B Grouplet - 21 October

Addlestone - W Horsley - Leatherhead

Reportlet on a ridelet by a grouplet

The best laid plans are sometimes washed away and so it was on Wednesday. We faced not a deluge but an unrelenting drizzle. There was talk at Addlestone of merging A+B, but  a quorum of Bs (Ray D, Peter T, Jeff T and Vic W held fast to their intended direction if not distance of travel. Peaslake was jettisoned and the compass set for West Horsley.

So south it was as we set sail for West Byfleet and a course beside the Wey and sewage works for Wisley Bridge, cunningly avoiding Muddy Lane and its irascible custodian, befriended by Vic. This seemed far enough for phase one as we sought sanctuary in Wisley Church, so often passed and rarely visited. It is a modest Norman building, dating from the mid-12th century, notable perhaps more for its survival through the centuries than its magnificance. Suitably shriven, we processed along Lock Lane to Wisley. In the gloom and foreboding of the airfield, awating its 'new town', the leader lost his way and had to be guided to Ockley and the Hautboy from a novel direction. Long Reach soon took us to lunchtime shelter in the King Bill at W. Horsley. Peaslake would have to wait for another day. Time passed pleasantly as our two veterans, R and V, reminisced about past exploits. Before you could say 'CTC' it was time for tea. We scuttled smartly along the A246 to Leatherhead, where Annie's let us in after closing time. We departed still in daylight.

This was not a ride to register in the record books. It may be remembered as a pleasant and enjoyable ride in autumn rain and excellent company.

Jeff