B Group, 2nd July

Cobham – West Clandon – Leatherhead (Annie’s)

What a lovely day for a ride through English lanes! As some were not yet back from the French trip, I assumed our B group would be smaller than usual. However, I set off from Cobham with just under 25 riders, including Terry – good to see him back from illness and almost back to full fitness – and Tony d’Italia – also well recovered from his recent fall.

With a target for lunch of West Clandon, some thought the route would be short. However, I had planned a snaking meander through the lanes, taking us up Plough Lane and down Old Lane, then along through The Drift and Long Reach back up to Ockham village, where we proceeded left and back down Ripley Lane to meet the A246 at West Horsley. In the meantime, Robin had punctured, and Terry (up to then my reliable back marker) stayed with him with a couple of others. Pete B and one or two others had also departed during this first stage. 

We then followed the same path as the As, up the persistently steep Shere Road to meet Coombe Lane at the top during which we earned our lunch. Here my plans not to drop anyone went awry. Having left someone to wait for three back markers at the Coombe Lane junction, I took the rest along Coombe Lane and back down the glorious descent of Staple Lane with views all over Surrey and South London. Here Vic and others stopped to admire the view. We re-grouped at the bottom, just over the A246 into East Clandon, where we met Terry, Robin and the rest coming from the opposite direction. We then proceeded via Ripley Road and HMP Send (apparently a closed category women’s prison) back via Clandon Road to West Clandon where the welcome of the Onslow Arms awaited us.

The pub had reserved the garden area for us, where we were also able to put our bikes. Lunch took a long time to order but was delivered quickly and found to be tasty and copious (especially good chips with the sandwiches). On counting my flock over lunch, I discovered there were only 17, which seemed a bit low, and we noticed Bernard was no longer among our number. About 30 minutes after arriving, Bernard pitched up in the garden, having taken a wrong turn at Coombe Lane, descending into Shere and, with little knowledge of the area, having to ask the locals for directions. At that point he was also accompanied by another rider (whose name he didn’t know). Bernard then ascended to Newlands Corner (during which he lost the other rider, although he did wait some time for him at the top – apologies to this person and I hope they got home okay) and descended into West Clandon, adding not many miles to the route but quite a few extra metres of ascent!

We set off at a brisk pace along the A246 through East Clandon and West Horsley, turning down Dirtham Lane at East Horsley and over to Effingham. My original plan was to take tea at a newish café just round the corner from my house in Nork Way (near Banstead). However, as we neared The Vineries at Effingham, it was clear that several people were already wanting tea and cake, and that others were wanting to strike for home once we reached Leatherhead. We left Terry, Vic, Richard and maybe some others at the Vineries and pressed on to Leatherhead where we mounted the High Street and stopped for a welcome break at Annie’s. Sitting outside in the sunshine, it seemed the best way to spend a summer’s day. An approximate mileage of 18 from elevenses to lunch and 10 from lunch to tea gave me a round total of 46 when I arrived home. 

Helene