Since we leave for UK exploration/shakedown on Thursday, we decided to run this morning’s errands on the bikes rather than by Tube. We put an address into the GPS, after determining that all the towns near here are part of London and you have to identify which borough you want using the two letters visible on the GPS (of which 5 start with Ha and we were going to Harrow). Then I pushed Ride and we were off. The GPS actually gave us a decent route and got us where we wanted to go. Riding on the left side of the road, however, is very nerve-wracking. Cars also tend to park on the side of the road (sometimes it’s marked as bike lane, but that does not seem to impact parking), forcing everyone into oncoming traffic to go around. I was really glad to get a ride with traffic before fully loading up the bikes. I also feel much more confident in the ability of the GPS to complement our maps. For those who are interested, I downloaded the maps using this procedure described by DC Rainmaker. It was just as he describes it and now that we’re here I can verify that it works.
We decided to buy a second lock, since the one that we brought is beefy (a heavy ABUS chain), but only goes through frames and two wheels. After the locks we saw at RideLondon Saturday, and realizing we may have to lock our bikes outside overnight soon, we thought another lock might provide a little extra peace of mind. I also bought a new watch (my old Timex did not take to London) and got my rear wheel trued slightly after its experience on the tube’s escalators.
The rest of the day was spent getting our stuff partially organized for the Thursday departure. I have to admit it was nice to have a day without the Tube and get at least a little time on the bikes.
The ride back:

For those who recognize the source of the image–you can follow me on Strava (joycycling chick) to see all our rides.