Woke up to a blanket of snow, and immediately thought about going back to sleep, but remembered oh no, it’s RCC ride day! Went to meeting point and hoped no one would turn up, but there were 3 hardy individuals, including me, all fired up with enthusiasm. It was still snowing when we set off and continued for a while. We went past Henry VIII’s palace at Hanworth, which he gave to Anne Boleyn when she was still in favour. From there we continued northwards, and the thought that struck me was that the weather was actually very suitable, as even Feltham looks pretty in the snow.
A tour around the perimeter road on the eastern side of the airport then took us to the “lost” villages, Sipson and Harmondsworth, which will be demolished if the 3rd Heathrow runway is built. Harmondsworth in particular is very pretty, with a quaint square, complete with cottages, pub and church, and this is where we had the hailstones. We continued through Harmondsworth Moor country park, sandwiched between the M4 and the M25 which was beautiful, especially in the snow.
We continued round to the new terminal 5 which has only been open for 2 weeks, and decided to pop in for lunch. The cycle provision is not very good, hardly any cycle routes and no bike parking that we could find. We parked in the motor cycle area, then warmed up in the terminal, and had coffee, cake and soup, which was very welcome. We could watch the planes arriving from the café.
For the journey back to Twickenham, the skies cleared and the sun came out. We saw a woodpecker hammering to build his nest in Crane Park, and then it started snowing again, and one of us got a puncture. All in all, a good, interesting ride, despite the weather and the urban, commutery feel of it. Well worth doing. Thanks to those brave souls for turning up with such enthusiasm.
Words and Pictures by Sue Abel
