Eton Dorney - Lee Valley

It's that weather again!

Still, we left fairly early and got into Windsor in the drizzle.  Pop, fizz, bubble - Jake had a puncture.  The team repaired the puncture in the dry, under a bridge and cycled 50 metres - pop, fizz, bubble - Jake had another puncture.  The 1000 miles had worn the tyre thin and there were little tears, time for new tyres.  Back to '700' and a coffee, 30 minutes and several pounds lighter we were off again.

Team work.
Jake is checking the inner tube to go in.
Nic is removing the inner tube that needs repair,
Philip is taking the photo?

Leaving Sue and setting off into Great Windsor Park

Now all the team needed was to get on to NCR 4 - up steps another cyclist.  Sue was just finishing her shopping before going off on holiday, however she offered to cycle to Great Windsor Park to get us back on track.  Then, puncture followed by another puncture.  It was now throwing it down and we took shelter in a garage to change the tyre before trekking off to Halfords in Staines.  More necessary purchases in 4 tyres for Nic's & Philip's bikes.  When we set off again the roads were covered in water and we got absolutely plastered in mud, sand and rubbish along the Thames Path.

By the time we reached Hampton Court - Flower Show going on (lots of very smartly turned out people) we looked great!

You should see the legs!

Through Richmond Park and past the docile deer, on to central London.  Very scary indeed despite great route and lots of paths not for the faint hearted.  Back along the Thames, a close encounter with the Shard, past the Cutty Sark and into another under-river tunnel at Greenwich.

We hacked on to Canary Wharf where the signs to NCR1 disappeared because of a diversion due to building work.  It was getting dark very quickly, we had at least another 10 miles to go and not a clue where to start.
We found a taxi - with all the miles spent to and fro to bike shops we had already completed our predicted distance (58 miles), it was a matter of safety first.  We found a taxi big enough for us, 3 bikes and all our incredibly dirty, Thames water smelly kit - hooray!  The hotel was across the road from Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium, adjoining a dual carriageway and overlooking Sainsbury's but it was home!