Twenty of us departed at 11:15, crossed Kingston Bridge and followed the Thames up to Hampton Court Bridge. From there a meander through East Molesey and towards Hersham before a brief stretch on the A244 towards Esher. We rode up West End Lane and then the main road as far as Fairmile Lane which we followed to the end, to the junction with Stoke Road before taking River Lane after the cemetery at Upper Cobham Tilt. We crossed the paddock to Downside before heading through Bookham Common and after a gratuitous meander arrived at Ye Olde Windsor Castle.
They had reopened yesterday after closing for a week or so to allow some refurbishment to take place. So the place was sparkling with newness and they delivered very nice plates of food to the eighteen of us. Considering how busy the place was they did well for us.
Despite arriving at 1 p.m. it was well after 2:30 when we rolled out of the car park, having said goodbye to a sizable gang of defectors who wanted to go via Cobham to the distant lands of Egham, Staines and Weybridge.
The rest of us rode through Fetcham, down a muddy River Lane, and over a pair of small bridges, confident that we outnumbered the trolls who are reputed to lurk underneath them. At Randalls Road we turned right and made our way via Cleeve Road to Lower Ashtead where we headed into the woods of Esher Common to enjoy a bit more mud. Various people had peeled off towards their homes and when the remaining five of us arrived at Ruxley Lane we decided to skip Tea; it looked as if we wouldn't reach Squires before four o'clock when sunset was scheduled to strike an end to the beautifully clear afternoon. We thought also that the Café might be closed after 4 o'clock but I now read that we were wrong about this.
Thanks to everyone for their good company and especially to John Austin who back-marked with the greatest efficiency. We enjoyed the day out and I was pleased that we could squeeze yet another good ride out of this season of short days.
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