Day 5 - London

How exciting. Another new country for me. We woke up at 7 A.M. and were on our bikes to the train station by 7:45 A.M. I hadn't ridden this early in Paris before. The lighter traffic was nice. It was only a 10-15 minute ride to the station. We found the Eurostar registered luggage area and left the bikes there. We sat down and had a light breakfast but forgot that this wasn't a normal train trip. We forgot that we had to do the passport and security thing. I like to board trains ands planes later than most people since I would rather sit in a small seat as little as possible. So when we saw the customs people, we knew that we might miss the train. We did. Damnation!

It was okay though. We chatted with one of the Eurostar employees about the Tour de France and stuff. He was quite knowledgable and brought up Greg Lemond's victory in '89. We only had to wait an hour so no big deal. We boarded coach #17. A Chinese tourist came up and claimed that we were sitting in her seat. Another mistake. We had to run to coach #5. The adventure doesn't stop. We weren't in any danger of missing a second train however.

I like these fast trains. You see the countryside whipping by at top speed and you get to your next destination very quickly. I didn't ask how fast we were going but Dale said he heard it topped out at about 180 mph. In the U.S. the limitation is 79 mph.

We arrived in London at around 11:30 A.M. local time. It's always a neat feeling when you first step out into the street in a new country. You instantly see the differences from your own country. The cars, the architecture, the people, and in this case, the driving on the left side of the road. We put on our jerseys and cycling shoes and rode off into the English wilderness.

I am not intimidated by new environments so I jumped into traffic right away. Riding on the left side isn't a big deal but you have to adjust a bit. You have to remember to look left when you are in the middle of the street and not right. That can be potentially deadly if you forget this fact. I forgot that fact. Once.

Once was enough.

Our first stop was Kensington Palace. I plotted the route and set out for our first adventure. We made it to Hyde Park, where the palace is located, and rode in. We both had to pee and, like Paris, there are absolutely no public toilets. Also, the predominant design of the parks and neighborhoods do not allow for a quick pee. There no places to hide. I am not endorsing public urination but as cyclists, who hydrate constantly, we need places where we can go. I don't want to buy a Coke Light for 3 Euro in a Brasserie every time I want to go either. We found a tree with low-lying branches and found relief.

The palace was okay but not very ostentatious. I didn't even take any pictures. I did try to take notice of the poeple. At first glance, they are not as attractive or slim as Parisians. They also seem a bit frumpy. The environment also is not as lively as Paris where you see people having their coffees in the countless brasseries.

After passing by Royal Albert Hall, we proceeded to Buckingham Palace. There were a number of tourists there and the palace was definitely nicer. We saw the royal guard there doing their thing. We took the required pics and took off. I am finding myself not as excited about the London stuff as I am about the Paris environment. But don't get me wrong, I was having a good time. But once you have experienced Paris, everything else suffers by comparison.

Next on the list was Big Ben. The traffic was thick all day long and it was no exception on this leg of the trip. You are getting nowhere fast. The big, wide buses get in the way a lot. My urban riding skills were fully employed and I sliced through the cars as best as I could. The London drivers are accustomed to the motorcycles and cyclists cutting through so I experienced no honking at all.

Seeing Big Ben in person was very cool. The adjoining House of Parliament was astounding to see in person. It is a huge gothic structure. That's the most gothic these eyes have ever seen. It was a bit chilly so I put my arm warmers on. I looked around at saw a guy playing some bagpipes. There were plenty of tourists including some Japanese ladies in traditional dress.

A minor snafu occurred en route to the next destination. Dale and I got separated and for 20 minutes, I thought we were going to have a major problem. We did eventually hook back up and rode out to Tower Bridge. I put my new video camera on the handlebars and turned it on. I hope it films well.

There was a boat passing through right when we got to the bridge and a bunch of local cyclists gathered at the front. Dale chatted it up with them. They were good-natured and spirited unlike the frumpy individuals I had seen earlier. Moral? Cycling cures frumpiness.

When Dale was lost (I never get lost), he saw Trafalgar Square so we had finished what he wanted to see. We then rode to a restaurant Dale found on the internet. It was a pub/restaurant called Porter's. I ordered the Wild Boar sausage. Yummy!! Dale had a lamb/apricot pie. It was very good as well.

Around the corner was a little square with some outdoor dining and street performers. Pretty cool but Paris puts it to shame and has many of these. We bought some souvenirs at a flea market nearby. The shop people were lively souls. Maybe only half of London is frumpy.

It was off to the train station. We arrived with plenty of time. I recorded several videos with my bike cam. They had better come out okay or Ric may have to run amok for a while.

We boarded the train safely and in time and rocketed off to Paris. I was glad to get back "home". I like the feeling of Paris. A lot. Of course it's just a skewed and incomplete look at this city. I could never afford to live in the nice part and I don't know how it would be work here, etc. But as a tourist? WOW! Everyone should come here. If there is one drawback, it seems like half the people smoke. Thank God they don't allow smoking indoors.

We got on our bikes, rode back to hotel, hit the Internet, and went to sleep.

Bonsoir.