Big Days Out: My 1st Cycle Saturday

I went on a “Cycle-Date” from East London to Richmond with the Boy and our friend Tyla on Saturday. I was pretty excited about this, as it would be my 1st ‘real’ riding experience in London (and beyond) on Frankie - something that was long overdue! The date-plan: meet Tyla at Richmond Station & then cycle along the River to Hampton Court Palace. The weather was kind enough to hold back on the rain that we’ve been having in London this week (huzzah!) - allowing me to wear my planned cycle-chic for the day :) I raided my wardrobe and put this together:

This was my 1st time cycling in Shorts... “short” ones at that too, so I was concerned that it might not work. It was in fact a great outfit to ride in - comfortable & no wardrobe malfunctions with the pants riding up too high... and no snagged tights either - result! 

Headscarf: Dorothy Perkins

Jacket: Gap

'Tache Necklace: Tatty Devine

Earrings & Bracelets: Topshop

T-Shirt - Tee & Cake at Topshop

Belt: Oasis

Shorts: Gap

Tights: M&S

Winklepicker Shoes: Topshop

We set off early so we could have a breakfast-stop along the way... Borough Market was the order of the morning, as it was en-route to Waterloo Station. I’ve seen people cycling into the Market early on a Saturday morning, park-up, grab a bite & just sit and enjoy the atmosphere of the place and now I can totally understand why :) 
Breakfast had, we cycled to Waterloo Station, which presented another new experience for me and Frankie: manoeuvring a bike through a train station! The Boy has done this many times when he comes from Portsmouth with his, but a Pashley is a different matter. She’s not exactly a small bike and Waterloo is a manic station - add to that people heading to Royal Ascot, it was busy! Managed not to get stressed at this (or run over any Ascot toes) and nabbed the space on the carriage for us to store our wheels:

We met up with Tyla at Richmond Station and started our cycle to Hampton Court. Richmond is a really pretty stretch along the Thames - but I didn’t realise how gorgeous it actually is until cycling though there. Other than the beautiful houses along the riverside (I want one!) and the nature/flora, there were cows. Yes COWS!

... and this little one came over to me to say hello & get a pat on the head! Hey - I’m a City Girl, so seeing Cows roaming around like that isn’t something that happens every day :)

Continuing along the river at a lovely pace, we ventured back onto the roads and arrived at our destination of Hampton Court Palace. I have to say - the bike-parking facilities there are very impressive as they are located next to the reception, with a constant guard watching them! This put me at ease, as this was the 1st time I’d left Frankie locked in public, so I was a little apprehensive about that. 

We spent a few hours checking out the Royal Gardens and getting lost like children in the Maze - fantastic fun indeed!

A summer cycling date would not be complete without a nice lunch / dinner to round it off. On the recommendation of a local, we headed to a rather nice pub, for an epic pub lunch! The amount of cycling we did for the day totally justified the portions of food we ate - and it would all be burned off on the journey back to East London, right?

It was a fantastic day and further reminded me of why I wanted to get into cycling so much. I encountered so many happy cyclists and pedestrians enjoying the day - all very friendly and happy to stop and chat. That’s exactly what it’s all about - getting out on your wheels, and being happy. It certainly provided a boost to my confidence on the roads around London too. I’ve never cycled that much around London before & realise that I do have it in me. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll be doing anything crazy on the roads, but I’ll certainly be doing stuff like this more often.

More pictures can be viewed here on Flickr.