It comes but once a year, but for one day in late July or early August, our wee part of Wimbledon Village is ring-fenced with road closures and thus marooned from the rest of London as the amazing Ride London cyclists pass through. The town and village take on a carnival atmosphere, like a last sigh of summer recalling the festivities of Wimbledon (tennis) fortnight just a month or so earlier.
So as the sun drenched the streets with patchwork beams and business-owners set out their stalls, early this morning the Village began to transform once more into a sporting venue. And then, about 9.30 am, with crowds growing from thin to fat, the first of the amateur cyclists commenced the thigh-testing climb up Wimbledon Hill. Against a wavy-crazy spectacle of bright balloons and garish banners, charity teams shout out support to sponsored riders, accompanied by klaxons and tambourines.
Half way up Wimbledon Hill, supporters from Muscular Dystrophy UK cheer on their riders, and everyone else!
Hundreds of cyclists, many riding for charity, climb Wimbledon Hill
Supporters from Epilepsy Research UK are among the loudest and most colourful
Hydrating in the heat after reaching the flat of Wimbledon High Street
See more photo of Ride London 2016 as the cyclists passed through Wimbledon Village here.
