An East London Bike Ride

One of those London ‘tick the box’ activities I have wanted to do for ages was cycling along the Thames, eastwards away from Tower Bridge. And the late August bank holiday weekend turned out to be the perfect time to do it. Great weather, new stylin’ matching bikes and a complete lack of preparation for the weekend all seemed to land in my lap.

George and I have walked the ‘other’ way along the river, from Putney to Richmond, but this experience was a whole different ballgame. Industrial and occasionally deserted in parts, the Thames east of Tower Bridge wasn’t quite the attraction I had hoped for! A couple of times it looked like those film sets where car chases always seem to end up in American cop movies – the large dusty wasteland surrounded by industrial buildings. We half expected to see the Mitchell brothers from Eastenders, dishing out some good old-fashioned east-end justice…

However, stops in Greenwich for lunch – which is always pretty – and cycling around the edge of the Millennium Dome made the journey worthwhile. At the far end of the path was the Thames Flood Barrier, one of those civil engineering projects that manage to look spectacular while attempting to protect the city from disaster. The sunshine helped too!