Riding with my boss 與 Boss 走一轉

Studying in UK is really wonderful, there are so many term breaks throughout the school year. Just like the recent Spring Term Break that began on 1st of April, my little boss started staying at home with nothing to do again. Early Sunday morning, he suggested to go cycling after lunch, which I had no reason to turn down despite of the cold and windy weather.

The destination he found was Chessington, located at the edge of Kingston upon Thames. The most direct route was via Brighton Road, Hook Road and Leatherhead Road. However, his mom was a little bit concerned with this in view of the narrow roads and the associated heavy traffic. Without much planning, I took out my Wahoo Elemnt cycle computer to find a better route.

Put on our thick overcoats, we immediately set-off for the cycling journey.

One thing worth mentioning is that unlike typical GPS systems, Wahoo Elemnt and the corresponding Companion App will suggest routes that are highly suitable for cycling.

在英國讀書真好，年中 term break 多到難以至信，剛過去的四月一日又是 Spring Term Break 的開始，家中小老闆又再百無聊賴的 hea 在家，星期日早上，難得他提議午後騎車出外走走，雖然天氣非常寒冷，我也無法拒絶。

當天目的地是兒子揀選的 Chessington，位於 Kingston upon Thames 邊緣，最直接就是沿 Brighton Road、Hook Road 及 Leatherhead Road 的路線走，但這幾條道路頗狹窄，交通流量亦較高，令媽媽不太放心。在沒有太多時間準備下，還是利用我的 Wahoo Elemnt cycle computer 找出較佳騎行路線，披上厚厚大衣便出發。

值得一提的是 Wahoo Elemnt 和相對應的 Companion App 與一般的 GPS 軟件不同，會自行尋找適合騎行的路線。

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The route suggested by Wahoo Elemnt was along Beaufort Road and Cranes Park which were closed to residential areas where traffic volumes were extremely low. On the other hand, some climbing were required which I considered as warmup for my boy.

Next came the down hill King Charles Road that led to Tolworth Broadway and, to be honest, moving through the cold weather of around six to seven degree celsius was really “Refreshing“.

Right after crossing the A3, my boy rushed away from the original route and I failed to stop him. We ended up riding along the busy Hook Road and Leatherhead Road instead. As portions of the roads are relatively narrow, it is not possible for cycle lanes to be laid all along. Nevertheless, cycling along these roads was still very safe and we swiftly arrived at our first destination, Chessington.

Wahoo Elemnt 提供的主要是沿民居附近車路 Beaufort Road 及 Cranes Park，日中車輛不多，但卻需要攀爬一段上山路，就當是兒子的熱身運動吧。而跟隨的 King Charles Road 則是通往 Tolworth Broadway 的下坡路，在只有六、七度的寒風下，的確可以令人精神為之一振。

橫過 A3 後，兒子一個箭步地衝離沿定路線，叫也叫不住，最後唯有走 Hook Road 及 Leatherhead Road 兩條主要車路。由於部份路面較窄，單車線亦只能斷斷續續的畫上，不過整體上尚算安全，而不用多久便到達第一站 Chessington。

Leatherhead Road is one of the major road leading to M25, the London Orbital Motorway. It happened that there were some maintenance works scheduled on that day and temporary single-lane traffic control was in place for portion of the road, rendering the busy road even more congested.

As there were not much pedestrian, we cycled on the pavement to get pass the long queue of vehicles and arrived at Malden Rushett.

My boy’s original plan was going to Sutton, but given that we were running out of time and he had promised his mom to return home before evening, we ended up going home via Oxshott, Esher and Portsmouth Road instead.

Leatherhead Road 是通往環繞 Greater London 的環狀高速道路 M25 的主要通道，剛巧這天有工程，部份路段只能作單程行車，令原本極之繁忙的路面變得更水洩不通，我們只好走上沒甚麽路人的行人路，輕鬆地超越長長車龍到達 Malden Rushett。

兒子本想繼續騎往 Sutton，但時間不早，再加上應承了媽媽黃昏前回家，最後只好改經 Oxshott 到 Esher，沿 Portsmouth Road 回家。

Both the roads B280 and A244 that going towards Oxshott Railway Station and Esher respectively, are made up from series of up and down slopes. Being typical suburbs, these roads are narrow and pavement may not exist for most parts of the roads. This together with the raised speed limit of 40 mph, imposed considerable pressure to my boy who did not have much road experience. Luckily, most of the drivers in UK were kind and patient to cyclists. In some sections of the roads, drivers kept on driving slowly after us and only overtook when possible.

Well, there was nothing better than enjoying the snack he loved in order to calm his little soul, especially after struggling along the roads. We carefully locked our bikes in the Esher High Street and visited Tesco to shop our snacks.

It didn’t really matter if you couldn’t find a decent place to eat, just relaxed and sat on the roadside like other people did! Judging from the Magnum Classic he had, you would know how demanding the trip was to him!

通往 Oxshott 火車站的 B280 及 Esher 的 A244 都是上上落落的斜坡，加上是典型的市郊路，狹窄之餘又不一定有行人路，而 40 mph 的車速限制，更為沒有太多路面經驗的兒子帶來一定的壓力。興幸我們身處英國，駕車人士對騎行者都非常尊重、禮讓，好幾段路他們都慢慢跟隨著我們走，只在較寬闊之處才超越我們。

一輪掙扎後終於騎到 Esher High Street，來點小食相信更有助安定弱小的心靈，把單車鎖好於路旁燈柱，便往Tesco 走。

到了英國差不多一年了，入鄉隨俗，沒有枱椅亦不緊要，就坐在路邊地上慢慢享受我們的美食，單看兒子手中的 Magnum Classic 便知他今天消耗了多少體力！

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The 23 Km ride was comparative short and only about one third of what he usually had before. However, the most precious achievement was the road experience he had gained, which I believed will be more beneficial to him taking bicycle as a means of transportation in UK.

當天總共騎行了約 23 公里，只是兒子以往行程的三份一，不過最大得著反而是公路騎乘的真實體驗，對日後在英國以單車作交通工具有莫大裨益。

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If you are interested in my rides in UK, click here for more details.

有興趣看看我其他在英國的單車遊，可按這裡。