70km London to Ascot
Ride overview
Can there be a more vivid and exciting start to a long distance ride than this? Riding out of Trafalagar Square in the very heart of London, you ride past three Royal Palaces, two deer parks and pedal alongside the Monarch’s Highway, the river Thames. Once out of the city, you pass via willow banks and river life to the Roman town of Ad Pontes (Chertsey-on-Thames), before continuing across Windsor Great Park, oak woods and polo fields to Ascot. There is too, the added delight of The Savill Garden, one of the great gardens of England. The route is almost entirely traffic-free making use of riverside and forest gravel paths. The route may be short, but there are so many stopping off places along the way, including some delightful river-side pubs, that it might take much longer than a day to complete the ride!
Ride Practicalities
There is no camping anywhere this close to London, other than at Staines which if you were to stay here, would make this leg short and the following one very long. There are Premier Inns nearby (who allow you to take the bike into the room) as well as several B&B options in and near to Ascot.
START/FINISH: Trafalgar Square, London/Ascot DISTANCE: 70km. TOTAL ASCENT: 416m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: A mix of segregated cycleways and riverside tracks which can be muddy after heavy rain FOOD: Hammersmith, The Elderflower Press, Hampton, Five at the Bridge; Walton-on-Thames, The Weir, MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Charing Cross Station/Ascot - there are mainline train stations back into London at Kingston, Chertsey, and Staines LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: London to Windsor Extravagant Genius, The Crocus Carpet , Heaths and Parks of SW London The Arcadian Thames , NCN 4 London to Holyhead
WHAT TO SEE/VISIT: Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle, The Royal Airforce Memorial, The Savill Gardens
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Ride notes
Trafalgar Square, the traditional centre of London, (the geographical centre is further south at Lambeth North Tube station), will be buzzing, no matter what time of day or night you arrive. Traffic will eddying around you, flags and pigeons will be flapping in the sky and the fountains splashing. From here, you ride down The Mall, the great Royal processional route, sometimes bedecked in Union flags, and always closed to traffic at the weekends whilst on other days, cyclists use the segregated cycle path. After Wellington Arch, where the late Queen Elizabeth’s coffin was transferred from its gun-carriage to the Royal hearse for her last journey to Windsor, you enter Hyde Park, the ‘green lung’ of London, which in spring is crowded with daffodils, ducks and dogs. Continuing on a traffic-free cycle path, you pedal into Kensington Gardens and its eponymous Palace, where Queen Victoria was born and where many royals continue to live.
The Albert Memorial, Kensington Gardens
So far, the ride has been traffic-free through the glorious Royal Parks. The next section, which takes you down to the Thames, follows quiet back roads through the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. You ride past grand homes and through garden squares to arrive beside the Thames at Hammersmith. There are several famous pubs along the riverbank, houses of great loveliness and gardens both public and private. Continue happily, on the traffic-free route to Chiswick and across its bridge to the south bank.
Chiswick Mall in spring
After a short interlude through Sheen, you return to a gravel path in the former Royal forest of Richmond Park. The route follows the Tamsin Trail around the edge of Richmond Park and you’ll see herds of deer, rich grassland and ancient oaks. It is a haven of tranquility after the streets of London. Once out of the Park, there is some quiet riding along the river to Kingston-upon-Thames, where again you cross the river and ride on to Hampton Court Palace, via another Royal deer Park, known quaintly as Home Farm.
Kingston-Upon-Thames - wall art
The Palace could be your cultural highlight of the day. Of all the Royal Palaces open to the public, it is the most varied and interesting. Again you cross the river and take a superb gravel path to the ferry at Weybridge. Willows drag in the water, poplars line the banks, boat crews are urged on by their coaches shouting through megaphones. There’s a ferry to be rung for which will take you across the river, and once you’ve disembarked there are more houseboats, riverside pubs and splendid views all the way to Staines-on-Thames .
The Thames Path near Walton-on-Thames. The plants are Alexanders, brought over by the Romas, who harvested the stalks which are not dissimilar to asparagus.
At Staines-on-Thames you pass the London stone, which marks the historical limit of the Port of London authority who still control of London’s river traffic between here and Chalkwell, out on the Thames Estuary. Cross the river once again - there’s been a bridge here since Roman times - and continue on a section of shared pavement to Runnymede, the ‘home’ of democracy, so named as the Magna Carta was sealed on the water meadows by King John, thus declaring that all men are equal before the law.
The bike on the Thames ferry at Weybridge
The route has been flat and gravelly throughout. Now comes a hill - a steep yank up a woodland path which takes you up above the Runnymede marshes and into Windsor Great Park itself. However, before you arrive at the Cumberland Gate, you pass the Royal Airforce Memorial. Its walls are lined with the names of airmen who have given their lives in the name of freedom. It’s a quiet and intensely moving place. Near to the entrance of the park are The Savill Garden, one of England’s finest. In spring, the National Collection of Magnolias and Azaleas are superb and the grounds are covered in naturalised daffodils.
A carpet of daffodils in the Windsor Great Park
Cycling through the Great Park is strictly controlled. There are notices loud and clear saying ‘No Cycling’ which also means that wheeling your bike is also forbidden by Royal Order! However, there is a signed and beautifully smooth road on which riding is permitted. Many of the trees in the park are over a 1000 years old, and the views across to the Castle and over Thames valley are stupendous. One of the curiosities of the park is the speed limit. Decades ago, there was a plan to convert British road signs to metric, which would have meant displaying the basic speed limit as 60kph. Anticipating the switch, the Crown Estate put up signs in the park reading 38mph because that's the equivalent of 60kph.
One of the many oddities of the Windsor Great Park
The route through the park is dream-time riding. The roads are the smoothest you’ll ride on the whole journey, and the only traffic you’ll encounter are members of the Royal Family on their way to a function. The whole park is carefully manicured, not least the polo grounds, a huge expanse of perfectly striped grass. There is not a weed nor a divot anywhere. Once out of the park, you ride on dedicated cycle-paths, many of which are shared with pedestrians through to Ascot where the stage finishes beside Ascot Racecourse, home to Royal Ascot in June.
The War Horse Memorial, Ascot