This is not a boat, I accept that. But it is still an essential tool to enjoy river life. Yesterday I got one and today it sped me along the Thames path from Putney to Kew in 45 minutes to meet others for a picnic.It felt very civilized - like one of those European countries where everyone looks very healthy riding on bides with two advert-cute blond babies looking out from their trolley.
The path looks a bit like this:
At times it is so narrow you can feel the bushes on either side and have to stop in a passing place if anyone comes the other way. On one side (in the photo above the left) is the river and there are stunningly pretty views - a place called Strand on the Green caught my eye looking as twee yet pretty as music by Elgar at his English-lyrical best.Of course it would have been better to have been on the river - like the dinghies racing by Hammersmith Bridge.
Or even like this gentleman who not five minutes ago passed outside heading gently upriver....
The bike shop sold many accessories - but amongst all the clips, helmets, pumps, shorts, lights and so on, for some reason they didn't try to sell me a pair of bright yellow floats!
LOL! I love the pic of guy on the bright yellow floats!
ReplyDeleteJP, I'm completely and utterly jealous of you...this looks like the perfect place to go for a ride and a picnic! (I'll be vicariously enjoying this today while plodding through quantities of smudgey pictures of dragons and princesses)
I do rather love it here even if I don't have yellow floats on my bike ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you need a break from smudgey pictures and go on a hike or bike yourself!
Did he have a bell?
ReplyDeleteGod I miss the towpath. I loved the variety. One minute you are ridding past bustling Hammy Bridge and the next (well maybe an hour later at my pace) you are digging through the mud by the old Brewery at Chiswick.