B Group ride from Redhill on 17 June

Wayfarers are invited to join the B Group ride on 17 June which I am leading from Redhill to Banstead.  You can do so by e-mailing me at Paulandrewjames1949@yahoo.co.uk .  Only those responding, and allocated a place, can ride, in accordance with Government guidelines to deal with the Covid 19 virus, but as I will lead the first group of six, John Austin will lead the second and Tim Court, should it be needed, the third, we believe we have ample cover for all B Groupers who would want to come on a Redhill ride.  Please respond by midnight on Monday 15 June if you want to come.  Riders should come with a packed lunch and hand-sanitizer and should also familiarize themselves with Dave Vine’s instructions for safe and legal riding in groups, which can be found at this link, and which we will be following.

Our proposed route follows Cycling Routes 21 and 20 over much of its course, it can be seen and downloaded at  

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32905968?privacy_code=4xbCq5nje16MQsub .

Please note that the start will NOT be the usual Redhill start.  We will meet at Pistachio’s in Redhill Memorial Park on the London Road.  RH1 1JU is the official postcode, which gets you near enough on Google; https://goo.gl/maps/mXbWcnB9DRfwBUz36 is the Google Map reference.  OS ref is TQ 281509.  Whether or not you want refreshment before the ride, please turn up at Pistachio’s to be roll-called.

Sainsbury’s, opposite the park, has ample bike racks and decent toilets (they have been tested by your leader and were not at all busy at 11am on a Tuesday), so we will begin the ride by coasting/pushing bikes across the road to the bike racks and will leave direct from there when everyone is comfortable.  Unless you count bushes, there are no further toilets open until close to the end of the ride.

We will go on a loop south and east through Chilwood, and Nutfield before cutting north for lunch in a car park on Rabies Heath Road, on Tilburstow Hill.  There we will find no coffee and no toilets but a forest load of bushes offering privacy, some equipped with nettles, some without.  One wonky bench can accommodate a person at each end, the rest of us will have to lean against a tree for our sarnies, which is no bad thing because ideally we will have moved on in time to prevent the follow-up group increasing the numbers beyond six.

After lunch the ride is quite straightforward though not entirely unchallenging; west to the A25, a delightful descent north along Little Common Road and Pendle Lane and a steep climb to Chaldon, a zing down Farthing Down, a cruise up Chipstead Valley and (a little more effort) up Rectory Lane and a finish in Banstead, at another Pistachio’s, in the Lady Neville Recreation Ground on Avenue Road.  This week Banstead Pistachios was closed, though the notice on the door claimed it was open for take aways, but there are two take away coffee shops on the High Street, just around the corner, and toilets in Waitrose, which is even closer.  I will ascertain whether these will be available early next week, and post alternative arrangements by e-mail to those riding.

As I say, responses please to Paulandrewjames1949@yahoo.co.uk by midnight Monday.