B Group - 9th June

Windsor Park Two Ways

Of the original 27 people who had booked six were unable to ride due to not being well or overdoing it in the garden. Christina had a navigational misadventure en route to Elevenses but fortunately was able to find her own way to Lunch. The Churchfields Recreation Ground behind the Day Centre is a good place to meet with toilets and several cafés nearby. Riders were even more cheerful when freshly printed copies of the Sou’Wester (pink edition) were thrust into their mitts.

With the sunshine the teams were in good spirits as they headed out of Weybridge in a meandering W-NW direction. We were all relieved to get away from the traffic in Woburn Hill and took a favourite cycle path across the Bourne and through the Chertsey Meads soon followed by the scenic path alongside The Bourne through Gogmore Farm Park to emerge onto Staines Road. While taking a break at the Virginia Water Pavillion and facilities Team 4, led by Stephen Hickey overtook us and zoomed purposefully towards the lake. Knowing that some of the routes we have used in the past would be closed to us in future we rode carefully through and around the many walkers who were enjoying the route around the lake, past the Totem Pole, the Obelisk Pond and the Savill Garden, beyond which we had the roads to ourselves.

Team Tim

Team Tony

The Three Castles Path brought us to the Ascot Gate and after a mile or so on the busy Sunninghill Road we arrived at The Duke of Edinburgh in Woodside to find three teams of happy cyclists munching away in the shade of the big tents.

The ride had been hastily planned as it wasn’t clear who would lead it but I managed to get a recommendation from Pam who had led rides to this pub in the past. Good enough for me and we all had a very good lunch from the extensive menu. It didn’t occur to me while we were there but our ride was on what would have been the eve of Prince Philip’s 100^th birthday.

After lunch we rode along the somewhat rustic Hodge Lane path then south towards the Ascot racecourse, approaching it via Kennel Avenue then crossing the busy Windsor Road to enter by a side gate. The gate opens onto the extraordinary retractable turf crossing and a sequence of less remarkable paths brought us out into the tunnel under the east side of the course and the Winkfield Road. Three easy miles later we entered Windsor Park by the Blacknest Gate for another parade through the trees. There was no sign of any aging Royal hugging the trees although he would have been spoilt for choice.

For the route to Tea Pam had warned me of the road closure near the bottom of Tite Hill. Not wishing to risk having to ride back up again to find an alternative route I had opted for another of her favourites, Prune Hill. In Stroude Road we were pleased to find cycle paths alongside the road and it was a pleasure to rediscover Hurst Lane through to Thorpe Green. I would like to have found an alternative to Thorpe Road through to Chertsey which was a bit too busy.

I advertised Tea at the Ferry Coffee Shop but although our group stopped there for excellent tea, coffee and cake everyone else decided to go to the Kiosk at Shepperton Lock and we watched them all ride past later on.

Thank you to Steph for enduring the recce with me on Friday 4^th on a miserably cold and wet day; her good company and dogged perseverance prevented me from descending into terminal grumpiness and was responsible for our last minute decision to carry on with the ride after lunch rather than bolt for the nearest railway station.

Thank you to Stephen Hickey who was a sub-leader for the first time. He had done the recce and his leadership and navigation skills were impeccable by all accounts.

Thank you to Tony Hooker and Steph for leading with their customary panache. Thank you to all the riders who ventured out with us. We were sad that several people who had hoped to come missed a very enjoyable day out. But one bonus was that we had three A riders with us.

~ Tim