Invitation to 'A' ride Weds 16th August Guildford - Bentley

The highlights of this ride in my view are the mostly 'new-to-us ' sections especially on the North Hants Downs with wonderful views of the wheat fields and gently rolling chalk hills. Today (Friday) four of us reccied the route, I made a small revision to go more directly to Bentley for lunch at the Star pub. 

The start point is the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, their cafe is open from 10am. 

We 'bite the bullet' early . .ascending the Mount, this is tough, but its over in a few minutes. Then with the elevation gained there is an easy ride mostly on the N22 bridleways to Puttenham, then a lovely few more miles of the N22 on road. Then we have some new sections to Farnham, and the road to Crondall and then over 3 miles of the superb and quiet Itchel Lane. 

After 23.6 miles we are at the Star at Bentley.  

The Star does wraps for £7.95 incl fries(!), and a good range of other meals. See pub info here.  [ No pre-ordering needed - they seem a competent no-nonsense operation ].

After lunch the return is 18.9 miles, through Alice Holt forest, and some sections new to most of us. 

The planned finish point is the Open Grounds Cafe, a fine spacious cafe overlooking the river  opposite the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. 

Garmin gives the total ride as  42.5 miles, with  2,201 ft  climbing. 
This ride works with train assist (if you want), you can take the train back, or ride back.  
Here is a brief indication of some of the direct trains.. 
Wimbledon to GLD, bikes allowed, no pre-booking needed ..   
     dep  8:49   ( via Surbiton dep 8:57)  arr GLD 9:39 

     dep  9:10   ( via Epsom dep 9:28 )   arr GLD 10:02 
The weather forecast is for a proper summer day. 

Our departure times from the theatre are likely to be between 10:30 and 10:50.  

Please email me by Monday 6pm to get on the ride list  AND please say if you can make a 10:30 start, or only a later one (thanks)..  neilwarland43@gmail.com