In London for the day and so … lateral thinking
We went up to London today to see Borodin’s “Prince Igor” (Novaya Opera Moscow at the ENO) and so, to get some pedalling in, why not hire Boris bikes?
My wife Sue wouldn’t care for cycling on London streets but traffic-free would entice her and what could be a bigger traffic-free area in the centre of the city than Hyde Park. Studied Transport for London’s web-pages about Boris bikes in advance and arrived at our chosen docking station prepared.
Sue at the Park Lane docking station
One credit card will pay for two bikes and, on this first occasion, we opted for the full paper receipts.
Two printed release codes and the receipt
The little key-pads on the cycle docks are well hammered! That was why the two bikes nearest the pay-station couldn’t be used. We had a little hunt until we found two others whose key-pads responded.
Then we were off – a little way north on Park Lane (where the cycle path is well away from the dual carriageway) and then into Hyde Park by Speakers’ Corner. South to Hyde Park Corner and then west (parallel to the carriage drive) close to the Guards’ Chapel. We paused there and my iPhone app thought this was the end of our ride but we carried on to turn north and across the bridge over the Serpentine, putting our bikes into the docking station near to the Serpentine Gallery.
Good practice for when Northampton CoNNect, our local bike hire scheme, starts on 1st May.
Summary Day 2 – Bike: Boris Bike, Distance: 2 miles, Total: 4 miles. Weather: spring warmth. Route here on RideWithGPS.
Up Hill And Into The Wind 