Report for B Group - 7th February

Gill’s report

Keen to try out The Bear Hotel in Esher as a lunch venue (it used to have a board outside professing it’s welcome to cyclists) I then had to plan a ride that would give us enough miles between Cobham and Esher!  

Starting with a familiar route on tarmac out to Effingham, it turns out there are some very nice off road sections between Effingham and Oxshott, via Bookham Common and Princes Coverts (which means a thicket in which game can hide, thanks for answering that query Nigel, and the original royal who used it to shoot game was Prince, later King, Leopold 1 of Belgium, thanks Tim G), then through Oxshott woods back to the outskirts of Cobham and on tarmac again to Esher. Using the necessary roads in between ended up with a nice mix of surfaces and some pleasant scenery. I’m sure some off road parts were a bit uncomfy for less sturdy bikes (sorry) and there were a couple of punctures, more later, but on the whole I think even the roadies had a good ride.

Negotiating the kissing gate

The Bear did not disappoint. It was warm! Very welcome as the temperature seemed to be dropping fast. The food was tasty and served quickly enough. We had a choice of tables and the bike parking was good.

Thanks for a lovely day out to my group of Gina, Nigel, Christina, Alan, Stephen, Dave, and Tim G, also for backmarking.  Thanks also to Paula and Sue for sub-leading.

Paula’s report

The second group gathered at Cobham with Paula, who was sub-leading for her third time, feeling afraid that she would go too fast. (Other members of the group were also slightly nervous!) Just before they started Paula asked the group to say if she set too fast a pace, to which Steph replied - well if you look behind you and there's no-one there, you'll know!! Joking aside, the group set off at a very steady pace and stayed together all the way, except for losing Martin (who insisted we carry on without him) to a slow puncture and finding Ray (big Ray that is) lurking in the woods. He had decided against the Cs and miraculously found us so decided to tag along.

On the bridge over the mighty River Mole

Martin had been our backmarker so Mick capably took over. We navigated Gill's lovely route from Cobham to Esher (the long way round!) on road and path and track without further ado (and without a drop of rain!), arriving at the Bear for a hearty warming lunch which we didn't have to hurry because then it was straight home for early doors. Thanks to the team - Steph, Carolyn, Mick, Martin, Julie, Ian, Ann B, Tony H, Big Ray - and yes Dave, there was plenty of chatting!

~ Paula

Sue's report

Eight set off from Cobham on a rather miserable morning but judging by the chatter I could hear behind me, the weather wasn’t affecting anyone’s appetite for the ride.

Gill’s excellent route combined some familiar lanes though Horsley and  Effingham  plus a stretch of off road through Bookham Common which was new to me.

Listening out for strange noises ?

The pond in Great Bookham Common

Sadly the terrain got the better of Lilian’s tyre and she declared a puncture just as we entered Princes Coverts. There was no point in us all waiting around in the cold so Pam, Liz and Terry decided to depart for the pub and home respectively. And what a repair job it turned out to be! In the battle to put the tyre back on the inner tube got nicked and went flat almost as soon as Lilian started riding. With some energetic pumping every few hundred metres she gradually nursed it round to Claygate and we left her with directions to the station.

Now in Claygate it was a quick shortcut up Esher Park Ave to a well-earned lunch and rendezvous with Gill's and Paula's groups.

 

Ray Y decided a treat was required after all our endeavours and ordered a full English which looked very good indeed.

Puncture notwithstanding, a grand day out. Thanks to Gill for an inventive route and Tim C for back marking

~ Sue
 

Postscript: Lilian's continuing misfortune with a deflating tyre proved in the end to have been caused when we dropped and lost the valve cap, later discovered in Balfe's, inside the tyre where it had caused endless trouble. Lilian reported later that she had had an easy train trip home. The episode reminded us that some rim and tyre combinations make for very hard work getting the tyre off and on. We had wrestled with this one.

~ Tim