B Group - 26th October

It is rarely a big surprise to set off from the Elleray Hall with a large group but for this ride I was obliged to ask everyone to pre-order their lunches so I knew the night before that we would have at least 20. And by the time we set out we had added another 7.

Our first great pleasure was to ride through the park by the Crane with its rich autumn colours and the leaves crunching under our wheels.

We wrapped around the Rugby stadium in Twickenham and found the narrow path which runs alongside the stream by the Mogden Sewage Works where small autumn leaves were snowing down around us.
 
From Isleworth we were in Osterley Park for a pit stop and out the other side on Osterley Lane to cross the M4. Then a brief meander via North Hyde Lane to pick up the Grand Union Canal path which we were to follow westward for several miles, through Hayes and West Drayton, past the junction with the Slough Arm and the Packet Boat Marina.
 
In Yiewsley one or two people apparently noticed our lunch venue on the other side of the canal and commented that Tim had missed the turn over the bridge which would have brought us out at the Waters Edge Restaurant. But at a risk of arriving a bit late we carried on up the canal to the Cowley Lock, crossed the canal and turned back down Old Mill Lane to Little Britain Lake, deviating onto a minor path with water on either side to enjoy 5 minutes of tranquillity before turning into Packet Boat Lane to reach the bar.
 
The Waters Edge staff had arranged and dressed our tables as if for a celebration and having pre-ordered our lunches they were being delivered as we sat down. Everything went well except that Peter Carpenter had punctured some way back on the canal path so Bob Panel rode back to meet him and brought him across to the bar which overlooks the Packet Boat Dock.
 
Having enjoyed our lunch we retraced our route along the Lane and across a small foot bridge to reach Ford Lane and Iver Lane. We followed Old Slade Lane beyond Richings Park, crossed the M4, and took the small path by the Colne Brook and crossed the busy bypass to reach Colnbrook. We picked up another narrow track, the Colne Valley Way through to Horton. Brian had advised me about these routes from Old Slade through to Horton. I had been fretting about finding a safe and sensible route which didn’t involve the major roads and an unpleasant roundabout we had encountered during the recce.
 

Seen on the recce

On the recce David and I tested the route which links Park Lane in Horton to Douglas Lane in Wraysbury but rejected it on account of mud which prevented our wheels from turning and having to lift our bikes over two high styles on either side of the Sunnymeads – Wraysbury stretch of the railway and over another fence at the top of Douglas Lane. But at the Horton end there are beautiful vistas of the gravel pit lakes complete with ducks, swans and herons.
 
After Wraysbury we skirted around Staines and arrived for Tea in Shepperton at the Café Mocha D just after 4 o’clock. With longer hours of daylight it would have been preferable to follow the river around rather than endure all the traffic. But it was the last ride before the clocks go back and we felt good to have squeezed in a pleasant ride on a dry and quite warm day.
 
Thanks to David Cox who was brave enough to be back-marker for our big group and to numerous people who marked corners and made it possible to get the whole circus around the course. We were pleased to welcome Bob Panel on his second ride with B Group and were pleased too to have Ray Dare as our guest from A Group.

~ Tim