Tuesday 30 March 2010 Ealing to Staines

Tuesday 30 March 2010 Ealing to Staines 45km
Still feeling the effects of the colds we acquired on the flight (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it) we both were not really 100% but had had enough of been cooped up and needed to get on our bikes.  The plan is to ride the Thames Valley cycle route which is a 99 mile sign posted route from Putney Bridge to Oxford.  The other factor is the weather forecast has not exactly been rosey for this week, tops in the low teens to single digits in London and snow predicted a little further north....yikes!!!

Anyway we cashed in our Oyster cards, which by the way are a great way to get around London, bought some metho (for the Trangia) and packed up and headed out from The Kings Arms (a great little pub managed by an Aussie bloke).

The Kings Arms

Our bikes stayed in the cellar, looking after the beer

It was cool and we put our new waterproof gloves on which were just toasty.  There was a bit of navigating to get to the Thames Valley route which we picked up in Richmond Park.  Right here I would really like to tell you about the ride but I was too busy gazing in awe at the houses, scenery and general atmosphere of London.  I was worried my expectations were too high but they have been surpassed by miles by the reality of this place.

Sandy had planned our route to Richmond Park last night using Google Maps and she did a stirling job getting us to the Park.

The park....here we go I'm going to gush about the beauty again, I cant help it, it really is something else.

Richmond Park

We rode down these fantastic trails and then headed out Ham Gate to hit the Thames Valley route proper.  As we left the park we rode next to a forest that I swear I should have had a bow and arrow and been wearing tights.....hang on, I WAS wearing tights!!!!!

It wasnt long after that we hit the Thames and the tow paths, I was mesmerized by the surroundings.

The canal boats, barges, gin palaces and the river bank houses all made quite a scene.

At this point we need to say a very big thank you to Greyson for giving us the heads-up on the muddy tow paths.  Luckily we heeded his advice and put our treaded (and a bit wider) tyres on as the tracks were pretty slippery but with our fat tyres we had no problems. For the bike geeks: Sandy is running Schwalbe Marathon Dureme 26x2.0 and I'm running Schwalbe Marathon XR 26x2.0

Thank you Greyson :)

I would also like to point out that the Thorn's (our bikes are Thorn Raven Tours) with their Rohloff hubs have performed very well.  Today they got covered in mud and grime and still shifted gears like they were squeaky clean......very impressed.

We stopped for lunch outside Hampton Court Palace (as you do) and made ourselves a cup of tea to warm up.

Hampton Court

 After we left the weather started to get a bit worse and we had to stop to put our GoreTex overpants and jackets on.  Riding in the cold rain is not too bad if you have the right gear.

More tow path, more fantastic scenery and I have a sore neck from looking around.

It rained consistenly for then next couple of hours so at about 3pm I had had enough, my throat was sore and my hands were cold (my new waterproof gloves leaked like a seive) so we pulled in to a dodgy looking pub at Staines and got a room.  They offered cheap accommodation and they menat it :)

Update: Just checked ou the forecast, even colder tomorrow, shooting for a top of 6degC!!!!