On what seemed like the first day of summer (NO rain!!!) for ages, eleven of us gathered opposite London Bridge station for the South London Parks ride. Having produced our visas and cleared immigration (for those of us from north of the Thames) we set off for park number 1 – Archbishop’s Park near Lambeth Palace. I had cycled pretty close to it many times on the main road but never realised it was there – and it even had bicycle themed topiary so definitely a top first choice. From there we threaded our way round backstreets expertly led by Ian and Nick to Kennington Park and then through the small but wildlife rich Elam Street Open Space.

Next up was lovely Myatt’s Fields (my favourite from last year). Not time yet for a lunch stop so we carried on to Ruskin Park where a sports day with marked out lanes for egg and spoon races was taking place. From there it was a short ride (but with hills – we don’t have those in East London) to Herne Hill station and Sunday food market. We bought up the bakery stocks and then all retired to the next park, Brockwell, to eat our lunch. We were reminded of the recent rain as we squelched our way across very soggy grass to find a dry spot to sit.

Next stop was not strictly a park but we didn’t mind, we dropped into Herne Hill velodrome to see actual racing taking place. Several  conversations ensued around the theme of who fancied having a go on a track bike and how fast do you need to go around the banking.  From here we rode the short distance to the next park proper – Dulwich – where we became entangled with a fleet of recumbent  tricycles being enthusiastically pedalled by small children. Personally I decided (coward that I am) that I would prefer to try one of those rather than a track bike.

The next stop was back at Myatt’s Fields again – but it was worth re-visiting as there was now a Javanese bank playing on the bandstand and we had time for tea as we listened to the soothing sounds. We then headed off towards Peckham, and travelled along the old Surrey canal cycle path to unhappily fenced off Burgess Park. We compared the lack of access unfavourably with Tower Hamlets own Victoria Park where major work has been completed without needing such drastic closures to the public. Sadly the need to do some household chores and boring work precluded my following the rest of the ride but I think Southwark Park was the last port of call before returning to the starting  point at London Bridge.

Many thanks to Ian and Nick for devising a great route and providing an enjoyable selection of visits with an appropriate selection of food stops in the Wheelers tradition.