The simplest weekend ride from north London: down to the river, out to Richmond Park, one lap of the park road and back the same way. It's about 50 km with roughly 270 m of climbing, nearly all of it inside the park, which makes it a good first longer ride or a quick spin before lunch.
Where it goes
From Highbury you drop through Clerkenwell to the Embankment and follow the north bank of the Thames west past Westminster, along Millbank and through Chelsea and Fulham to Putney Bridge. From Putney it's a short run along the Lower Richmond Road and over Barnes Common to Priory Lane and Roehampton Gate.
Inside, the lap runs anticlockwise: west past the turning for Sheen Gate and up Sawyer's Hill to the high point near Richmond Gate, south past Pembroke Lodge to Kingston Gate, then east over the rise and down to Robin Hood Gate, and back north to Roehampton Gate. The lap is about 11 km. From there you retrace the outward route home.
The hard bits
- The climb to Richmond Gate (km 21–23): a steady drag of about 30 m in 1.5 km. It isn't steep, but it's where people tend to race.
- The rise from Kingston Gate (km 26–27): short, around 25 m in a kilometre, and a little steeper than it looks.
Otherwise it's flat: the run along the river is barely above sea level, and the ride's highest point is only about 55 m.
Planning
There are cafés and shops along the river route and in Putney, and there are cafés in the park, so one bottle is usually plenty. The Royal Parks apply the park's 20 mph limit to bikes as well as cars, and you'll share the road with cars, other riders, runners and deer, so ride with some care, especially at busy weekend times. Central London is busiest on weekdays, so early weekend mornings are the calmest time to ride. This is a ride for any season.
Weather: Richmond Park is open grassland and the lap is exposed, so on a windy day one side of the loop will feel noticeably harder than the other. Because the ride is short, it's easy to fit around showers: check the hourly forecast and pick a dry window.