I had a day off work, a good forecast & the only deadline of 3:30 to
collect my daughter from school.
collected everything together- 3l Camelbak, snacks, jumper, tools,
wallet, mobile, even remembering my camera. felt organised & went out
the front door. Went back inside to collect the muni. Got back outside &
started hunting for a small, light bike lock. Hmmm. must be inside.
after a 1/2 hour return ride to collect the spare door keys & a 10
minute search I gave up and set off. While riding to collect the key I
had a jumper on as it was quite cold. On arriving I nearly passed out
with a rush of blood from the head. a vital lesson in how easy it is to
overheat, even when it's cold. I'll have to take care on future, colder
weather rides.
The hopeful target was 16 miles away, Hampton Court Palace following the
Thames all the way.It's half the distance in a straight line. Starting
at the start of the towpath in Putney was now out of the question due to
the delay so straight up river, expecting to meet plenty of joggers. in
the first 6 miles there was no one. this is London! where is everybody?
a couple of boats on the river, the odd cyclist. lots of Heron, Grebes,
Jays etc, plenty of airplanes. after Richmond, within that famous view
painted by Turner, I found a bench to relax on with the simple
dedication "for pondering". I took advantage and pondered. Having
watched KH on Universe 2 last night and suddenly thinking "why is he
doing that - it's absurd" I avoided pondering about unicycling!
At about 12 miles, having been riding for 2 hours (including breaks) I
felt shattered. back suddenly started really aching, sciatica style. no
energy. have I heard it being called a 'bonk'? found a pub & put my feet
up for an hour. a pint of shandy & huge burger & chips sorted me out.
decided I was being a wimp & continued, as it was only about 3 or 4
miles to Hampton Court. Took it easy, and while riding past a friendly
couple packing their bicycles with shopping, I suggested that they rode
Unis, so they would buy less! finally made it to Hampton Court and rode
in. felt overcrowded by schoolkids & tourists, so quickly rushed through
to Bushy Park. As I was short of time I decided to go to Teddington to
catch a train home instead of riding back through Richmond Park. spent a
while looking at the noticeboards and there seemed to be no guidance at
all on where cycling was or was not allowed. in RP it's strictly policed
but here you could probably ride in the formal ponds! no one to ask so I
took the paths that suited me. the 3 police cars I saw didn't stop so I
assume I was OK.
made it the 1/2 mile home from the station, feeling very stiff already
just from the 20 minutes sitting still on the train! how will I feel
tomorrow? my copy of New Zealand Mountain Biker with Ken's Cambodia ride
arrived today so I can settle down & read that to 'unwind'.
I didn't need that lock...
I have even more appreciation of the long distance riders. although
regular riding & training (if for an event) helps massively. it's still
quite something, maybe one day I'll...
--
mikepenton - sometimes level
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