It was a lovely morning so I decided first of all to commute to Clapham Junction, but when I arrived I thought “what the heck, let’s go to Richmond”. Which is exactly what I did. I avoided the temptation to carry on when I arrived at Richmond, having learnt my lesson from last time . The route was fairly straightforward, pretty much one road all the way. On the way there I saw a lady roady forget to unclip in slow traffic. She was okay, more embarrassed than anything(I know the feeling).
I made sure that I paced myself, keeping my average speed between 17 and 18mph. At Richmond the cycle racks were woefully inadequate. They were situated in the car park behind the station. There were signs up stating that this was a bike theft hotspot. It didn’t instil confidence that the bike would be there when I got back. In any case all the racks were full so I ended up locking my trusty steed to a vacant rack in the high street opposite a newsagent. I though this would be fairly safe.
The journey, which was 14 miles, took me just under an hour which I think was pretty good. The legs were okay apart from achey knees, which is something that I have been getting recently.
After work the return journey took an hour and a half. Mainly because I got lost. The route which I thought was pretty much straight patently wasn’t! I would definitely cycle to Richmond again especially because it saved me £4.50. Note to self : carry an A-Z or cycle guides.