Windsor to Walthamstow (London), UK: Cycling Along, Over, and Under the River Thames
2-4 May 2019
Windsor to Kingston upon Thames (2 May 2019, 41 km, 25.5 mi)
We were up and out the door shortly after 6am this morning, hoping to make it to Kingston upon Thames before noon. That way we could be off the road, and in a cozy hotel room, before the start of rain showers predicted for the afternoon.
Being on the road at this hour reminded us of how pleasant it is to start riding early in the morning. There was very little traffic, making the ride out of Windsor much more relaxing. The morning light was also very pretty, illuminating the old buildings with a warm glow.
Leaving the city, we rode uphill for about 10 km into the Windsor Great Park. Protected as part of the royal estate, this 5,000 acre forest was formerly much larger. For several centuries it served as the private hunting ground for Windsor Castle, and it still maintains a herd of Red Deer in an enclosed deer park. The Long Walk, which we viewed a couple of days ago from the other end, starts here, offering a three-mile view back towards Windsor Castle. Biking along the quiet park roads, you can see many truly impressive, ancient oak trees - ranging in age from 500-1,000 years old.
The dense canopy of Windsor Great Park’s ancient oak trees gave us the feeling of being deep in the forest. Windsor Great Park, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
It took 10 km to reach the heights of the Windsor Great Park, but less than half a kilometer to plummet the 60+ m (200+ ft) back down to the River Thames. It was a wild ride, on a curvy, bumpy forest trail.
Flying down off of the Windsor Great Park plateau. It was a bumpy, wild ride. Egham, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Back in the lowlands, we cycled through mostly urban and suburban areas. The final stretch followed a towpath along the River Thames that was crowded with folks out for the day, especially people walking their dogs.
A stone marker (the London Stone) marked the upstream extent of London’s control over the River Thames in medieval times. Staines-upon-Thames, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
This little poem made us smile. Chertsey, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We were totally flummoxed by this sign. Who goes around tipping or grazing flies? The mental imagery is definitely bizarre for a North American, who’s never heard these phrases before. It turns out that fly tipping is dumping, and fly grazing is letting your sheep run amok on other people’s land. Both are big no-nos. England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Much to our surprise, one of our crossings of the Thames was via ferry. The river isn’t very wide here. For goodness sake, the town on the other side of the river here was even named Weybridge. But, there is no bridge here. Only a tiny ferry. You go into the Nauticalia Cafe to pay for the ride. Supposedly the ferry runs every 15 minutes, but that might just be when things are busy. We were the only people there, so it seemed like the ferry was running more or less “on demand.” Still, we waited about 20 minutes before we got our ride across. In the meantime, we had a drink in the cafe.
The Nauticalia Ferry, ready for action. Shepperton, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Fortunately it was not a busy day. The ferry boat was just big enough to hold two loaded bikes and their owners. That would be us. Shepperton, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
As we had hoped, we arrived at the hotel in Kingston upon Thames shortly before noon. We secured a room, but it wouldn’t be ready until 1:30pm. So we stored our bikes and luggage at the hotel, then went out for lunch and a walk around the area.
Out of Order provides a splash of color as one of Kingston upon Thames’s most recognizable landmarks. England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Our hotel was next to a major shopping area, with oodles of stores and a large pedestrian zone. The central market square was crowded with market stalls. Not far from the main square, we found the church of St. Mary, in whose chapel seven of the earliest Anglo-Saxon kings of England were coronated in the 10th century. That was fun, because over the last few years we have watched several TV series set during that time. So, we recognized the names of some of the kings, and have some idea of their role in uniting England into a single kingdom.
After we were back and settled in at the hotel, a big rainstorm blew in with dark clouds, heavy rain and lots of wind. We were glad we had arrived early.
After the storm. Sunset as seen from our hotel room window in Kingston upon Thames, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Layover Day in Kingston upon Thames (3 May 2019)
We had originally planned to complete the ride to our Airbnb in London over two, low-mileage days. But the forecast for today was for more wind and rain, so we decided that we could make the final push to London within one, longer day, and wait out the storms here in Kingston.
Today’s big achievement was getting e-SIMs for our phones. One reason we upgraded our Apple phones last fall was so that we could use the new e-SIM feature while on international travel - giving us the ability to have a local phone number, while also preserving our original, U.S. phone numbers.
That proved to be a lot more challenging than we expected. Right now, most European companies only offer e-SIMs to customers that have an in-country bank account and a contract. After talking to EE retailers in several UK cities without success, PedalingGuy finally was able to secure a contract with the stipulation that we would go in to EE stores every 3 months to pay for the next installment. That works for us.
We now both have e-SIMs. Yea! That means we have both our old phone numbers, operating on T-Mobile, and our new English phone numbers, running on EE. We’ve found that the Apple design for using the e-SIMs makes it pretty easy to set data and call preferences for both numbers, and to switch calling back and forth between the primary and secondary number. It’s going to be a huge improvement to have a local phone number.
Besides the work on the phones, we also visited the Kingston Museum. It’s a small, but very well curated museum covering the history of the area, from the Stone Age through modern times. It was fun to get an intimate picture of what makes Kingston tick, from early trading along the Thames, to modern aircraft manufacturing and its role as a retail hub within Greater London.
Kingston upon Thames to Walthamstow, London (4 May 2019, 59.7 km, 37 mi)
While the bulk of today’s trip involved cycling through London along the banks of the River Thames, we also got to experience some delightfully different sides of the city, including the wonderful Richmond Park, and a ride past the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Right out of Kingston we headed down the Thames for a couple of kilometers, and were treated to closeup views of Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes hanging out at a marina.
Apparently not everyone thinks his jokes are as funny as he does. Tufted Ducks, River Thames, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Great Crested Grebe. Handsome as ever. River Thames, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Just before reaching Richmond Park, we passed by a small urban park called Ham Common. The park consists mainly of lawns surrounding a small pond. But there was a tree near the road that had attracted a large flock of Rose-ringed Parakeets. Although this species isn’t native to the British Isles, escaped birds have been breeding in England since the 1970s. These days, Rose-ringed Parakeets are the most abundant parrot in England. At Ham Common, the birds were feeding in a large tree, and on the ground all around it. They seemed relatively tolerant of the people using the park around them, until something startled them, and they all flew away.
Rose-ringed Parakeets, enjoying breakfast on the lawn at Ham Common. Richmond, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Just north of Kingston, we entered Richmond Park, London’s largest Royal Park. Much like the Windsor Great Park, Richmond was created in the 17th century to serve as a royal hunting area. The habitat is managed to support a herd of roughly 650 Red Deer and Fallow Deer, which roam freely throughout most of the park. They’re very accustomed to people, which made it easy to view them by the side of the road. We were blown away by their sheer numbers. On our ride through the park, we saw more than 100 deer, with more than 50 of them in the first herd that we encountered. There were fawns in the group, including some young males with little nubs of velvet starting to form.
These two Red Deer fawns looked like close friends. Richmond Park, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
These two had a relationship of convenience. A number of Jackdaws were riding around on the backs or even heads of the Red Deer, picking off insects from the deer’s coat. The deer gets rid of bugs, and the Jackdaw gets a meal. Good deal. Richmond Park, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A Common Kestrel, searching for breakfast in an open field far below. Richmond Park, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Like the Windsor Great Park, Richmond Park has not been logged since the 1600s. So many of the stately, ancient oaks are over 500 years old. Richmond, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Besides the wildlife and grand old oak trees, the other thing that was really common in Richmond Park was cyclists. On this Saturday morning, they were out in droves, riding singly or in packs. We were the only ones hauling loaded panniers, everyone else was on a performance bike, dressed in Lycra, and zipping along as fast as they could go. Needless to say, we were passed by a lot of friendly bikers, wishing us a good morning.
Descending out of Richmond Park, we re-joined the River Thames and cruised along its banks all the way into the heart of London.
The banks of the River Thames upstream from London are jam-packed with boathouses. And on a Saturday, the river is crowded with boating clubs out for practice. Watching them, it looked like it took as much coordination to get the boat in and out of the water as it did to row up the river. Putney, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Each boathouse had lots of boats, packed in like sardines. Wandsworth, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We were struck by how much construction is under way in London. There were construction cranes almost everywhere. Every photo PedalingGuy took has cranes in it. And many of them were busy building very tall, high-rise buildings. London seems to be booming. It’s amazing to think that they might be able to fill all of that new space.
The banks of the River Thames became increasingly urban as we headed into London. Note that there are three construction cranes in this photo. Hammersmith and Fulham, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
A mega-construction project along the River Thames. There are too many cranes to count! Westminster, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The bicycle route took us right past many of London’s most famous landmarks, including the London Eye. The Thames is a lot wider here than when we first crosse it just a couple of days ago. And, of course, you can see multiple construction cranes. London, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The UK’s Parliament Building, with Big Ben in the background (covered in scaffolding). The clock tower is undergoing a major refurbishment, which will keep it out of commission until 2021. Lambeth Bridge, London, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
How could we not smile, standing in front of such a cheery mural? Southwark, London, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The Tower Bridge, looking fine in the London sunshine. Southwark, London, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We enjoyed stumbling upon this handsome statue, in the center of a circle on Elizabeth Street. The horse is named Jacob. He represents the draft horses that pulled delivery carts for the Courage Brewery, and were stabled here on the banks of the Thames for 170 years. Southwark, London, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
Our last crossing of the Thames was not by bridge - we went under the river in the Greenwich Pedestrian Tunnel. It’s a wonderful piece of infrastructure, built entirely for non-motorized transportation. It’s been in operation since 1902, which is really impressive. Cyclists take a lift down to the tunnel level, and are required to dismount and push their bicycles through the tunnel. It was entertaining for us - it’s the first time we’ve crossed a big river by tunnel.
Heading into the entrance for the Greenwich Pedestrian Tunnel. Greenwich, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
We took an elevator down to the tunnel level. Lots of other cyclists were doing the same thing. Greenwich, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The Greenwich Pedestrian Tunnel is an amazing piece of infrastructure dedicated to non-motorized travel. Approximately 4,000 people per day use the tunnel. Very cool. Beneath the River Thames, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
After coming back up to the surface we headed north, away from the Thames, we cycled along part of the Hackney Cut Canal, past the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It was packed with people. There were bars along the waterfront, a couple of stadiums, and some amusement park rides. The trail was further crowded by a group that was doing some kind of charity walk. They were all wearing a T-shirt with the same design. We had to take it pretty slowly.
That’s quite a contraption. London, England, UK. Copyright © 2018-2019 Pedals and Puffins.
The weather was unsettled all day, alternating between a blue sky with puffy white clouds, and brief bursts of serious rain. As we rode along the Hackney Cut Canal, one of the storms blew in and we sheltered for a while under a bridge. Two young boys were playing nearby, and when the rain started one of them yelled, “Run for cover!” But they headed off in a different direction. The bridge barely kept the rain off of us because the wind was blowing so hard.
We arrived at our apartment rental around mid-afternoon. It’s great to be in an Airbnb apartment for the week. We have a kitchen, living room and dining room, as well as a washer for our clothes. There’s lots of room to spread out and relax. And that’s what we plan to do.
