Our inaugural THW women’s ride was held (somewhat inappropriately) on 1st April. However it was anything but an April fool – the sun shone and 23 women came along from Wheelers, the East End WI and from Tower Hamlets Cycling Club. We started with a gentle ride from Mile End to Victoria Park where we just happened to meet Tom (LCC’s Senior policy and development officer) who took our photo and seemed impressed by the great turnout. A couple of minor bike problems, namely a slipping seatpost and a wobbly saddle, were identified and rectified quickly.  From the park, we cycled along the canal towards the Olympic Park and then turned north up the Lee. The traffic free riding allowed plenty of opportunity for us to mingle and chat. We stopped at the Waterworks visitor centre for a tea/coffee/early lunch according to appetite and taste.

After the stop there was a parting of the ways as the ladies from THCC had to get their borrowed bikes back to Mile End by 1pm. The rest of the group carried on further, using shared use pavements, the “Black Path” cycle route and some minor roads to Coppermill Lane. The WI ladies left us at this point as one of them lives there and I am sure they were stopping for tea and cakes! The rest of us carried on alongside the sewage works (Wheelers can show you all the best sites!) back to the Lee Valley. We made a brief detour to view Leyton Marsh complete with “Occupy” camp and local protestors (an area of the marsh is being built on to provide a basketball practice arena for the Olympics). South of Lea Bridge road we detoured into the Middlesex filter beds - originally part of London's water supply treatment but now a nature reserve. As we enjoyed the sunshine we were lucky enough to spot a newt swimming around in the pond. We retraced our route as far as Eastway, and then took some quiet roads through Hackney Wick leading back to the footbridge over the Blackwall tunnel road into Victoria Park. We will soon need to use this route regularly as the towpath alongside the Olympic site will be closed most of the summer “for security reasons”.

All in all a very successful day, with much better weather than the forecast. Stand by for more women’s rides – we will aim to do one every month or so.