London on my Brompton – Day 3: Lea Valley and Epping Forest

This was the 3rd day of my Brompton tour to London and the Lea Valley. As explained in the first 2 videos, I decided to do this tour while recovering from suspected tendonitis in my knee; I had rested for a week or so and now I wanted to give it some light work without overdoing it and damaging it further. I also wanted to do another bike tour before winter came.

My mileage had to be kept quite low for the sake of my knee and I thought a few short breaks would be helpful too. My route plan contained 2 loops – to the East and then West of the Lea Valley, but prudence, dusk and a long time spent on interesting and restful breaks meant I could only complete the East loop in Epping Forest.

Nevertheless, this was a really lovely day. Riding my lovely (but much too high-geared) Brompton through that colourful and quiet autumnal forest in autumnal weather is one of the most memorable rides of a memorable year. At times it felt like I was completely immersed in the forest – like a fish in an aquarium stocked with vivid plants in shades of red, yellow, green and coppery brown. The bare skeletons of branches and twisted trunks added their eerieness to the scenes.

Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge was a very interesting visit. It was one of many hunting platforms in royal forests before it was converted to a house. The displays were simple but very informative about Henry VIII, his passion for hunting and the way hints were run. The hunt and forest were on land appropriated from Waltham Abbey, whose abbot Henry had once hunted with.

My mileage was not very great and my speed was low., but those statistics are irrelevant to enjoyment. This was more of a gentle day’s outing on a bike than a serious “bike ride”. Above all, my knee survived the experience which was the main intention of the plan (although twinges of pain on the hills were enough to make me rather nervous about the following day’s ride). For me, Epping Forest was an unfamiliar location; now it is a place with very pleasant associations!