Report of the A Group Ride to Dorney on 14th September.

Despite my concerns that almost everyone was on holiday we ended up with twenty keen riders.

The route from the Day Centre in Walton skirted Weybridge and Addlestone and on to the Ottershaw roundabout. Here we squeezed past the roadworks on Fox Hills Road, headed for Gracious Pond Road, and ascended Steep Hill. In May the descent from here had world class potholes but now those have been replaced with some lovely smooth tarmac.

Then through Windlesham to Ascot racecourse, the Drift Road and dropping down to Fifield. From here we headed for the Summerleaze Bridge over the Thames. When we crossed in May there were signs to say the bridge would be closed the next week for maintenance. I was hoping this would result in a much better surface but all they seem to have done is put in more barriers to inconvenience cyclists and wheelchairs, and make it impossible for tandems, recumbents, and trikes. Such a pity.

From here is was only a short ride to The Pineapple in Dorney for lunch.

After lunch we routed through Windsor to see the preparations for The Queen's funeral before climbing  up Crimp Hill from Old Windsor and dropping down to Egham. Then through Staines and Laleham before following the river to Shepperton Lock.

My plea for help in leading resulted in a few brave souls stepping forward so I decided on four small groups. Fiona led the first group away and here is her report -

 A very enjoyable ride setting off from Walton, out to Ascot and across the race course, where Patrick was framed.

The Pineapple served us very large portions very quickly.

The sun came out for our homeward journey for tea and cake at Shepperton.
Thank you Neil W for back marking and Mike for being my second in command.

Second group away was led by Steve W. He writes -

When Neil issued his invitation to the Dorney ride he said he wasn’t expecting a huge turnout because most people seemed to be on holiday but he did end by asking for volunteer sub leaders “Just in case”. 

On this basis I applied for my place and offered to help if necessary, aiming for Brownie points without responsibility.

But when the runners and riders email arrived it had not one but four groups listed. Clearly only Neil’s close friends were on holiday or maybe that’s just what they told him. In any case my bluff was well and truly called.

Frances was to have been helper on the day but last minute couldn’t make it, so myself, Richard B, Keith and Pete B, the 10.45 group, departed promptly at 10.51.

I warned the team that, in the absence of a reconnaissance ride, my navigation might be a bit political but in the end we got away with just two U-turns.

It’s easy enough following a GPX route when it’s longish sections and obvious junctions but it’s the little fiddly bits that can get you and interrupt the flow. I mean, just which of the several adjacent alley ways off Ascot High Street is correct? We solved that one by a combination of Keith’s back up nav on his phone (thanks Keith and for a few subsequent consultations) and a happy consensus that the white gates looked promising.

And just after that, what about the ever decreasing circles off the road and onto Ascot racecourse? We used a similar decision process to avoid disappearing up an undesirable orifice.

Riding the route in advance is very good for getting those little details right as they aren’t always shown very nicely on small navigation devices. I was very tempted to hurl blame at the Garmin but I couldn’t because it’s a Wahoo.

Whingeing aside we were enjoying a nice route and a nice day onwards to lunch. One small interruption was Keith getting a puncture. Luckily, with the small group, he only had three people staring at him and discussing tubeless tyres while he fixed it.

The sandwiches at the Pineapple were as mammoth and tasty as Neil had warned (I’m not going to make a knee jerk reference to Patrick in this context) and having levered ourselves up after consumption, we headed homewards via Windsor to the afternoon stop. Richard and Keith peeled off before this leaving Pete and me to have two teas in Teddington (actually we both had coffee but where’s the alliteration in that?)

Great ride, great company. 

Next it was my group of Geoff G, Sue C and Dave Ellis. ( Gina having expressed a preference to ride with Simon.) We set a gentle pace and didn't expect to see the other groups until lunch. But just outside Chobham we passed Steve's group at the side of the road inspecting bike parts.

All went well until after Ascot Racecourse when Sue asked how far to lunch? And a hundred metres later me having a flat tyre. Was this just a coincidence or were the Gods looking down? I don't know, but I do know that Steve's group and Simon's group went past as I found the offending thorn and replaced the tube. Sue was so keen to get to The Pineapple that she joined Simon, leaving me, Geoff and Dave to be last to lunch.

Two patriotic leaders.

After lunch it was still just me, Geoff and Dave. We made steady progress and somehow managed to pass Steve and Simon's groups. Unfortunately the tea hut at Shepperton Lock was closed so we pushed on for home. ( I have since found out that Fiona's group stopped there but maybe they then ran out of cake and had to close.)

And finally here is the report from Simon, the Pied Piper. 

 

Our lovely group, the Tortoises, were the last to leave Walton. Before us were two groups of Hares, and one group of, er, something even faster: let's call them the Hippos. Neil had organised a lovely ride, meandering through the sun-dappled woods near Chobham and with great views as we approached the Thames. Imagine our sadness when we came across a group of Hares stranded by a puncture. Bad luck! And a while later, the other Hares: another puncture. How awful! We offered help, but didn't slow down much - we knew they would be OK. As a result we arrived just before them at The Pineapple. The Hippos were by then wallowing in food, food, glorious food and having a simply lovely time. By the time we had ordered, they were on their way, never to be seen again.

On the return journey we stopped at Windsor to visit the Long Walk and take in the view of some of the floral tributes left there, time for a moment's reflection, amongst an enormous amount of preparation work going on for the return of Queen Elizabeth to Windsor next Monday.

We were also rather pleased that our group of two men and three ladies kept being joined by extra ladies deserting the other groups. I must ask David F, our excellent back marker, what after-shave he was wearing. Only Fiona resisted his charms, probably because she could hardly desert the Hippos as she was leading the group. We were also delighted to be joined by most of the B group at Nauticalia - AFTER we had had the choice of the cake. Thank you Neil for a most enjoyable day out.