what a ride!

I met up with some fellow couchsurfers last Sunday in Richmond. One of them had organised a bike ride that the rest of us thought sounded like fun and said we'd join in. Down by the river Thames we hired mountain bikes and pedaled off along the path. We twisted our way through the streets to Richmond Park which is huge and a little wild. We entered at Richmond Gate and rode down between the two ponds.

We often stopped for photos or to work out directions and rode casually along while chatting. We took a detour into a field to view some deers who were obviously used to humans being near by.

We continued on to Isabella Plantation that is an enclosed more cultivated garden. We locked our bikes up and wandered around enjoying the nature and the company. Back on our bikes we rode down and out Kingston Gate and there another couchsurfer caught up with us.

After a quick stop by a Tesco Express (mini supermarket) we followed the river again and crossed Richmond Bridge and sat down on the green grass for some lunch. The weather was wonderful. Not too hot and not wet which we were all grateful for after a wet week. Then we continued on west to Hampton Court Palace where we again chained our bikes and went in for a wander through the grounds and rose garden.

Then it was the long ride along the river back to where we hired our bikes from. We had picked them up at 11:30am and had them back at 6:10pm. A long day and a sore butt and surprisingly sunburnt on my hands and face. Maybe not so surprisingly but I hadn't really thought about it as it wasn't that sunny. Not consistantly anyway. It was a fun day though. The people were lovely to meet and the ride was sometimes flat path, sometimes downhill bushland; sometimes easy, sometimes hard. All was delightful scenery and great way to spend the day. All up it was about 25kms so I'm pretty pleased with that.