This post is a bit long. If you want to know in detail what I do with my Sunday mornings (or in this case, most of my Sunday) read on.
Yesterday was fun, if a bit mad. I left the house for my usual Sunday leisurely bike ride planning on being out a few hours, and I ended up being out all day. I was hoping to see the sun as I haven't seen it in days, but I was out all during daylight hours and it never showed its face. (I have yet to see it today either). Instead I got rained on halfway through my journey.
The morning started out simple enough:
I get up early, as usual not as early as I would like, but since there is no sun to guide me it is hard to determine when to get up. I didn't take my lights because I just assumed it would get brighter out, and anyway I would be back before dark. The air isn't very cold, but the wind feels chilly making my eyes water. Thankfully the streets are empty so I'm not too worried about crashing due to my teary eyes.
I see people delivering the papers: some by bike, others by shopping cart (ah the charms of urban life). There is a stillness in the air that only happens early on Sundays. As I pass near the waterfront developments I look up at three high cranes hovering above me ahead. It seems as if they are swaying in the breeze, yet I know they are completely still. When I get to Putney Embankment I pass the large Thai Restaurant on the corner. A man dressed in black from head to toe is whacking large blocks of ice with a shovel out on the pavement. The blocks are in the early stages of two ice sculptures, perhaps shaped as fish or mermaids. The man looks like a Ninja pretending to be a sculptor, kind of like John Belushi's samurai on SNL.
When I get to the café I have a coffee and waste an hour reading the Observer.
I don’t know why, but I find that I need these pointless, aimless rides on Sundays. It relaxes my body and energizes my brain for the week ahead. Its like a brain wash, rolling along muddy paths just looking at the scenery. If I miss my weekly ride I'm not as happy until I get to do it again. I take a photo of my bike, the little invention that gives me the opportunity to escape for a few hours once a week.
My beloved relaxation machine
I resolve to go a new route this time from here. Instead of going to Richmond I will go over Kew Bridge and follow a bike path that goes along some kind of waterway, looks like a creek from the map. The sky is still dark but its not raining. I peddle around the Stag (Budweiser) Brewery. It is a huge hulking low slung factory, and from somewhere inside it belches loudly as I pass. The building makes me imagine Laverne and Shirley working in there. It is a stark contrast to the other brewery I passed earlier: Ram's (Young's) Brewery in Wandsworth. That place has a bit of history to it. It’s the oldest site in Britain on which beer has been brewed continuously, since 1581. It takes up one small block in the town centre and it is a fraction of the size of the sprawling Bud plant. I pass a cute Young's pub as I rejoin the river path. There are still rowers on the river and I go by pink and orange stone cottages before crossing Kew Bridge and into new territory.
I make a wrong turn and end up on a dead end industrial estate, with rotting warehouses and piles of tyres before I find the path. Turns out the path going along the Grand Union Canal, one of Britain's historic canal routes, which runs 137 miles to Birmingham! It even has side routes to other towns. It is part of the longest single canal in Britain.
Another day at the office, another chance to stare at the bright orange thingy pooping out front?
After passing a few ugly corporate buildings complete with ugly corporate art, I feel like I'm in another world. Although very close to the motorway at times, the path along the canal is very quiet and green. Completely paved too, which is great when you're on a bike. As I got farther along I kept encountering locks, at one point where the path got steep there must have been 10 in a row. It was all very quaint and picturesque so of course I started snapping pictures and spent way too much time there. Once I get going I'm afraid I get a bit obsessive with the snapping. I'm not used to the new camera settings either, so I spent some time playing around with some of those. The new camera is a joy to hold and use. Looking through a view finder instead of at a LCD screen feels much more natural. There is also a very satisfying click as the shudder releases (although why they also add an electronic sound to verify this is beyond me).
When I get to the top of a hill at a lock called the "Norwood Top Lock", I stop because its where my map ends. Also I was hungry, so I take out a little snack and think about the journey back as it starts to drizzle. By the time I'm done eating my little slice of cake (Nigella's dense chocolate loaf cake, btw, yum!) it's raining much harder. Well, so much for taking more photos. I decide to go back along the path and then through Syon park to Richmond where I can take the train most of the way home. That was a mistake. Never rely on the train unless you check ahead of time! I rode and rode getting wetter and wetter. It wasn't too cold, which was good. By the time I got to Richmond almost 45 minutes later I was cold, tired and hungry. I stopped at a café and had some scrambled eggs on toast while I put my mittens and hat and jacket on the radiator to dry out. Tested out my camera more, hence the egg photo.
Lunch!
I left there thinking I could get the train, so I stopped into a few shops looking at shoes and handbags. As I got to the station I saw a large run-down looking bus parked outside. Bad news. I walked up to one of the Southwest Railway staff and asked if they were running a replacement service to Waterloo (my direction). He took one look at my bike and said, yeah, but you can't take THAT on THERE (titling his head at the bus). Such friendly service! Thanks Southwest!
I grumpily decided I needed a latte to help me make it home and went into the Starbucks across the road. Their toilet was broken and since I really needed to go I decided to skip the coffee, hit the head in the train station and just ride on. I rode back, the rain not stopping, the wind not letting up. I wasn't that tired but considering I had been mostly riding or walking around since 8:30am (it was now 3pm) I really just wanted to stretch my legs out on a nice sofa. I went slower than usual the last leg of the journey, worried about cars hitting me, as it was now getting dark. I did stop at another Starbucks closer to home and got a tiny latte as a reward and also to get out of the rain for a few minutes. When I got home it was 4PM.
I drew a hot bath and thawed myself out. Ahhhhh. Completely reborn. Ready to explore again next week. Now I have a buncha photos to edit.
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