Monday 23 February 2015

Ride to Greenwich on Saturday the 21st February

  After some very early morning snow there were 20 at the start, all well wrapped up against a cold NW wind. Such a number required marshalling on busy roads and this was provided by Eddie, Angie and David.
  After traversing Mitcham on back roads we went up to Tooting Graveney Common and Streatham Hill. It took a while for us all to get across Streatham High Road, but once up Streatham Hill it was all downhill to Dulwich Park. We did a circuit of the Park, as usual full of joggers and footballers, and exited towards Peckham Rye where Helen had a flat conveniently close to the cafe. Luckily David is something of a maestro at repairing flats and this was attended to in the rather keen wind while most sheltered inside the cafe.
  Leaving via Nunhead and Telegraph Hill Park in Brockley we descended to the Waterlink Way at Deptford Bridge and thence to the mouth of Deptford Creek. There is a new bridge over the creek to Greenwich where we left the bikes on a stand by the Maritime museum and headed to the several eateries. The Pie and Mash at Goddards is a good place to stop in future.
  After reassembling we went up the hill to the viewing point by the Observatory apart from Gemma who had a flat almost immediately. This was repaired again by David and we then navigated through Blackheath Village and Hither Green to Ladywell Fields and the traffic free Waterlink Way. With the wind now behind and some pleasant afternon sun we made our way to Norwood Country Park and the end of the Way close to Croydon.
 Getting across Croydon to the top of the Wandle Trail at Waddon Ponds was a bit of an ordeal , especially by West Croydon Station with road works and many buses, and arriving at Beddington Park the ride ended with the majority heading West to Sutton.
 I did 34 miles from home at a mainly easy pace. In my view a typical London ride with quiet stretches and surprising amounts of green space mixed with nightmarish main roads. Croydon town centre is definitely a place to be avoided by cyclists. Many thanks to helpers, especially David as the
 back marker. Photos are by Neil and myself.




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