Ride Report - Sunday 2 July 2023

 

Could this be the Cheam and Morden on tour in Italy, pictured among ruins?   Sadly not - in fact this was us at large in Brompton Cemetery (no, it's not a graveyard for folding bikes!) on our Sunday ride.

Anyway, to begin at the beginning, exactly 6 months and one day since we held our  last elevenses meet here, on New Year's Day, we were back at Roehampton Gate Cafe, Richmond Park for elevenses.

Tony, Ed and Brian B were out just to elevenses, but regulars Simon, Graham, Pam, Liz, Paula and I were delighted to be joined for the ride to lunch by Chris and Christina B, and also making a very welcome return was Andy C, out for his first Cheam and Morden ride in a long time!

For once the group were in relatively safe hands as the route wasn't one of mine - it came to us from Kingston Cycling Campaign and Roger via Keith, so full thanks and acknowledgements to them!

London is a big place but there is an established network of cycle routes and as we twisted and turned through the backstreets (mainly) of west London through what I thought was unfamiliar territory, I began to recognise parts of Simon's route to Ally Pally a few year's back, and Dave B's London ride last year.   After a lovely, traffic-free ride through Hyde Park, things did become less familiar but the clever route took us neatly to our lunch stop at Maida Vale.

The Carlton Tavern should really be renamed 'The Phoenix' as a few years back a developer who had razed it to the ground was obliged by the council to completely rebuild it!  Apart from some of the facade, it was hard to tell it had been rebuilt from scratch!  Anyway, it proved to be a good lunch stop, not too crowded and not overly expensive.

After lunch the clever route continued and eventually took us under the Westway and along the Chiswick super highway before we crossed the Thames.   I recognised more parts of Dave B's route and some of Graham's as well.   After a few disappointments a cafe was eventually found (thanks to Graham) which was open for business!

Many thanks all for you company, and thanks for sticking together so well.   Special thanks to Simon for back-marking all day.