A Group Ride Report - 25th Ocober

17 ‘A’ Group riders met up for elevenses at Elleray Hall in Teddington. 

Brian’s Group was first off and here is his report:

Having swapped Dave's, my group consisted of Sue F, Paula, Gill, Andy and Dave F. The traffic out to Isleworth seemed easier than on the recce but I'm not used to London traffic and was pleased to reach the relative calm of St John's Road. Osterley provided a welcome green corridor before we plunged into the southern outskirts of Southall to reach the Grand Union Canal at Bull's Bridge. After the recce experience we left it at Hayes for a stretch of urban regeneration through Blyth Road. 

Stockley Park provided another almost car free section and then (following some post recce virtual exploration) went off plan down Iron Bridge Road to rejoin the canal and find a perfect tarmacked stretch of towpath as far as West Drayton. After that the towpath quality was a bit mixed but we traversed it unscathed to rejoin the original route at Packet Boat Lane.

An easy section through Iver to Langley followed where we encountered chaos and frustrated drivers as a result of an over height lorry attempting to reverse away from the railway bridge. 

An "N61 flood replacement" route across Upton Court Park brought us to the Michael's bridge near Eton where we admired the autumn colours and sunshine on the Jubilee River.

Along the Jubilee River to Dorney we realised that Clive's group were on our tail and both groups arrived at the Pineapple just before 1pm.

The return journey was going well until Laleham Road where Sue punctured. A variety of methods failed to seal the tubeless tyre and eventually a tube was fitted. By Walton Bridge the 4pm deadline for tea at the Riverhouse Barn had just passed so we enjoyed a sunny tea stop at the Marina.

My thanks to my group for their adventurous spirit, Dave F for back marking and Mike Reynell for his help and advice on tubeless tyre repair.

Clive's group was off next:

My group was comprised of Dave W, Dave B, Hans, Richard and Mike. We headed north from Teddington along Waldegrave Road towards Isleworth and then to Osterley Park. This was quite an urban section, but the traffic wasn’t too bad and there is a reasonable provision of cycle lanes. Osterley Park with its pond and open spaces provided a sudden change in scenery.  

After the park we turned West and joined the Grand Union Canal at Bulls Bridge Road. 

[A canal side residence]

On the recce last week, we continued further down the canal, but this next section was narrow in places and quite muddy and was cut out of the route for Wednesday, so we temporarily left the canal at Hayes.

[Richard, Dave B, Mike, Dave W, Hans coming off the canal at Hayes]

After leaving the canal path we went down Blythe Road, which was previously the site of the old EMI vinyl record factory and which is now being turned in to apartments and offices. 
After Stockley Park and Horton Road we got back on to the canal path at West Drayton. As we got there we saw Brian’s group go past. They had re-joined the canal earlier on, just after Stockley Park. So we stopped for a photo.

[Back to the canal at West Drayton]

We were on the canal path, for about a mile before coming off it again at Packet Boat Lane and Old Mill Lane. Another option might have been to take the Slough Arm and come off at Ford Lane which would bring you out just before Iver Village (maybe next time).

We encountered the same traffic chaos as Brian’s group at Langley Station but got through it ok and made our way to the Jubilee River via Upton Court Park where there was a good view of Windsor Castle in the distance.

We caught up with Brian’s group along the Jubilee River and all arrived at the Pineapple together where we were able to have lunch outside under some unexpected blue skies and warm sunshine. Frances’s group including Janice, Andy H, Steve D and Peter S were already there even though they were the final group to leave Teddington.

The return to the Riverhouse Barn at Walton was uneventful for our group although quite busy with traffic I thought. We came across Brian’s group who were busy grappling with Sue’s tubeless puncture which later sparked a stream of WhatsApp chat and some good advice on how to go about fixing a tubeless puncture.

From the Riverhouse Barn we headed our separate ways home, me and Richard going together to Leatherhead and Ashtead.

Thanks to my group for the company and Dave W for back marking. To Frances and Brian for sub leading and for their wisdom and suggested improvements to the route. Thanks also for their patience during the recce which I hadn’t had time to pre-recce. 

During the recce it was thought that the route may not be to everyone’s taste, or they may not have suitable tyres due to the canal and other offroad sections. Frances kindly produced an on-road route to Dorney via Virginia Water that I could offer as an alternative. All-in-all a good team effort.