# London on a Brompton



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Backstory: business took me this past week to Paris, Frankfurt, Bonn, London, and Manchester. I booked an extra day to spend Saturday in London...had a great day, beginning last night!

Landed at Heathrow, took the express to Paddington Station. Cab to hotel, checked in showered changed, went for a walk - it was raining, glad to have my umbrella. Mainly just strolled, walked and walked and walked, lots of people out in the evening. Much more ethnic and diverse that I expected, but of course it's a global capital. 

One of the big commercial streets was a little Lebanese neighborhood, sidewalk cafes with people smoking from hookahs, unusual smells for this white boy from the 'mercan burbs. Went into a pub and talked with a young guy from Australia, he's taking his year after university and touring the world. Good beers. I ordered by looking at the taps and pointing to the one I've never heard of. 

Wandered a bit more, saw a grocery store and decided to check it out. Prices high, yeah. Doing the conversion rate in my head, about double what I'm used to. But it's a small store in the heart of a big city, I've seen similar in Manhattan bodegas. Spent a long time, checking out unfamiliar brands and foods. Ended up getting some awesome cheeses (Wensleydale!!!), a sixer of Foster's in cans (surprisingly they had a crappy beer selection - all were brands that are common at home). And... some bag of chips (crisps). Strange flavors. "Prawn cocktail" and Worcestershire. Good stuff though. Then back to the room and crash city. 

Slept in this morning then walked about 200 meters to the tube station, rode a bit to the "Oxford Circus" station... and it's well-named. Oxford Street is the big tourist shopping street and at 10am on a Saturday, it was already packed - sidewalks full of people, busses bikes and cabs in the narrow street... who says the economy is soft?

Oh about the people - well dressed, everywhere I went. Americans were easy to spot because of their apparent lack of fashion sense (Non-designer blue jeans, polo/golf shirt and sneakers...) And the ladies were dressed to impress - it seems the miniskirt / tall boots / dark hose look has never gone out of style here. I appreciate this.

I went to this cool little bike shop that specializes in commuter and city bikes. All the euro-style stuff, models we never see around home. I rented a Brompton folder, got instructions on folding and locking and a handy map.

Highly recommended: https://www.velorution.biz/

First I wanted to find some bike-related stuff so I asked the guys at the citybike shop and they sent me to Condor Cycles - you may recognize this as an old Brit brand, now sponsor of pro team Rapha Condor. Modern shop, all the high end racing stuff. A couple souvenirs, then...

Hopped on the bike and toured the city - it was a BLAST. Narrow little streets, zigzagging around, finding little hidden squares and small parks. 

Oh, and the British Cartoon Museum, which is hidden away on a little back one-way street that was a total accidental random find, but I spent half an hour in the gift shop, browsing and giggling. It was great, everybody that walked in would be laughing within a couple minutes. 

Then I just headed toward the Thames, and on the way I stumbled across SOHO, Scotland Yard, Trafalgar Square (all of which were full of people, especially Trafalgar). 

Eventually made it to the Thames, walked across one of the pedestrian bridges (the weather was beautiful!) headed East to the Globe Theater. A check of the map, cross the river again and to the Tower of London, where I spent the rest of the afternoon. Henry VIII was highlighted, lots of weaponry on display, a live demo of some medieval siege weapons (got video!) and just general old castle coolness. 

Oh yeah, and the crown jewels. Bling! I wasn't expecting to be excited, but one display had an old crown, along with a PILE of diamonds, several thousand of them, that had been used in the crown. Sadly, no cameras in that room.

For you aviation fans, a sighting: London city airport is nearby, a constant stream of traffic overhead, one of which was a large cabin-class biplane that I could not ID - but it had no wing struts at all - pure cantilever wings upper and lower. I got a really fuzzy pic.

Then time was running out, had to get the bike back by 6.30. That part was fun - checked the map briefly, the folded it up and said "eh, I'll fake it". The crowds in the tourist areas had only gotten thicker but it was cool being on a bike and faster than the cars and cabs and busses. Lots of other bikers too. 

Now I'm having a Foster's and watching a BBC documentary on Ghandi. 

Some pix:


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Sounds like you made the most of your short time there. The only other thing I would have done is take one or two of the buses for a night time tour (double decker, of course). Just cruise around looking at the people, places, and monuments. It's a cheap tour.


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## snapdragen (Jan 28, 2004)

Creaky, 

Please pick up the red bike for me.

Thanx,

Snap


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## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*Brompton sounds fun*

Not bad for one day. I lived there for six years and still, there was more to see. Thanks for the picture of Condor. It was my LBS and despite all the bling, they could order anything you needed and had a great selection of riding wear such as gloves and booties.

Other than the crisps, didn't hear much about any gastro experiences....


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Creaky......I've been waiting for this and you didn't disappoint.....thanks.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

Creaky,

Super glad you got out on a bike in London--and hit some high spots around the town, & down by the Thames...

I can 'onestly say the weird crisps never got any better while we were there!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

All right! Sounds like a great adventure for a one day wander- you really packed a lot into an afternoon. If you bring back the red bike for Snapdragen, I`ll take the black one with mixte stays and top tube.

Was that your first folder experience?


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## damitamit (Sep 15, 2005)

Good story! welcome to london!

The London Cycle Show was on this weekend in Earls Court but I suppose that wouldve been a whole day of cycle-related things and you wouldnt have seen the other sights of london.

I didn't know velorution rented bromptons...cool!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

back home now... moar pix

a pub









Brooks display at Velorution









typical on-the-bike view


















Paris - we took a few minutes between meetings to stroll Le Champs









back in London - this one's for Hickey









typical street - had a blast following these around









Trafalgar / National Gallery area was quite crowded









the eye









Brompton and Big Ben









Brompton locked up at The Tower


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Great stuff...That Brooks display is ...wow......


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

I'm headed there for 2 weeks, Tuesday afternoon. I'll only be in London for one weekend, and will be hanging with coworkers. We're there for 2 weeks for work, 100 miles north in Coventry, but my coworkers have never been to London before, so we're going there for the weekend. Sadly, no bike rental for me, since there is no way one of the guys would be able to handle it. I've done it before, and had my wife come over and spend the weekend in London with me. We did a lot of walking and riding the tube. I'd love to take a bike around. Nicely done.


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## DannyBoy (Feb 19, 2004)

Mate, sounds wicked. Really enjoyed reading that. I'm English but have lived in New Zealand for 8yrs (Kiwi wife n'kids). Went back to blighty for 5 weeks a few months back. Ditched the wife and kids one day and did much the same as you - ended up in Croydon at Roberts and have a new compact on order (fuzzy cam phone pic enc).

Hate to say it, I concur with your comments on American fashion sense, mind you the Kiwi's ain't much better.

Me and my brother spent an afternoon in a pub on the Strand called the Coal Hole (took my wife there on our 2nd date 12yrs ago) - 6 hours later you can imagine the state of us, esp as we had 3 yrs of gossip to catch up on!!!

Boneman speaks the truth, there's much to do and see.

Glad you enjoyed it.

DannyBoy.

(PS, you think UK was expensive for produce, you'd fall over at NZ pricing!)

http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/CoalHole.htm


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## lancezneighbor (May 4, 2002)

Love riding around London. The streets are a crazy maze. Our flat is one and a half blocks from Battersea Park. It took me 3 weeks of going there almost every day to figure out the fastest way to get there. You will never see everything in London; it is endless. Anyone going should try out the Capital Ring, a 100 kilometer trail around the whole city.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

lancezneighbor said:


> Love riding around London. The streets are a crazy maze.


That's the truth! First ride in the City (Financial District) we were forced to to turn right from an intersection because of road works. Navigating by guess-work to get back on our course, we made multiple turns, only to arrive at the original intersection, but coming from the opposite direction of our detour. Unintentional full circle...

And we felt confident the whole time that we had it under control


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## lancezneighbor (May 4, 2002)

Creakyknees said:


> back home now... moar pix
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like the "locked up at The Tower" photo. I think even Mary I of England (Bloody Mary) might laugh at that one. Well maybe not.


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