B Group - 9th November

B Group ride led by Gill

27.7 miles from Shepperton Greeno to the Riverside Barn Arts Centre in Walton

Despite the dull start, there was a big turnout at Shepperton and as leader of B Group, I set off with 21 riders. Our destination was the Fox and Castle pub at Old Windsor by way of the Thames towpath from Laleham to Lammas Park in Staines, Wraysbury and Datchet.

Depending on the time we reached Datchet, I had choices to make about the best route which would allow us to arrive at the pub at 1.00 p.m. Fortunately, with a good pace being maintained, I was able to stick to my original plan and we headed on to Eton where we were able to see well-dressed scholars in their tails walking around the school buildings. Crossing the river into Windsor, we encountered our first and only hill of the day as we climbed up to the entrance to the Castle. After this it was downhill to the road parallel to the Long Walk, on to a cycle path crossing the Long Walk and leading us straight to the big roundabout at Old Windsor. By using the path we were able to miss the queue of traffic at the roadworks and after crossing at the lights we were soon into the back streets which led us to the Fox and Castle pretty much spot on 1.00 p.m.

Here we were given a warm welcome, food and service were good and despite the large numbers (19 of us at this stage) we were on the road again at 2.10 p.m. By now the sun was out and it was a lovely, bright afternoon. Our route was a familiar one - Runnymede, across the Meads to Egham, Thorpe, Pentonhook, Ferry Lane (a bit muddy on the new footpath at the end) Chertsey, Shepperton and Walton. Tea was at the Riverhouse Barn but with the shorter days now, most people opted to keep going to try and get home in the light. Four of us, however, did partake of tea and had a very interesting conversation about the sayings on the rims of £2 coins! Thank you, Alan! Most enlightening! Thanks, also, to Irene and Pam for being back-markers and for 'challenging me with options' for the route chosen when out doing the recce last Sunday. 

Gill Finlay

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