17th March 2007
Whacky Races Promenade
Serpentine Road is within Hyde Park and it runs along the top of the Serpentine lake. It's the place to be if you've got wheels and no exhaust pipe. I'm talking: inline skates, wheelchairs, cross country skies, weird bikes that look like scooters with 3 wheels: Trikkes http://www.trikke-europe.com/home.php, push foot scooters, recumbent bicycles (where your legs are out in front of you) and Heelies (wheels hidden in heels).
It's really a promenade, and it's lovely to be there, strolling around just before sunset on a Summer's evening. Traffic and shops are far away and finally, you get a bit of peace and quiet. Heading home at dusk, you might spot the herons, lurking motionless, in the bushes, waiting for the arrival of the Bird Lady.
It can get a bit frenetic at the weekends or bank holidays. Walkers assume they can just amble around the road dreamily, toddlers in tow, whereas marathon-racing rollerbladers assume they can blast down the road at full throttle...
First thing in the morning is fresh too. You could do a bit of celebrity spotting if you were the type of person who would actually recognise one in a jogging outfit. There's a sandy strip running parallel to the road and beautiful horses and ponies canter along (watch out for the steaming piles of digested hay, rollerbladers) or the Queen's guard practising in full finery.
Ice cream, deckchairs for rent, architecture that mushrooms up overnight, arabic ladies in full hijab, guys in hot pants, girls in bikinis.
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