Map reference: Richmond Park to Ham, family outing, 22k

Carbs and caffeine: Hansel and Pretzel, German bakery in Ham

We were desperate to get out in the sunshine after a Christmas kept inside. Husband’s father can no longer walk any distance so it seems rude to leave him in the house alone.
So today we muffled up as best we could and headed out into a wintery day. It transpires none of our mountain bikes are really roadworthy on the brakes front, but we all managed to keep safe. The real problem was the biting cold, which had daughter, 7, in tears. She is on a tagalong and forgets to keep pedalling. Middle son had his Christmas present hand warmers so we stuffed those into her gloves, which just about got us to the coffee shop. There, the very kind staff gave us a warm mug of water for her to hold to thaw her hands and we bought hotdogs to fuel our journey home.
It wasn’t our best ever outing, but legs were turned and that can only be a good thing.