Skip to main content

A Saturday afternoon in London

By

Yes, off we go to meet up for a late Birthday lunch ( Diana's) with Hamish and Melba. I ride the bike to Tooley St with my brand new GPS. I scatter pedestrians as I navigate thru shared walkways at Borough Markets. I get to one end of Tooley Street. It is one way against me because of roadworks.  But there is a cycle way. l look at it.  A man in a fluoro jacket stops me No way Jose! I go round the block and end up outside the Shard !  I try again. The man in the jacket again is not going to let me thru. I am only 500 metres from the restaurant and stymied. OK - some boldness is required here. I wait until the man in the fluoro jacket looks the other way. I rev up and go barrelling full speed down the very narrow cycleway. The man in the fluoro  jacket looks up startled and sees a 500kg motorbike coming straight at him. He jumps out of the way. He has too!  He makes a threatening gesture. I wave back. Good luck with noting down my NZ number plates mate ! We are at the restaurant.  

 

 
 

A very nice lunch. In fact superb.  Then I realise that Tower Bridge is just around the corner. I ride onto it. Lights flash, a gate closes in the middle of the bridge and lo the bridge opens  up for a boat.  

 



 



 
 

And here is Tower Bridge  in action 

 
 

And the Towe of London itself 


 
 

Then after a U turn in the middle of Tower Bridge ( very satisfying!) it is  back to Greenwich and the bike gets all packed up. It is a big day tomorrow as I think we will go on a ride to Cape Town. And Diana gets on tomorrow so it is back to " 2 up " fully laden riding. 


 

Comments

Unknown said…
Happy Birthday, Diana. We are going to follow you from wherever we are are you trek to Cape Town. Be safe, have fun and know we love you guys.
29 May 2016 at 04:29
Janet said…
Happy birthday Diana ��
FYI Dick - your photos are not loading on either phone or computer.
29 May 2016 at 16:19
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The last post!

By
How do you summarise a motorbike trip around the world from Tokyo to Los Angeles?. With difficulty!   Well we are not into record setting. But we believe we are the oldest couple in the world to ride a motorbike “ two up” ie with pillion passenger, right round the world on one season  Let’s start  off with the statistics for the little trip  -                                                                    Total mileage.        34,416 km *                                                        No of days travelling        165                           ...
2 comments
Read more

Chapters 1 and 2

By
WHY MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES ? I have always been interested in adventure. Over the years I have climbed mountains, parachuted, had my private pilots licence, dived, sailed and done various adventurous pursuits (with various degrees of success I might add!). Motorcycling has been one of the later activities. Why motorcycles?  Firstly it is all a bit easier on the body as one gets a little bit older. This is of course on the assumption that one does not inadvertently part company suddenly with said machine!  Secondly, it does also require a bit of brain power - intellect you might say if that does not sound snobby. There is also, to me, an element of "man and machine" about motorcycling. Then if that is not enough justification in itself there is  the scenery and the absorption into the landscape you are passing through. On a bike you see much much more than in a car, bus or train. You are aware of nuances in the landscape, you smell the smells and you become more than ...
3 comments
Read more

And a volcano stopped us!

By
What a day. First thing this morning it was off to check the rear tyre of the bike. Oh the relief !  The tyre was rock solid and the same pressure as after fixing yesterday.  So it is a pack up and first day on the road today. We get on the way with a just a little bit of nervous excitement.  On to the  Japanese motorway system we go. And what a delight. The traffic is orderly, calm not going to fast and not too thick. We track right in towards Tokyo itself before bearing West. Yes, there were lots of spaghetti junctions - It looks like The Los Angeles motorway system but it is so much easier (and slower). Japanese politeness really shows thru’. However there were lots of toll booths - we had chopped thru  about NZ$50 in the first hour and a half  Then we are on to the slow bit and off the motorways.  It was about a four hour stop and start crawl thru the urban sprawl of greater Tokyo. However I did find time for some serious reflection - I also saw a...
3 comments
Read more