113, 112, Safely does it.

Not two weeks ago, RP was being mercilessly swept by a wind so cold that the Polar bears of London Zoo had Ugg booties on. Today, there was the odour of cheap, hurriedly bought sun tan lotion hovering on the breeze. The winter wide-ness of the Outer Ring Road wilderness has been summarily replaced by bumper to bumper parking and frequent double-parkers. From between the tightly packed cars, like an eighties computer game, dopey pedestrians would unexpectedly pop out - often pram first - into the oncoming pelotons of cyclists and taxis. At the pedestrian crossings - controlled by lights, the sun-baked would drift across while cyclists hurtled through their midsts while the light was still red or amber. All in all the hazards of the cold and wet and poor light have been replaced by those of a congested theme park. 

Behind you!

So keep your wits about you.


Richmond Park is grassy area of rural south western London, famous for its deer and Fenton the wonderdog. It has a seven mile peripherique that, at the weekends, is jam packed with proper pelotons. The ones in the Regent's Park are never more the five or six but in the much bigger RP they contain over twenty psycholists. I joined N and D at Sheen Gate on Saturday morning and took in two laps. While they disappeared into the distance on their very nice and fast Focus bikes, I was constantly being passed by the chattering, grunting pelotons of the London Dynamo team. Cycling teams  such as London Dynamo are comprised of the kind of cyclists who do Ride100 style rides before lunch as a warm up. They have thighs that look like jodhpurs or as if they have been photo-shopped or are what you see in the crazy mirrors on a seaside pier. They have to wear specially made trousis and sit in specially adapted furniture. 

joking...?

Ride100 is a closed event meaning that the route will be shut to traffic. But the hazard of cars is replaced by the dangers of a peloton of potentially thousands of cyclists.

The week: 83 miles on the bike
0 run
0 football