Nightrider 2011

Last night I continued my David Hasslehoff appreciation by taking part in Nightrider, the overnight sponsored bike event around London. I drove up to Crystal Palace with my bike in the boot, and snaffled loads of the free chocolate bars and bananas at the start line ready for my midnight kick off. The route took in south east London, including Blackheath and Greenwich, the east end and Canary Wharf, before turning back into the city, then north up through Hackney, Islington, Highbury and Finsbury Park before that bugger of a hill leading up to Ally Pally in time for sunrise. But what goes up must come down and I was thrilled to be on the downhill run, forgetting that other bugger of a hill up to Hampstead Heath. From there it really was all downhill through Belsize Park, Camden, Regent's Park and into the west end for a jaunt through Soho and Covent Garden. After the Strand we crossed the river again seemingly going in circles around Vauxhall before re-crossing the Thames and heading along Pall Mall and through Mayfair to Knightsbridge. Then it was along Cromwell Road, past the museums, before finally crossing Chelsea Bridge and making our way south through Battersea and Clapham before making the final ascent to the top Gypsy Hill and onto Crystal Palace.
I noticed several things. London is incredibly beautiful. I don't think it gets enough credit for its fantastic architecture. Not just the grand old streets like Regent Street and Portman Place but the brilliantly inventive new buildings that have popped up all over the City and Canary Wharf. Something else,  people in London NEVER go to bed, and man can they drink. Even at 4, 5 and 6 in the morning we were still encountering people smashed out of their gourds outside pubs and clubs, fighting in taxi and kebab queues, or cluttering park benches smoking jazz cigarettes.
I found the ride incredibly nostalgic in places, particularly cycling through Hackney, along Ridley Road market, passing the Empire, and up through Highbury and Islington. At the finish I got a medal, a bacon sandwich and a cuppa. Anyhoo, apart from a sore bottom and very sore palms, I am unscathed and happy.