 500, London Waterways - Day 1

Festive 500, London Waterways - Day 2

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life tour: Day 7, Windsor Great Park

Stats
Kms ridden: 133
Running total: 503
Kms left: 0

Weather: sunny, 12 degC


Parks: Bushy; Windsor Great; Gunnersbury; Chiswick; Holland; Regents; Hyde


Route on Strava


Although today's post is entitled Windsor Great Park, that lovely park in Berkshire to the west of London, this was actually a mega ride that went all the way back into central London and took in Royal Parks before returning to Crystal Palace.

Bushy Park - the unsung hero of Royal Parks

Having roughly 130km left to reach the magic 500km, I had toyed with the idea of doing the whole lot in one day.

As long as I left the house early I would be able to do the ride.

This would be a largely flat ride as there would only be small lumps at Virginia Water and within Windsor Great Park.

Also, given that the ride would be mainly within the London conurbation even if it got dark this would not be a problem as the roads would be well lit, as opposed to be stuck out on misty country lanes of Sussex in the dark.

So I set off from home at around 9am, passing through a misty South-West London. Fortunately, the sun did come out and all mist was burned away. So by the time I reached Richmond and Twickenham the day looked lovely.

My first park of the day was Bushy Park, the unsung hero to me. Folks rave on about the nearby Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common, and Hampton Court Palace across the road, but forget about Bushy Park.

If a park like Bushy existed in any other town people would be marvelling at how beautiful it is. But because of its more "glamorous" neighbours it doesn't get mentioned much.

Even I admit that many a time I have breezed straight past the place when on a cycle ride to Hampton Court, or en route to Windsor. So today, I was happy to ride a route that took me right through Bushy.

Bushy Park is pretty large, pan flat, with a lake and ornate fountain. It's an extremely pleasant place to do a run. In fact, the Park Run - something that millions of people up and down the country do every Saturday morning - began in Bushy Park. The event has one of the biggest fields, with numbers regularly exceeding 2,000!

Otherwise, if you are feeling less energetic there are plenty of places to just stop among the regularly arranged trees and have a picnic.

Once back on the road I breezed past Hampton Court Palace and pushed on to Virginia Water, one of my favourite parks in the South-East. Along the way, I saw lots of groups of cyclists. That is not an uncommon sight, but what struck me more was the pace that people were riding at - almost like there was a sense of urgency. It made me think that they were probably trying to get in their Festive 500 kilometres before tomorrow's deadline!



As usual, Virginia Water was packed with Christmas walkers from Surrey and Berkshire. From there, I rode up through Windsor Great Park and into Windsor, where there were humongous queues to get into the Castle. I can't believe that people would hang around all day standing in line!  At least the sun was out.

A brief period of calm on Eton Bridge, after the bustle around Windsor Castle

Once past the tourists in Windsor and Eton my ride took on a much less glamorous landscape as I passed through drab suburbs near Slough, and then up through places like West Drayton and Southall before reaching Gunnersbury Park.

This park took me back to 30 years ago when I was a student at Warwick University, and spent a summer in Ealing. Gunnersbury Park felt like the centre of the universe! Today, it was a modest, though still pleasant neighbourhood park. 

By the time I reached Chiswick it was getting dark and it was getting a bit desolate being stuck out on the busy South Circular Road.

Finally made it to Westminster - 500km done!

Thankfully, that spell didn't last long, and my route then took me through Hammersmith, Kensington and then into central London via Holland Park.

Being in the West End I couldn't omit to go around the Royal Parks, so I did a quick stint around Regents Park while getting overtaken by lots of chain gang club riders. Then I had to battle my way through the crowds visiting Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

My 500km were achieved in Dulwich, South London however I chose to do my photo shoot in Westminster where it would be better lit at night.








Related posts
Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 6, South Downs National Park

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 5, Box Hill

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 4, Knole Park

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 3, Beckenham/Croydon

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 2, East/Central London

Rapha Festive 500 - Park Life Tour: Day 1, Richmond Park

Daily photo - 21: Belated Rapha Women's 100 - A Royal Ride

Stopover at Windsor Castle

Every year women all around the world cycle 100km on a given date either in organised events or in other individual rides, all in the name of doing the Rapha Women's 100.

It actually took place last Saturday, 14th September but I was busy racing. I also raced on Sunday so it was difficult to find the time to fit in a 100km ride. Finally I made a date with doing it on this sunny Saturday.

Whenever Rapha do these biking initiatives I like to get on board and find a theme, so this Women's 100 was called a royal ride.

It was basically a route that I have been wanting to do for ages but a combination of habit and laziness has meant that I generally stay in the lanes nearer to my home in Kent and Surrey.

Today would be a bit of an outing, and to mark the occasion I used the fancy Liv Avail Advanced Pro 1 I've been testing, and put on my favourite Primal jersey. I don't think motorists can say they didn't see me!

My ride started from home, in Crystal Palace. Anyone familiar with the area will know it's not regal, but the name fits with the theme.

The route took in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Hampton Court Palace, then Virginia Water Lake. I love coming to this part of the world. I get a cosy feeling as I ride past the exclusive properties in Virginia Water village, cross the main A30 road and see the panorama open up as the lake comes into view. It is also from here that my ride becomes largely traffic-free, as the route goes up through Windsor Great Park, and then after Windsor Castle the route follows bridleways (National Cycle Network route 61) to Maidenhead.

As it was a sunny day many people had the same idea as I did, to go there and see the other sights of The Royal Landscape. I passed the Totem Pole and then climbed up to reach the Guards Polo Club, before moving on to the Copper Horse statue at the top of the Long Walk.

It's so tempting to ride straight down the this 2.64-mile path straight down to Windsor Castle. Sadly cyclists are banned from this stretch so I have to take the long way round through the various mini estates of Windsor Great Park.

Snack stop at Maidenhead Bridge

One of these days I might have a rebellious moment à la Theresa May running through a wheat field, and ride my bike down this Long Walk and take no notice of anyone who shouts at me.

But today I followed the rules, as always, and headed to central Windsor, and then over Eton Bridge to take the Jubiliee riverside bridleway to reach Maidenhead. Even though the terrain was rough, it was okay to take the Liv Avail over it since the tyres are quite wide. It was like going over the "strade bianche" type roads you get in parts of Italy.

Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Berkshire was near the apex of my ride and it was here that I had a snack on the riverside near the bridge. Afterwards I made a pleasant discovery in the shape of Taplow, an even more upmarket place than Maidenhead. I felt a bit too dressed down, particularly in these parts.

From there it was a case of heading back to Windsor, again via bridleway (National Cycle Network Route 4) via Dorney rowing lake and Eton College, then onwards through Datchet ànd Wraysbury to end my ride in that idyll of Middlesex, Staines.

My Garmin recorded 64 miles, but I am happy to call it 100km. It was just good to have executed my mainly right royal Rapha 100 ride.

My route on Strava is in the link here.


Related posts
Reflections on the Rapha Festive 500

Styling it out in Compiegne, Chantilly and Senlis

Kentish spin

Catching up with cyclists at Ride London

While at the Ride London 100 I caught up with a few cyclists taking part in the event. As the cyclosportive was 100 miles I thought it would be nice to break up my ride by speaking to a few of the women doing it, and hearing their stories.

It was good to chat to Marie-Paul, Yasmin and Ify. They were all doing 100 miles, in Ify's case for the first time. Riding this distance is naturally quite a challenge, but it can be done if you prepare by riding reguarly and including some hills. Mind you, in Yasmin's case she didn't do much training for the event, and Ify didn't do any 100-mile bike rides in her training for it.

I know that Ify finished because I saw her again at the finish line. I like to think that the other women finished.

Chatting to the participants was a nice way to break up the ride and also learn a bit about some of the different people doing the race. I must say that doing social networking during a race is not the thing to do if you're looking to ride it in a fast time! I spent a fair bit of time trying to upload, sending tweets and taking photos while doing the ride. My official time ended up being around 2 hours longer than my recorded  moving time on Garmin! Still, it was a good day out.

Marie-Paul at Hampton Court hub





Yasmin at Wescott drinks station





Ify at Box Hill




Related posts
Another year, another Prudential Ride London

Ride London - my favourite biking event

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Rapha Festive 500: Day 6

Thursday 29th December - My Tour de Londres - Western loop (Berkshire)

As I had planned to ride roughly 90km, with a view to completing my challenge on Friday 30th December, I had hoped to leave the house promptly at 9am.

In fact one look out of the window showed that an early start would not be prudent as London was shrouded in mist, and the roads were icy.

Where the previous stage led to me leaving the house just before 10am instead of 9am, on this stage I ended up leaving at 10.30am instead of 10am.  

My ride into Kent had made me feel slightly anxious as the terrain there tends to be quite hilly, which means the ride is slower going and I am racking up the fewer miles for my money. And you can't fly down the descents either due to the inherent risks.

For this ride in to Berkshire, on the other hand, I felt more relaxed. I had planned to ride to Windsor via Hampton Court and Virginia Water on a familiar route which would be mainly flat, and on suburban roads that are less likely to be icy than country lanes. 

Hampton Court Palace

I always associate south-west London with being picturesque and unchallenging - the sort of place where families can go out riding on easy routes, enjoying a pleasant ride, and stopping off for a picnic at one of the well-known attractions at or near the river.

So I was looking forward to today's ride, particularly Virginia Water Lake, one of my favourite spots in London. 

Having said that, the weather was mighty cold, and I was wrapped up in as many layers I could muster, including two layers dhb Aeron rain and wind defence gear. I wasn't taking any chances! 

At least the sun shone most of the day, and when I arrived at Hampton Court the palace looked lovely in the midday sun, and so did the River Thames.

Virginia Water Lake

Onwards and I arrived at Virginia Water, which looked magical in the sunshine. I can see why this place has become a favoured location for filming the Harry Potter movies.

I had wanted to ride to Windsor along the cycle paths surrounding the lake and in Windsor Great Park, but judging the state of the icy surfaces I thought better of it, and took the nearby main road through the Wentworth Estate. 

Although this was not a busy road, it was not great as the motorists that passed me were mainly 4 x 4 Mercedes and BMWs zooming by at ridiculous speeds along the lane like they wanted to prove a point. Furthermore, there were areas where one moment you'd be in sunshine, and the next you'd be in a random dense foggy patch that just sat right over that road and showed no sign of going away. Thankfully I had lights and high visibility gear on.

Finally, I arrived in Windsor where the tourists were out in force. As time was marching on, there was just time to go for a spin along Eton Bridge, and then whizz up to the castle, before returning to Staines via Runnymede and taking the train back to London.

Outside Windsor Castle

This could easily have been a ride to do all the way home, but on a day where visibility was hit and miss and the temperatures were rapidly falling as sunset was approaching it was more prudent to end the ride sooner rather than later. Once the weather is better this route will be at the top of my list to ride all the way back to my house. 

Stats:

89.1km ridden; running total - 407.8km; 92.2km left
2 mini packs of oat cakes, 4 hobnobs
Weather: frosty, sunny, with foggy patches, 4degC

Rides on Strava
Western loop (Berkshire)

Ride from the train station

Related Posts

Rapha Festive 500: Day 5

Rapha Festive 500: Day 4

Rapha Festive 500: Day 3

Rapha Festive 500: Day 2

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Tackling the Rapha Festive 500

London by Bicycle - Part 1

London may seem a bit of a scary place to be on two wheels, but when you get your kit on and start pedalling around, you'd be surprised how straight forward it is. At least that's how I felt when I first began commuting to and from work 6 years ago. Motorists are getting more and more used to seeing cyclists, especially at rush hour,
so they tend to be more aware. In recent times various factors such as the Congestion Charge, delays on public transport, and fear of terrorism have meant more people are taking to their bicycles.

Up until recently my commute would be roughly 10 miles - from Crystal Palace to Central London. A fairly straight forward route, up through Dulwich, Brixton, Oval, Westminster etc. In the summer it was like being on an unofficial organised bike ride, as masses of people were making that same South to North trip ! People would even get to race each other along the long straight stretches. As a girl on a bike I would suddenly find myself in a spa-ing match with some bloke who was a bit miffed I'd passed him - all you could hear was a clicking of his gears and heavy breathing as he went into power mode trying to catch me ! At the traffic lights he would sit there not making any eye contact, trying his utmost to look cool and unfatigued. But in fact he was knackered and mulling in his mind tac-tics on how to get ahead of me. All I was doing was just riding around at a steady pace trying to get to work ! All good fun.

I've now started a new job in Hampton Court. And now with a 16 mile commute I get a bit more of a work-out ! It's quite different to the Central London ride. Going East to West, through the suburbs has a more relaxed feel. Not so many people are riding that way, and they are probably not mad enough to ride that far ! I tend to see people riding in the opposite direction - especially around Wimbledon, Raynes Park and Kingston.

It took a while to find a route that I enjoyed. Some of the roads, especially around Mitcham and Colliers Wood get completely snarled up, and there are no bus lanes to use. But the Transport for London and the London Cycle Network maps take cyclists along quite a pleasant route, with most of it being on quiet roads and through parks. In fact, even though I now have further to ride I actually prefer it to the Central London commute. South West London seems to be a very cycle friendly area, with lots of direction signs for cyclists, dedicated cycle paths, and pelican crossings for bikes. And my journey always finishes on a high with the sight of the River Thames and Hampton Court Palace in all it's regal splendour ! It's very easy for me to say all this. The weather's been warm, and even sometimes sunny. The days are long, and I haven't had any punctures. Maybe I'll have a different opinion come November ! Ah well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.