The Rat Race LONDON Urban Adventure Race
Tales of the Riverbank
Rob Howard / 04.10.2007
By this time they all had the route plotted and knew they would be starting in the city, then riding west along the river into the suburbs. The route would take them through Hyde Park to activities at Fullers Brewery, the Twickenham Stadium and on the river near Ham, then back through Richmond Park and paddling at Putney to the finish at Potters Field.
Naturally concerned about 700 riders setting off through the streets of London, which are much busier than you might expect at 08.00 on a Sunday morning, Gracie laid down the law on obeying traffic laws and lights and riding sensibly. “The Police are very aware of the race,� he warned, “and will be watching what is going on.� There was strict advice to stick to paths in Royal Parks too, especially Richmond Park as there was concern about Foot and Mouth affecting the deer herds or riders getting too close. The advice was “Deer have right of way!�
The start was on foot with a mass race over the Millennium Bridge and up to Paternoster Square to collect an orienteering course plotted on Google maps, and the advice was to take last nights detailed A-Z as well. Navigating the streets on the Google map alone would be difficult. With the checkpoints found the return route was past the Tower of London and over Tower Bridge, to collect the bikes and ride back over the Bridge. (Fortunately, there were no big ships passing by!)
Then it was back past St. Paul’s to ride (or walk) down a flight of steps, along the embankment and through Parliament Square. At this stage there was a large peleton and the cabbies stopped at the lights wondered what was happening as riders in their black Colombia race shirts surrounded them. When the lights turned green outside the Houses of Parliament there was a nasty moment when Gary Vallance of Team Usual Suspects slid off his bike on a diesel spill, but fortunately he managed to scramble his bike and himself onto the pavement and the only damage was cuts and scrapes to his arm and leg.
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