Although Ride London this year is in Essex and not Surrey Hills, I choose to do just the 60 mile route due to my health (asthma again!). Which meant cycling out of the start at Westminster up through Epping and Ongar and then back to the finish at the Tower Bridge. I took Russ and Dave (the physio) and the bikes by car and we parked up near the Blind Beggar in Whitechapel – since the roads were all shut in Central London for the ride.
After cycling as a group of three for a few miles Russ then took off and joined up with Evan and Gareth (who’d started slightly earlier) to cycle the 100 mile route (which also took in the edge of Chelmsford), but I stuck with Dave since he wanted to ride at a steady pace in preparation for his London to Paris ride in a few weeks time. So I kept the average speed at just about 16mph, just about right for me and his French trip!
The next few photos are of the three of us near the start …
Then we start to head off through Essex and Epping forest area. Tucked in!
I did lose Dave once around Ongar, but we found each other again and cycled nearly all of the 60 miles together.
The officials and cameras are mostly at the side of the closed roads, but occasionally a motorcyclist will buzz you with a cameraman on the back – no time to smile back!
Coming up towards the finish line.
Dave and I look like we’ve enjoyed it, it wasn’t a race after all! We collect a medal and then cycle the short distance to Whitechapel and wait for Russ to join us. We have a couple of beers at the White Hart pub on Whitechapel Road/ Mile End Road before setting off home.