Cycling Related

A very well behaved family of swans in Long Water, Home Park, Hampton Court.

We booked a timed slot for Hampton Court gardens and it was glorious - so few people* and so few aircraft.

* in the gardens. Plenty of large groups on the Thames towpath with not very much social distancing in evidence.

JohnToo wrote: ↑

3 years ago

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A very well behaved family of swans in Long Water, Home Park, Hampton Court.

We booked a timed slot for Hampton Court gardens and it was glorious - so few people* and so few aircraft.

* in the gardens. Plenty of large groups on the Thames towpath with not very much social distancing in evidence.

ah! you were on my manor*. You should have dropped in

*Have I got that right? I learned cockney from George Cole.

Joan wrote: ↑

3 years ago

ah! you were on my manor*. You should have dropped in

*Have I got that right? I learned cockney from George Cole.

Cockney?

LowlifeDes wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Cockney?

Sorry, did I say George Cole? I meant Jamie Oliver.

Incentive for mini Ransos to finish her maths...

Someone is spoilt

I got tooted yesterday for not holding someone up!
The opposite lane was closed to through traffic, there were no cars in, I was going to turn right anyway and there are plenty of escape routes, so I just moved into "on coming traffic" (there was none) to let the cars behind me move faster. A few moments later a hear an angry toot, and turn to see a man gesturing because I am on the wrong side of the road...the wrong side of the road that is blocked and has no cars in it.

Some people seem to be looking for something to get angry about.

Joan wrote: ↑

3 years ago

I got tooted yesterday for not holding someone up!
The opposite lane was closed to through traffic, there were no cars in, I was going to turn right anyway and there are plenty of escape routes, so I just moved into "on coming traffic" (there was none) to let the cars behind me move faster. A few moments later a hear an angry toot, and turn to see a man gesturing because I am on the wrong side of the road...the wrong side of the road that is blocked and has no cars in it.

Some people seem to be looking for something to get angry about.

He was probably on his way to (or from) the anti-face covering rally at Speaker's Corner. It was quite the gammon gathering I believe...

Unexpected bonus on a post-lockdown long weekend away to treat one of our daughters, at a cottage on the edge of the Brecon Beacons. This is quarry access road and when they've finished work for the day they lock the gate. So you then have 5 miles of mountainous but construction-traffic-graded tarmac, guaranteed traffic free. Bliss.
(The hump on the skyline is Pen-y-Fan)

Except that that at the top, the tarmac gives way to rough stone. Not the perfect terrain for Bromptons but I took satisfaction from the look on the faces of a couple of mountain bikers with all the protective gear and 2-inch-plus tyres when they met me (civvy clothes, no helmet) on my Brompton up there.

A few days walking Up North, in the middle of which I visited my sister and BiL near Carlisle, and, leaving them mid-afternoon, with the Brompton in the boot, what else could I conceivably do but...
The last time (well, the only previous time) I was there was in 1992 when both the weather and the bike were different:

Mendip bikepacking.

Back in mundane Surrey: on my way out this afternoon, the workers had just started digging a hole. On my way back, I'm guessing they'd punctured a high-pressure water main:
Quite pleasant to cycle through on a hot afternoon, actually...

Cycling back at midnight from a dinner with friends in Barnes, we rocked up at Richmond Park expecting to enter through the pedestrian gates and have a glorious night time cycle through the park - only to find the gates padlocked. It's not deer culling season, is it? Anyone know if this is new policy?

JohnToo wrote: ↑

3 years ago

Cycling back at midnight from a dinner with friends in Barnes, we rocked up at Richmond Park expecting to enter through the pedestrian gates and have a glorious night time cycle through the park - only to find the gates padlocked. It's not deer culling season, is it? Anyone know if this is new policy?

I haven't heard anything about this, their website says the pedestrian gates remain open 24 hours, and nothing in the news.

I haven't been in the park after the main gates have shut in a while, but I may do a reccy next time I am out after dark.

Was it the Sheen entrance?