After a decent sleep, Wendy headed out for a run around Hyde Park while Courtney, Mitchell and I headed over to Richmond Park on the road bikes. Not having ridden there for over ten years, I had forgotten just how big and beautiful the park is. Within moments of passing through the gate, we were greeted by hoards of deer grazing by the side of the road. It was very satisfying riding the park with the kids, who when we were last here ten years ago were barely riding a bike, let alone joining me on a 50km jaunt through one of London's most famous cycling destinations.

Whilst the weather wasn't great for a summer's day, it was mild enough. We pushed out two laps of the roughly 11km outer loop, with my appreciation for the park increasing with every pedal stroke. I had certainly forgotten many of the features of the circuit, particularly the steep downhill in the anti-clockwise direction as well as the lush 'jungle' climb accompanied by a chorus of birds. There were quite a few other riders out, as well as way too many cars, far more than I remember when I used to ride the park at 6am, in the summers of 2005 and 2006.

Completing our two loops, we made our way back through Putney, soaking up a bit of nostalgia by recreating Mitchell's first day of riding a bike which happened to be two days before he turned three outside our old house, as well as visiting Courtney's old primary school.

We wound our way back through the streets of Chelsea, darting in and out of buses and cars. The volume of traffic is enormous on London's streets, and I've no doubt the average speed for most trips would be in the order of six to ten km's/hour. At least by bike we were able to sneak through the gaps between lanes, with most drivers very tolerant and accommodating of cyclists, in fact many of them going out of their way to allow safe passage, often moving their vehicles to the side to create a pathway when opportunities arose. This would rarely happen in Melbourne and it would be my observation having reacquainted myself with the English driver that on the whole they are far less aggressive on the road than their Australian counterparts, and whilst the traffic is more voluminous, I would say I feel safer riding bikes on the road with my children here than at home.

The second half of the day was spent catching up with my best mate from high school, Richard Huber and his family - wife Clare and daughters Amelia and Daisy. Meeting up at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, we meandered through the park and made our way to Buckingham Palace. Neither of Richard's girls had seen the palace before, so it was nice to see their faces as a couple of horse drawn carriages carrying some unknown dignitaries emerged through the gates. For a moment we had them believing it was the Queen.

After a very enjoyable picnic in Green Park, we called in to Harrods for a bit of a look and then walked aimlessly for another hour or so until the rain which had been brewing for some time arrived and we were forced indoors. A pub just happened to be the closest shelter available, and so it was that we enjoyed a couple of pints and a chat to finish off the afternoon. We dropped the Hubers off at the Green Park Station, leaving Daisy in a thoroughly confused and indignant state by the revelation that we shared the same Queen. "How dare you put our Queen's head on your $5 note!"