A Group 25 October: Teddington - Eton - Shepperton

What a gorgeous day!  When I planned the ride, heavy rain was forecast so my ambition was rather limited, but in the event we had wall-to-wall sunshine.   Our escape route from Teddington was northwards: dodging the A316 through a couple of tunnels to enter Crane Park, and shortly on to Hounslow Heath.   More urban riding., speeded along by expert corner marking, past Hounslow West and up to Heston before we turned west along Cranford Lane, which takes you through open fields earmarked to be Heathrow's third runway.  At Sipson we went a bit further north to West Drayton where we carried on west through Thorney and Richings Park, before hitting the back streets of Langley and then diving southwards on the cycle route through Ditton Park and eventually across the Millennium river into Eton.  Neil was ticking off the motorways we passed:  M4, M25, M4 (again); others may have been doing a bit of plane spotting.

The Waterman's Arms at Eton has a good selection of beers and food, but always seems very short-staffed behind the bar, and so it was today.  It took a while for us all to be served but the food arrived promptly.  Most sat indoors in the relative gloom of 'the library', but since there were eighteen of us on the ride, some of us were forced to sit outside in the sun.

The return route was less urban, less flat, and less off-road.   A quick stop for photos on the bridge before heading up through Windsor town on the way to conquer Crimp Hill;   Englefield Green and then it was supposed to be down Callow Hill, but parts of it were very definitely up - and via Virginia Water and St Anne's Hill to Chertsey and Shepperton. 

We took the scenic route along Dockett Eddy Lane and found that the kiosk at Shepperton Lock was open, so we had tea there.

Thank you to Mike for back marking, to Geoff and Mark for a wealth of photos, and to everyone who came along.   Special welcome to Sue on her first A group ride - we hope you'll join us again!