Lorna's Ride
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May 2009

On the 3rd May 1929 my grandmother Lorna was born so I thought it would be nice to name the ride after her.

Twenty Two people turned up at the Town Hall for the ride on the way we picked up another three people. We left the town hall and took our usual route down to the Grand Union Canal and made our way to West Drayton and onwards to Harmondsworth Moor entering the park at Wise Lane and crossing the River Colne and the Duke of Northumberland’s River. We made our way to the top of “The Prospect” which is the highest point in the park and from where we could see Windsor Castle, Wembley Stadium and the BT Tower. We remained a short while at “The Prospect” for a picnic.

We continued and made our way down to Heathrow Airport passing the new Terminal 5 building then headed to Stanwell Moor to pick up a bridle way near the M25 which took us straight into Staines. At Staines the group broke into two sections after a much extended loo break. We then continued down to Chertsey Bridge at which stage Andy took over the lead and showed us a short cut into Walton. We followed the River Thames down to Hampton Court Bridge and then rejoined the Thames Path at Hampton Court and made our way to Kingston Bridge which we crossed over and made our way to a café at the YMCA for a short break. We continued onwards to Teddington Lock crossing the river via the footbridge and made our way pass Twickenham Stadium and then through West Middlesex Drainage Works and onward via Osterley Park and back onto the Grand Union Canal to Hanwell at which stage the remaining riders headed for home.

Thanks to David and Robbo for being backstops, Gosh and Senita for assistance with a downed cyclist and Sav for overall help during the ride.

40 miles