On Wednesday we will be riding from the Claygate Day Centre to our Christmas Lunch at The Angel Inn, Thames Ditton.
The Day Centre in Elm Road is open again and ready to welcome us all from 10am. For those who have forgotten where it is here is a map - https://goo.gl/maps/7A3jYFiu2tA8MPir5
We will be leaving just before 11am and riding down through Fetcham to Bookham. This will all be on-road. If it doesn't rain too much before Wednesday we will return across Bookham Common but the option of staying on the road and returning through Effingham is always there.
From Cobham it is a straight line all the way to The Angel. But not just any straight line but the route of the old coach road from London to Portsmouth. After the railway arrived, and took away the stagecoach traffic, it was the cyclists that revived the fortunes of the pubs along the route.
At the end of the 19th century the "Ripley Road" between London and The Anchor in Ripley was a world-famous cycling road. In 1889 a group of high-profile American cycle tourists, including journalists and politicians, came to see this famous route. At least 100 British cyclists rode with them from London, another 100 met up with them at The Angel, and there were 500 by the time they got to The Anchor!
On Whit Sunday in 1894 the police in Kingston said that 20,000 cyclists had passed through en route to Ripley.
So as you cycle towards your Christmas lunch you can think of all those who have passed that way before you, raced high-wheelers over the Fairmile, struggled up the hills with tired legs, and called at The Angel for a recuperative pint.
I know some will be going straight to the pub, or have arranged chauffeurs, to maximise drinking opportunities. But if you want to join me on the ride please email me by Monday evening.
I will then sort out the groups, finalise starting times to get you to lunch by 12.30, and email you details.
No comments:
Post a Comment