A winter tootle down the river; B Group 11 January

Ride report by Paul J

Full morning route, afternoon cut short in the rain at Teddington Lock 

I don't know whether it was the promise of "A ride as flat as a steamrollered pancake", or the weather forecast of half a day of sunshine in an otherwise pretty miserable January, but we had thirty two riders and I was very grateful to Mick, Stephen, Steph and Madeleine for turning up on a similarly fine morning on Monday to ride with me over the greater part of the route and thereby, wittingly or otherwise, to be appointed as leaders.

We would have had more riders had Ken not felt up to it on the day and had Tony Hopkins not had a problem on the way to elevenses.  Francis had a puncture, too, on the way, but he made it in time to have a coffee and join the last group.  It was good to have Brian, who usually rides with the A Group, along.  He had returned from Queensland only the day before; I'm pretty sure I would not have managed a fifty mile door-to-door ride, however flat, after flying from the other side of the world.  It was even better to see Colin out riding again.  We all hope that a beautiful, sunny ride along the river will have helped him in his bereavement, however temporarily.

And it was a beautiful winter's morning for the ride, just as it had been for the recce on Monday.  On the streets the wind was cold, and fierce enough to add ten minutes and a few hundred Calories to our trip to elevenses, but we weren't aware of it on the towpath.  We split into five groups, deliberately kept small because of the interaction with pedestrians on the narrow paths.  There was a little bit of overtaking.  Many had not ridden "John Bellamy's Path" before between Weybridge and Walton, certainly not in that direction.  Some discovered that the public loos at Molesey were closed.  Some went under, some went over Kingston Bridge.  The route to Twickenham went well.  

The Sussex Arms had been helpful and accommodating but they (and we) were working on the assumption that nobody would be there in a Wednesday lunchtime and we would have the place to ourselves and that proved not to be the case.  Service was a bit slow for the later groups but you certainly could not complain about the value for money.  During lunch the weather changed, as forecast, so that the backstreet route back to Teddington Lock was conducted in a light, blustery drizzle.  The afternoon route was designed so that people could turn off and get home fairly easily at any point and to my knowledge only four of us chose to carry on the entire distance over Richmond Park to the cafe at Roehampton Gate, the official end.  We four got rather wet.  

A satisfying day out, though, on a ride you can't really do in the better weather because of the numbers of people who want to stroll along the riverbank.  My most memorable moment of the ride occurred during the final recce, when the temperature was a bit colder and the wind a bit fiercer, and I felt like a wimp riding along in my four layers past two ladies of a certain age wearing only summer swimsuits and walking into the river at Molesey.  I'll be sticking to winter cycling!

The Lechlades Group report, by Mick

The ‘Lechlades’; Mick, Dave C., Paul D., John A., Sue B., and Arwyn enjoyed our ride down the Thames planned by Paul J.

There was lots to see although the mystery of how the Engine River got its name remains, as yet, unsolved.  

The weather was kind, even some sun in the morning.

A navigation error by Mick allowed the ‘Oxfords’ chance to slip into the pub first!

The Sussex Arms pub staff were pleasant and the service good.

After lunch it was back to Teddington and into Richmond Park, although half the team filtered off so that they could get home before the pending rain.

The Oxfords, Stephen Hickey

The ‘Oxford' group assembled on time and in good order, but ran into an immediate hitch when sub-leader Stephen’s Garmin decided to show solidarity with the current wave of strikes by declining to offer directions.  To be fair, it probably felt it had done its bit by working perfectly on the recce a couple of days previously;  and it did offer to fulfil several functions - just not ‘Ride’.  Fortunately Tim G had the route on his phone and kindly agreed to take over navigation for the first sections. So we set off and made good progress. 

The sun shone, the Thames (or Isis, as it's known to the denizens of Oxford) was lovely, and  Ian regaled us with some local history. Having had a good rest, even Stephen’s Garmin decided to play ball after all, so he was able to resume his role. We made good time - so good indeed that we managed to temporarily lose Christina in the wilds of Twickenham - and were surprised to be the first group to arrive at the Sussex Arms. Lunch was good (though Chris felt we should drink a little more beer from the keg), and we set off for the final leg with the aim of getting to tea - or in some cases home - before the threatened rain arrived.  

How to get a beer when the service is slow

Many thanks to Paul for an excellent route (and arranging some untypically good weather), to all in the group for their company and good spirits, and especially to Tim G for stepping in at the start. 

The Hungerford Gaps report by Steph

Don't have anything much to add.  A good route though I had to retrace a little as overlooked the Grotto cycle path .  The Hungerford Gappers were a jolly crowd and we reached lunch with no mishaps.  I joined Maddy after lunch as Gill Liz and Pam routed westwards for home.  Lovely chats at 11 s and lunch more than made up for a bit of drizzle on return.

The Ell Pie Islanders were led by Paul J

The Craven Cottagers were led by Madeleine