Cycle the Underground,overground,wombling free,making a tube map for a poster for me

All I could find about the accident at Forest Hill last week was this:

http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9669&pid=61329

Pretty nasty. I had been thinking about this guy on and off since last week and hoped he'd pull through. I did think about sending him a card in hospital, but without any name or hospital details I was a bit stumped. I've been unable to find any further updates apart from something on google about twitter chat saying that he was off the critical list and on the mend. I'm not on twitter and know its not a reliable news source, but in the absence of any other info I can only hope this is true. I wish the chap a speedy and full recovery. I did email the person who wrote the above article yesterday to ask if there are any further updates, so we'll see.

In brighter news the other week I sent an email to Tunnocks to tell them about these rides, and how Tunnocks are indirectly helping with my navigation around the metropolis. I thought it may give them a giggle and they could maybe pass to any cyclists in the company to read at teacake break. Well they emailed me back asking for my address and yesterday morning I received this, a Glencairn Crystal Tunnocks engraved tumbler.

How brilliant is that! I'm well chuffed, thanks Tunnocks. My lifetime commitment to this family company is now assured. My main concern about Scottish independence is that the supply of teacakes south of border is maintained, and I shall personally hunt down Alex Salmond and slapped arse botox face David Cameron if my Tunnocks fix is in any way affected.

My midweek plans to do the DLR were put on hold as I had'nt done any riding outside London this year, (with the exception of the ride to Amersham) so had a bad case of urbanitis and needed to do some countryside miles. That itch was scratched with 90 odd miles on Thursday out to Saffron Waldon and back, and despite the brutal 20-30 mph headwind all the way back, it was a lovely change. My mate was in charge of navigation so I had a day off from extensive route notes which was great.

So fully recharged and ready for the final urban assault of the two remaining lines, I headed out today for the DLR.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/dlr-route-map.pdf

The DLR map probably best demonstrates all the back and forth I've had to do so far, multiple branches and although there are 83 stations on the DLR the only ones I'd not have to go past at least twice were the ones at the end of each branch and All Saints, Langdon Park, Devons Road, Bow Church and Pudding Mill Lane. Canning Town is the central hub of the line and I'd have to go through there 4 times.

By starting in Tower Gateway the route runs like a Scalextric track up to Beckton, back to Stratford International, down to Woolwich Arsenal, back up to Bank, down to Lewisham before the final leg back up to Stratford. Perhaps not the shortest route but it has a nice symmetry with the DLR map.

I bombed along for the first 20 odd miles, this being by far the most traffic free line I've done so far, I guess helped by the fact that part of town is quiet on Sundays. The exception was Stratford, I walked through Westfield on my way to Stratford International and was surprised how busy it was, it became apparent this was not due to the public engaging in retail therapy but because there was loads of Sports Relief activity going on around the Olympic Park

Then it was down to Woolwich Arsenal, I'd hoped to get the Woolwich ferry across the river as I was'nt able to when doing the Jubilee line as it was closed because of fog. I got there just before 11 only to discover the first ferry was'nt until 11.40, slackers. I could'nt be bothered to stand around so I went through the foot tunnel. As I only had to get Woolwich Arsenal before coming straight back, I ended up coming back through the foot tunnel again, so no ferry this time either.

It was pretty windy again today so all the west bound riding was into a stiff breeze which made it harder than it could have been, but I'd had no rain so far. As I got to Tower Hill and all the way through to Bank it was clear it had been raining earlier but was obviously localised to the north of the river, yay.

I had no rain gear so was pleased to have dodged a soaking, and on the way back out to Canary Wharf the sun broke through.

There was more tunnel action as I had to go through the Greenwich foot tunnel twice to get to Lewisham and then again on the way back. All went fine all the way back to the finish in Stratford. Days total mileage = 65.3 miles, taking the grand total so far to 805.8 miles.

Underground
Victoria line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168039

Central line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168037

Bakerloo line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2168035

Jubilee line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179359

Metropolitan line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179362

Waterloo & City line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181152

Circle line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181146

District Line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2259166

Hammersmith & City http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2259143

Northern line http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2282509

Bakerloo line, 3rd time lucky http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2284876

Overground
Overground 1 from Stratford via Willesden Junction to Ricmond, back to Willesden and finishing in Clapham Junction. 28 Stations
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2345908

Overground 2 Clapham to Junction to New Cross, West Croydon, back up to Surrey Quays, through Rotherhithe Tunnel to Highbury & Islington. 29 stations http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2341571

Overground 3 Gospel Oak to Barking, 12 stations. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2338449

Overground 4 Euston to Watford Junction, 19 stations. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2338455

DLR - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2380539

So that just leaves the Piccadilly line to go, whoop whoop, which I will try and do at the end of this week. I was going to start than in Cockfosters but if this westerly wind keeps up I may start in Heathrow. However a quick Pat Butchers at the BBC weather website hints the wind may be blowing in the opposite direction towards the end of next week, so I'm likely to be as changable as the weather so the start point will be determined by which way the wind blows.