Ride report, "A" group ride to Ash Vale, 3rd July

 This week's ride was from Cobham RBL, and I had it all nicely sorted before I went off on holiday for 2 weeks, only to find on my return that it had to be completely re-arranged at short notice after the pub that was the original lunch choice rang and told me that for groups of 8 or more they wanted food orders a week up-front and a £5 per person deposit. As if......!!

So, we had a total of 17 riders in 3 groups who set off on the new route.

First off was Andy, with Janice, Neil W, Mike, Peter S and Steve D.

They were followed by Dave Jackson's group.

DJ wrote:

Long strait stretches of road, no major climbs, for a while I could have thought I was back in France, that is until I snapped out of it and took the weather into account!

A good small group of six left Cobham, Sue F, Dave F, Richard, Frances, Jennie and myself,   

feeling the chill and soon encountered some light rain.

The ride itself was very uneventful to the pub at Ash Vale, which I overshot only for it to be by Frances, we arrived at 12.30.

The group were tempted to eat outside but in the end decided inside was preferable, our lunches arrived quickly and were decent value.

Frances needed to  get back early so she left our group and joined the first lot to leave the pub, so we were down to five.

After the turn for Pirbright, more of the same, a good pace held by everyone, a couple of slight errors on my part following the route back, but nothing of any significance and we were back at Walton Bridge by 3.00 pm. On to the the River Barn for afternoon tea, Jennie and I didn't stop as we also had to get back home.

All in all an excellent route from Dave B, great company, thanks to Jennie for back marking, a wonderful day out.

Last to set off was my group, comprising Ged, Dave E, Sue C, Fiona and myself. Just before we left Cobham the rain started, not heavy but persistent drizzle which lasted pretty much the first hour. The enforced late change of lunch venue meant the outward route was largely on fast, straight A roads, through Jacobs Well, Worplesdon and Normandy, which were not overly busy, meaning we managed a decent pace and arrived at lunch just before 12.30. 

My group sat out in the garden for the only part of the day that had any sun, and the sandwiches were served very quickly for Ged, but more haphazard for the rest of us. When they arrived they were decent enough and reasonable value. (It seems to be getting harder to find a pub venue which has not gone full gastro and wants to change £15 for a sandwich).  

The route back joined up with my original plan after the first couple of miles, and was largely on back lanes or B roads, via Pirbright, Bisley and Chobham. Traffic was light and we managed to keep the pace steady and arrived in Walton pretty much bang on 3pm for tea at the Riverhouse Barn.

Thanks to all who ventured along, and to Andy H and Dave J for leading their respective groups, and to Fiona for back-marking my group.