Day 57 - St Paul's to Richmond - Total for ride 4,136 k, 26,235 m

My last ride of this adventure was a short but very "So London" ride as I left Sir Christopher Wren's 1735 St Paul's Cathedral, through the city to the banks of the Thames, past Big Ben, the Museums, up the Birdcage Walk, swung by Buckingham Palace and on through the Wellington Arch and across the Hammersmith Bridge via Hyde Park. And all that was without even trying or amending my cycle.travel route. The day was lovely and warm so I just took my time soaking up the last few km's of the journey. A lovely ride to finish the amazing journey that it's been. 

Another cyclist on his way to work through Hyde Park commented on the "great kit you've got there" as he checked out my Aero Spyder rear bags, then when he learned this was my last day of a ride from Rome he was most impressed.

I arrived at Ian and Lone's a bit before 11:00 a. m. and it was lovely to catch up with them after last seeing them on their NZ holiday when they were on one of the last planes to leave the country before Covid closed the world down. A lovely cup of tea was shared sitting in Lone's amazing garden and I got to meet Oliver for the first time and see how Archie had grown over the last five years ( their grandsons). It just so happens that today is Lone's birthday and we went and had a lovely lunch in Richmond where Simon had bought Mia and Benjie (Mia I met on my first UK visit and this was my first meeting with Benji). As might be expected when four young cousins get together there was never a dull moment at the restaurant or back at home - great kids enjoying their time with grandparents and each other and the day finished with them all being hosed down in the garden! They loved playing under the hose Lone was holding bravely backing into it one at a time or collectively before playtime was up and off to the shower to warm up.

I've arranged a bike box from the local bike shop that I'm picking up on Friday so tomorrow I'll give the bike a thorough cleaning ahead of the packing on Friday/Saturday.





Comments

  1. Anonymous31 August 2024 at 14:46

    Hi Chris what a wonderful journey you have had
    Thank you for putting the time in writing your blog

    ReplyDelete

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