Invitation from Mike Morley's Son Tim

We would like to invite you to dads memorial drinks /get together as we were unable to have a high number attend the funeral.

At    The Star
         Malden Russet
         Kingston Road
         Leatherhead
         KT22 0DP

Saturday 26th June 2021
From 1pm - 5pm

Please RSVP due to numbers by 6th June 2021
To : Vanessa    07979310100

Or    Tim         07855307051
 

Thanks The Morley’s.

Change to meeting point A group ride 2 June

Having discovered that the proposed meeting point at Walton Bridge is closed on Wednesday the new venue is at the Riverhouse Barn in Manor Road, Walton on Thames, KT12 2PF. 

As they may not be used to so many people arriving on a Wednesday morning I’ve emailed them to let them know. 

In case, like me, you need directions here’s a link to the website  https://riverhousebarn.co.uk/kids/thebarnkitchen/

 I’ll let you know each groups starting time in due course. See previous blog for ride details and the need to let me know your lunch choice. 

Does cycling help you live longer?

If you are looking for a role model, here's one:   Robert Marchand, who recently died aged 109, was the holder of world time trial records in the 100+ and 105+ age groups.  

With thanks to Barbara Johnston (Les's wife), who sent me his fascinating obituary from The Telegraph, here.

We have many excellent role models in our own club of course, but they are all still youngsters.

B Ride from Caterham into Kent 26th May

Thank you very much to Tim, Tim and Tony for sub leading our B ride. About 20 of us set off from the Green in Caterham-on-the-Hill for our ride eastwards.

As always it is a hilly start from Caterham (the “on-the-hill” part of its name being a giveaway and a warning). But as always, the ride along the Pilgrims’ Way was superb with beautiful panoramas south and eastwards across the Kent Weald.

Considering recent weather, we were very fortunate for our ride. I well remember on one occasion when we were cycling back along the Pilgrims’ Way into a strong westerly we had to stop and shelter from heavy and painful hailstones. But not this time!

Thank you to all who took part.

Looking at our programme for July and August, may I be allowed to point out that we have one blank week with no leader and that one leader is covering two weeks and a further week is covered by an A rider. Come on regular B riders, your peloton needs you! If you are new to the idea of leading, how about offering to sub lead or if you are thinking of leading I am sure that a regular leader would be happy to ‘shadow’ you on your first outing and support and advise.

If you are interested please mention this when you next apply to join a ride or speak to a regular leader, but on the other hand do also remember that the Wayfarers welcome all comers and there is no pressure to lead.

John A.

Tim G waiting for his team to fall into line

Ready for action, Bob and Dave

At about 900ft after the climb up to Woldingham

Tim with his flock of Pilgrims

_____________________________________________

Many of us arrived at Caterham on the Hill having already climbed several hundred feet, up Mt Banstead then over Farthing Down. Coffee and Creams is a very decent Elevenses venue with good coffee and a good selection of cakes.

But neither the Prologue nor the refreshments equipped us adequately for Mount Woldingham via the West Face (Station Rd) and the eventual summit of nearly 900 feet near the car park and viewpoint on The Ridge, close to where it crosses the Greenwich Meridian Trail.

Ann, Dudley, Madeleine and Kamaljit at the lookout point

 

However the scenery was consistently fabulous and became even better after we had turned onto the Pilgrims Way at Titsey. When we reached Chipstead we knew that lunch wasn't far away but we came across Tony's group who had stopped for lunch at the Bricklayers Arms.

Tony's team waylaid at the Bricklayers Arms

Our team stuck to the plan and rode about one more mile to the Coblands Garden Centre where we enjoyed lunch under the glass roof and slowly baked, marvelling that we could still move afterwards and that all the plants were not wilting into the horizontal posture that we allotment holders are quite familiar with.

The locals experimenting with 'herd immunity'

 

In the afternoon, as John had planned, we avoided the A25 as much as possible though we didn't go to the extreme that Steph did by doing her own excursion over Tilburstow Hill, evidently to ensure that she hit her target for the day of over 4000 feet of altitude gain. She deserves a prize for that.

Madeleine and Kamaljit left us at Merstham to catch a train and find their cars. It is excellent that they have joined B Group and it was very good to see Dudley again after quite a time.

Thanks to the team for their company and good cheer and thanks to John for his hard work planning the ride.

~ Tim

A group ride 2 June from Walton Bridge

 This ride will begin at the usual cafe at Walton Bridge (note it’s not the normal Cobham start). 

We’ve 4 leaders: myself, Frances, Fiona and Dave F and we’ll be heading west, stopping for lunch after 22 miles at The Plough & Harrow in Warfield. The return journey is 21 miles if you stop for tea at Notcutts garden centre in Laleham or 24 if you keep going to Walton Bridge. They are all fairly flat miles and I’ve arranged for good weather! ☀️ 

The pub has asked that I let them know our food order by Monday evening and I’ve shown below a screenshot of the menu as I was having trouble connecting to their website so can’t provide a link.

Please let me know by 7pm Monday if you’d like a place on the ride and also your menu choice. My email is janice.dawes@gmail.com  

The garmin connect link is below. The start at Cobham should be ignored as we will be picking up the route at Walton Bridge. . 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/59506041

A-Report on the Lingfield Stakes - 26 May.

There were three races on the card, each with six riders. First off was Neil W and here is his report - 

From the recce ride the previous Thursday I knew the coffee in the C&C cafe was ordinary, and as they were overrun with their biggest customer crowd of the year, I tried the Bakery along the street - even more peculiar but good coffee and muffin. 

With regular fast group riders Hans, Janice, Patrick and Steve W in the group, I set a pace that was challenging for me at least, and I managed to leave them behind a little on one straight and one snappy left turn.  

We went through Woldingham Park at a leisurely pace, it is as good as roads get for chatting. I mentioned some of the famous alumni of the school, Clarisa Dickson Wright of Two Fat Ladies being the most notorious. 

My true or false, "Clarisa had 11 forenames including Trilby" bombed, group: How could a question like that not be true? She wrote about her many outlandish stories in her memoir, 'A recipe for wild living', her web article with that title gives the low down on, for example, the floor of the commons and 'psychopath' Tony Blair. Despite her troubled and chaotic life she held to Catholic beliefs cultivated at Woldingham School. 

Going east we continued past the turn to White Lane to view the eastern-most Surrey Hills monument. The group declined to come any closer to the nearby the Kent border...

... preferring the more comfortable backdrop of the Pilgrim Way sign and the pure Surrey landscape. 

We rode south tracking a few miles inside the border with Kent. At the junction of Honeypot Lane, Kent was only 500m to the left. Here the border follows the Kent ditch. From an earlier google street view there is no 'Welcome to Kent' here nor on other roads I checked. So no interest in viewing it by the group, perhaps they would side with Surrey campaigners who want a proper border .. 

Surrey to build a wall and make Kent pay for it - LCD Views 

Nearer to Lingfield I was a little late noticing the left turn, shouted out 'LEFT!" - mercifully those on my back wheel prioritized avoiding me over making the left turn. Great backmarking and camera work by Mike R.  

The Greyhound provided good food but we were disappointed the blackcurrant with soda was just 'essence of' .. same with the orange. 

The ride back was unusual in that there were no hills, which was no disappointment after the climbing we did in the morning,  Denbies with their early closure (3pm) and 'no bikes in sight of customers please' did disappoint.  

Excellent route and weather, thanks Neil C.

_______________________________________________________

Next up is was Brian and he writes - 

Our group of six left promptly and after my easiest ever crossing of the A22 enjoyed the pastoral scenes up past Woldingham School. In spite of some nervousness the group took Gangers Hill with ease and from then on we were a tight knit group all the way to lunch. Dave B was limited to only the small chain ring but didn't slow us down. The half hill at Limpsfield seemed quite tame after Gangers and we we soon enjoying Grants Lane - the first time I have ever ridden this from end to end.

Brian's happy group (Photo by Janice)

 

Lunch was quite slow and five of us left about 2pm - Dave Ward having taken the train home. The legs had siezed up a bit after an hour and a half of inactivity and leading into the wind on the way home was tough. We reached Denbies about 3.30 to find that the hatch is now takeaway only with no seating. Apparently inside opens tomorrow. Anyway three of us enjoyed tea and a chat.

My thanks to Dave W for backmarking to lunch, Dave B for stepping in after lunch and Neil for an interesting and enjoyable route.

__________________________________________________

Last off was my group of Frances, Gina, Mark, Simon and Dave V. 

We were out for a good time, not a fast time. So we rode along chatting, stopping at viewpoints and taking our time but still got to The Greyhound at Lingfield before one o'clock.

The other groups were there, sitting in the sun, but still waiting for food. We ordered our food and chatted... and waited... and chatted... and waited... and chatted about what was available at the Tesco Express just over the road... and waited. As we cooled off Simon was on duty to repeatedly get up and press the button to restart the heaters.

Finally really good food arrived (with apologies for the wait due to Covid distancing issues in a very small kitchen).

It was 2.45pm before we left and headed back to Dorking with an increasing headwind.

Denbies was a disappointment for us too, and I won't be rushing back.

But overall a great day out and (almost) like the old times.

Invitation to a B Group ride on 2nd June

On Wednesday 2nd we will be riding from Cobham to Rokers Farmhouse Café, near Worplesdon If you wish to contemplate what to have for lunch click on 'Cafe Menu' to download a PDF copy of the menu.

In Cobham we will meet in the usual place, near the Royal British Legion in Hollyhedge Road, handy for the public toilets, and various refreshment opportunities including 'The Bakery' and 'Caffè Capital'. Please avoid excessive mingling and remember to bring your face masks.

Afternoon Tea will probably be in Walton on Thames at the Wilde Brunch café by the bridge. 

We have an 18 mile ride to lunch which will take us a good two hours.

This is a link for the route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36025334 

There is just the one mountain, the well known and well loved Staple Lane and the rest is almost totally flat.

When we reach the car park near the top of Staple Lane we will head off through the trees along the North Downs Way though to Newlands Corner. When we did the recce, on Monday after lots of heavy rain, we found lots of very large muddy puddles and had to ride through them. Two of the sub-leaders are doing a recce today and will report back on the state of this track. I am hoping it will have improved and it shouldn't be any cause for concern at all on Wednesday.

For the rest of the ride I am recommending that we use cycle lanes and paths wherever we find them.

After lunch we will head towards Brookwood and the Basingstoke Canal. Around Brookwood Heath, soon after lunch we will ride down a very minor road where, if there is still much mud about we will need to dismount and walk around the edges of the muddy patches. We hope to find a drier parallel track to bypass the big puddles.

Please contact me by email if you would like to come.

timcourt50@gmail.com

Look forward to seeing you

~ Tim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traffic lights at Central Avenue/Green Lane junction, Worcester Park

You might be familiar with the traffic light junction at Green Lane.  A cycleway turns left at the bottom of Lynwood Drive and joins a shared left lane with motor vehicles. This left hand lane at the junction is too narrow for a vehicle plus cyclist, especially when the turn right lane is occupied.

 

Yesterday as the lights changed to red, a small Fiat cut in front of our riders to beat them to the lights. He was much too close to Lynda and Liz at the front, especially as there was a huge white van waiting to turn right. This is not the first time we have experienced issues at this junction.

I would like to encourage group riders who are heading towards Kingston along this route, to fill the lane at this point by traversing in pairs (or fours, occupying the same space as a car) to help avoid similar near misses.

It is often possible to cycle from Green Lane lights, under the railway bridge and through the next lights before they change, so we cause minimal delays to following traffic. In any case, the pinch point at Green Lane often means that cars and vans going straight on are able to overtake us on the right hand lane before the second lights. Those drivers who need to turn left at the second traffic lights are also less inclined to pass us and cut in front if we are grouped together, rather than in single file and trying to keep to the painted cycle lane (which is too narrow).

Please be reassured that this strategy of defensive cycling in certain situations is absolutely legal and recommended by Cycling UK.

~ Helen

Easy Riders report - 26th May

A colder morning than expected for our ride today but we were very pleased to see Simon, Christina and other B group riders at North Cheam on their way through to coffee at Caterham 😉 And Bill, welcomed back to C group on his first outing of this season.

We met for coffee at Molesey Boat Club, becoming a favourite with its lovely terrace overlooking the Thames. Godfrey and Bill then headed back home while 11 of us headed out in two groups for lunch at the London Apprentice in Isleworth. John B lead out the first group, then Liz lead a second through Bushy Park and Strawberry Hill, then back to the river from Twickenham. After our very rainy May, everything is very lush; Ham House, then Richmond Hill rose green and beautiful across the other side of the river. We arrived at old Isleworth about 10 minutes after the first group and enjoyed our indoors lunch, as the wind and clouds made the Apprentice terrace less inviting than it will be next time we visit 😏.

After lunch in old Isleworth

After lunch, John lead us through Syon Park, Brentford, and across Kew Bridge to follow the towpath to Mortlake. From Richmond Park five went home while four ( John, Colin, Ed and me) had tea at Roehampton gate cafe. Then sailing home with a lovely following wind along the A3 from Robin Hood gate to Raynes Park.  Around 30 miles for North Cheamers clocked by Maureen on Strava.

Thanks to our leaders Liz, Lynda and John at different parts of the ride, and to all for good company along the way.

~ Helen