When Barry Mason devised the Royal Docks Ride about 20 years ago, he called it the "Locks Docks and One Smoking Ferry Ride". Barry is famous for having been the founder of Greenwich Cyclists who transformed Southwark Cyclists into "the most active and exciting of all the LCC borough groups",
This is the Greenwich Cyclists ride report from the ride that took place twenty years ago in November 2003:
The description of the ride as being “ever-changing” is certainly as appropriate today as it was then.
The ride has been popular ever since, so we will be doing it again on Saturday Apr 6th. We meet at 9.30am at the Southwark Needle.
The 18 mile route for this ride can be downloaded from here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44542974.
The smoking ferries at Woolwich are no more and even the new ones are not operating at weekends, so we will cross to the north side of the Thames by using the Woolwich Foot Tunnel instead.
On this ride, we will be able to take a look at the works going on to build the Silvertown Tunnel. This, of course, is the bête noire of the cycling community, but, at the same time, is essential for reducing congestion on the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach and for supporting the redevelopment of the Royal Docks area.
We will stop for a mid-ride coffee break at the Well Bean Café, 1-2 Upper Dock Walk, London E16 2GU. The ride will finish at the Tpwer of London.
Ride Leader: Nigel Bee (tel: 07415 315 690, email: cisadmin@cyclistsinsouthwark.org.uk )