Midnight Run

Last weekend included a first. After going out to the pub on Friday night and getting home at about 11, I decided to set the alarm for 2:30 and get up and go for an early morning ride. I got up as planned and hopped on the Viffer and headed out. I decided to ride into London, 60+ miles away.



A quick ride up the empty M3 and I was riding through Richmond and towards Westminster. The place felt surreal, not completed empty but riding around Parliament Square with very few people around was an unusual feeling. I stopped on Westminster Bridge and soaked in the weirdness for a few minutes. After a quick blat past Waterloo towards Southwark stopping at the London Eye I went back across the river, I then headed back towards Knightsbridge and then Piccadilly Circus. The Neons were accompanied by buses and Taxis and it appeared to be the busiest part of the city at 4:30am. I opened the viffer up on the run towards Hyde Park corner and after being followed by a rozzer on another lap of Piccadilly/Park lane I started heading through the West end. I cut north up onto the North Circular and then picked up the M4 towards home. Even the M4 felt strange at that time of day on a Saturday morning. There was next to nothing on the road until Reading. It gave me a chance to sit and cruise at a ridiculously high pace for a while, the adrenalin keeping me warm. I left the M4 at Reading and cut through to Basingstoke and then home for about 7 ish.



After 190 miles I was shattered but was left buzzing. It was such a bizarre ride that it felt alien to what I was used to. Country roads and rural twistys were my more natural home. The urban assault was more stressful for me because of my lack of experience but I was left hungry for more.



Another LondonUrbanBadgerExperience will be organised soon.