Off-road to Uxbridge, 25 April

Trouble is brewing at the Heathrow Biodiversity Site.  Human activity has endangered yet another species on the site.  The entire species of Cyclists is now Critically Endangered due to habitat loss.  Specifically, someone has placed six foot high concrete blocks across the southern entrance to the site, leaving a gap only suitable for a slimline person to squeeze through sideways, or perhaps a superhuman carrying their bike above their head.  This awful act of eco-sabotage was discovered by the Roving Raasay Warden on his travels on Wednesday, just in time for Sunday's ride to be diverted, avoiding an unnecessary mile or two of off-road.

Mr Whippy (with friends)

But I digress.  The five eco-warriors, David, Ann, Pam, Graham and myself, gathered at the rather chilly Pleasure Grounds in Runnymede, with weak sunshine overpowered by a cold easterly wind.  Nobody was keen to hang around so we donned our pith helmets and set off promptly to Datchet for the first bit of off-road, through Ditton Park and north through Langley on the cycle track.  We continued to follow NCN route 61 on quiet lanes to Iver before a short stretch on the towpath bought us to Uxbridge and the Rusty Bike Cafe.   We found a nice sheltered spot by the bandstand (is this becoming a tradition?), the sun came properly out, and from that point the day seemed to warm up.

Rusty Bike Cafe (with rusty bike)

Bandstand (with happy eaters)

Return was through the centre of Uxbridge, a trip down memory lane for Pam but a bit of a hash by me in my effort to get away from the main road, but we found a legal way out of the town centre and took the cycleway out of town before going off road again beside the River Pinn.  All very rural and pleasant until we were dumped at a ginormous junction on the A408 coming into Yiewley.  Four lanes turned swiftly into one lane and it was 'normal' town traffic through West Drayton, after which we turned onto Harmondsworth Moor, riding alongside the River Colne and the Wraysbury River, following a route pioneered by Dave Vine a few years ago with the Wayfarers, but with a few alterations, some of them intentional.   

David W left us at this point for a shorter (or possibly longer?) ride home.  Ahead was the Heathrow Biodiversity site and its direct route through to Stanwell Moor, but inhospitable to the genus Cyclist, so we went through Poyle instead.  Graham headed home from Stanwell Moor, and the remaining three of us headed down the bridleway and Moor Lane into Staines, and on to tea at Shepperton.  32 miles from elevenses to tea.   Ann will have ridden nearly 70 miles by the time she returns home.

For a normal rides, this would be the end of the story, but there's more.   As we relaxed in the sunshine at Nauticalia, a bedraggled figure emerged, bloodied and exhausted, from the jungle.   "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" said Pam.   But the weary rider was none other than Ray Wren, who had arrived at Runnymede maybe ten minutes after we left, and had spent the day searching for us, armed only with a line plot of the route backed by a dodgy map, and a single chocolate bar for sustenance.   He'd been to places as far afield as Fulmer, travelled to Uxbridge but unfortunately not found the cafe.  Returning along the river Pinn and, heroically, he had traversed the Heathrow Biodiversity site, carrying his bike over the massive concrete barriers, before returning to Shepperton.

Heathrow Biodiversity Site (with barriers)

In a slightly related story, Cap'n Tony  'Birdseye' Hopkins took it one step further.  He didn't just stop at off-road but went off-land, travelling to Shepperton by boat for lunch with his family.

Watch out for that iceberg!