Ride report for B Group - 25th October

Jennie and David wrote:

Two groups of riders, amounting to 23 including leaders, had early starts from Elleray Hall, Teddington in order to travel the twenty three miles to Leigh with a large section of off road in order to arrive at approximately 13.00 hours for lunch.

Traffic was pleasantly light on the road sections and in spite of all the rain we had experienced over the last few days the off road paths were all rideable. The overall route was familiar to most, Bushy Park, Kingston, Leatherhead, Brockham and into Leigh but with a few twists. We managed to take Keith down a road he had never cycled before, in itself an achievement, used a tunnel under the railway that Mark hadn’t used for some time and generally got our cycles dirty enough that they would need a clean before their next outing, a service that Anne Walker enquired as to whether the leaders would provide. Sorry Anne, no!

Just outside Leatherhead the first group were met by Terry Lowe as arranged and in Brockham by Mike Barratt who was not expected but a very pleasant surprise.

The first group arrived for lunch at 12.45 to be followed by the second just fifteen minutes later, so pretty much right on schedule.

Even though we had all arrived at the pub at the same time, the staff took control of the situation and we were all seated and receiving our food orders in a reasonable time.

At The Plough

After lunch the groups mixed up somewhat but everyone left by just after 14.00 hours, more mud along the track, Pixham Lane, Leatherhead and into Ashtead. Some decided not to go to Tea, whilst others were a little confused and didn’t realise until too late that they had missed the café stop, so headed home in good light.

The overall impression was that the riders enjoyed the day out, we certainly did!

Many thanks to those in the groups that marked corners and back marked. Surprisingly no rain, even though it got really quite dark. No punctures, just the cycles to clean later.

Maria

Well done Maria Kirkbride whose first ride with the Wayfarers it was, hopefully many more.

Thank you everyone for all your great company. 

Jennie and David