The 5 Mile Cyclist: Mice, LELers and some marvelous meanders across London under the Prudential's Cycling Parasol

A bit of a bash in a pub including someone who had just completed LEL the day before - cycling 900 miles in 104 hours - put us all in good cheer! We couldn't believe he was a) awake and b) in the pub. We all gawped at his medal in amazement!

Having followed the LELers activities on Facebook and a cycle forum I came to the conclusion very early on that LEL is for other people not for me. I couldn't cope with the sleeping (or rather non sleeping) on the floor, (on a lilo!!) no room service and no en suite! And I certainly would never be able to cycle that kind of mileage in that kind of time. But it had been fun keeping up with them all from a keyboard!

It was a very jolly evening, peeps had travelled from afar to be there - including my Top LELer (AKA Barring Mechanicals author). Eventually I left with my fellow Arsenal to Schalke 04 co-cyclist and we headed into the night on our Brommies.

The next day four of us had agreed to meet on Westminster Bridge to do the Prudential Free Ride around London. This wasn't its inaugural event - a Go Sky Ride had taken place two years ago - but its ethos is the same and it was the first one I have done. Its aim is to bring more and more people to the marvellous world of moving about by bicycle rather than motor-vehicle. A Powered by Porridge Not Petrol Extravaganza.

There were lots of people on the bridge at 9.00. Sadly not the ones I was looking for! 15 minutes later and still no show. 30 minutes later revealed that the alcohol of the night before had curtailed the start to the day and "would it be alright if we did it a bit later?"!! Hahahahaha! Ok I thought - I'll do a recce ride.

Up to Buckingham Palace, down The Mall, into Whitehall and onto the Embankment. What a fantastic collection of bicycles, ages, people all just rolling along for a great time.

As I headed towards Blackfriars Bridge I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was. Having done the Paris Randonnee three weeks ago, here I was doing a kind of London equivalent. Through the City of London, all the way to The Tower then back the way we came.

There were bands playing, dancers dancing, bicycles with juke boxes and a lot of smiling faces. Everyone simply having fun on their bikes.

The Festival Area in Green Park was full of activities - Bike Marking, Exchanging Places, Dr Bike (a large queue for all of those).

The London Mayors office and TfL were promoting cycling and have started an awareness campaign explaining various behaviour to help other road users understand moves. Potholes and glass, for instance means punctures for cyclists.

And the dangers of cycling too close to parked cars that if the door is opened, you can cycle straight into it - which for a cyclist at speed is dreadful and for some has been, tragically, fatal. The campaign will hopefully remind all road users how some things can affect others.

I met up with some friends for lunch and we had a picnic in the park - what's not to like?!

Hanging out with friends who cycle is a continuing learning curve as they share their vast library of cycling knowledge. At the drinks on Friday I learned about Rohloff hubs, Shimano Ultegra and e-deluxe lights. Yesterday I learned about a very useful website https://www.warmshowers.org/ which is a sort of B&B for cyclists by cyclists -a bed for the night in homes owned by cyclists.

These great peeps have all been having there own adventures too. Cycling to Paris with a bunch of students, sailing round the Coast of Great Britian (having cycled the entire thing a couple of years ago 4,000 miles in 12 weeks (her blog is here, bike polo, all sorts of things. And I met up with two of my fellow team mates from the FT Sportive! Yikes!! Luckily I wasn't wearing cleats and I was on my Brompton so there was no chance of reliving that again!

A phone call revealed that The Hangover had departed and a Free Ride was requested by his 10 year old son. We all met at The Embankment and made our way along the route - meeting another friend on the way. It was much busier than earlier but the atmosphere and enthusiasm was just as high if not higher.

Perfect cycling weather, sunny, warm and a blue sky. London showing off its collection of building and waterways. What was really fantastic was the hope that in years to come the roads we rode would be cycle only - one day it would be normal for everyone to travel by bicycle. Here's hoping...!

For the youngest of our group it was his longest ride. He seemed to enjoy it! We cycled all the way to Waterloo Station, had a farewell drink and they headed home.

I nearly did the same but I just couldn't quite find a good reason not to go and see the Crit races on The Mall. What a thing to do. It brought back all the memories of the IG Smithfield Nocturne and it was just amazing to see the speed at which Team Wiggle whizzed by. Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanne Rowsell - soooooo fast!

Their race was delayed at the start because an ambulance had been called for someone in the Junior race. Speedy recovery I hope. Dreadfully sorry to hear the news Joanna Rowsell was also involved in an accident. I hope, like many others, she is back on her bike very, very soon.

Apart from the cycling casualties, it was a great day. Matching so many memories - the Randonee de Londres, the FT Sportive, the BWC 2013 - how much fun can you have on a bicycle?!

Sunday was full of fine weather. I cycled to Hyde Park Corner to meet up with a friend and fellow Bromptonite where I found several cyclists who had already completed the Ride London 100. They had completed it in 4.15 hours - a rolling average of 21mph!! Yikes!!

We popped into the Festival where we had our photo taken! We had a drink and then found a fellow cyclist - with whom we had cycled to John O'Groats last year on his Brompton.

Today Mark was on his road bike and was one of those peeps who had just cycled the route at a rolling average of 21mph. According to my Prudential Guide, the professionals slow pace is 24mph so to do the ride in 21mph is absolutely outstanding. I think I will have to sit down again!

We headed off to Islington - to discover that we had the whole of Picaddilly to ourselves! Fantastic!

We headed north, found a hill (oooo!) and then pootled along a canal to a cafe. It was all lovely.

We past barges, boats and bridges - cyclists, pedestrians, quite a lot of dogs scampering about but everyone in a very relaxed frame of mind. A real treat.

The end of the towpath took us to Limehouse! Wow! We popped into Spittalfields and then onto Old Street for a couple of beers!

Eventually it was time to go home and as I weaved my way through The Mall, everything seemed to be closing up so I kept going. On the way I found a new road closure which made me a bit curious.

At the other end of it I asked a marshall what was happening and was told the men's professionals were in Wimbledon and were due to cycle by in about 10 minutes!!