The Big Smoke

June 29, 2026

What a comfortable night on a very comfortable super-king bed. Kate and I even got the odd glimpse of each other every now and again across the vast expanse of good quality white duvet.

After tea and muesli purchased at Lidl the previous evening, we were off at a slovenly 7am. We suspected that today would be a technical exercise. And it was. The day threw all sorts at us. Busy roads and tracks including smooth tarmac, broken concrete, grit, dried mud and occasionally such dense foliage that it was impossible to discern what was actually under our wheels. Then there were canal tow paths, including all the surfaces mentioned above.

My brain is still reeling from concentrating on my sat nav, pot holes, sudden twists and turn on to dubious looking routes and cars, which ranged from the courteous to 'let's see if I can clip them with my wing mirror'.

But. The sights were every bit as varied as the terrain. We started on one side of the M25 in the morning and arrived on the other side for our overnight stop. Of course the awkward, pedantic or obtuse among you could argue that we arrived on the same side as we started...

One thing I hadn't really bargained on was hills. Surely London doesn't have hills? But there are times just inside the M25 orbital, where you are surrounded by very pretty pastoral scenes.

After some hefty hills, we descended into the Lee River valley and followed this fairly faithfully until it ran into the Thames. As we cycled down the canal tow path, we passed hundreds of narrow boats. They now offer a viable way of living in London without costing an unmanageable amount. We only saw a single boat actually on the move. It was called Twelfth Night. The skipper waved, so I called out "If music be the food of love, play on!" Nothing. Perhaps he didn't hear me. Surely the owner of Twelfth Night would know that play's opening line? We stopped for coffee at the Lee River rowing club and Twelfth Night passed us again. I desisted from trying a bit of Shakespeare again.

We did escape the valley for a while and cycled through some lovely parkland. As we did so, the city skyline came into view. The cell phone, the cigar, the HSBC tower and all the others, as well as the Shard, always happy to make its presence felt. We managed some fairly impressive feats on the tandem, like switching back on a tow path and actually cycling up some steps. Giggling as we went because we couldn't quite believe we weren't falling off.

Eventually, the route took us to the Thames at the isle of dogs. Here, we entered a lift which took us down to a foot tunnel, built in 1902. Cycling was strictly forbidden. Everybody cycled. So did we in the end...

I suppose the fact that this is called the Greenwich tunnel means that we shouldn't have been surprised to pop up right by the Cutty Sark, but we were.

It was now about 12:00 GMT!, so we bought some food and sat in the grounds of the old naval college to eat it. I tried not to think of old navels....

More fascinating routes followed but we were also subjected to some serious climbing, including some horrible hills right at the end of the ride.

The ride was a little over 60 miles today but the distractions were many, which always helps.

So here's a thing. When I was at Cape Wrath, or very nearly, I could ring anyone and speak clearly. We are now within ear shot of the M25, and there is no phone signal!

We have no idea where we will spend tomorrow night. We have no idea as to whether we really can hire a one way van to get us and tandem back home. I can't plan tomorrow's route, because I don't know where we're going.

Hopefully there are now two days betwen us and Dungeness.

Tomorrow could be interesting. For now, we're content to think of how interesting today was. Things will probably work out tomorrow. They usually do...