A Group Audax Ride - Reminder

Don't forget - next week's A Group ride from Leatherhead on the 26th February gives those who want to the option of trying an Audax ride.  We'll start from Leatherhead pretty sharp at 1100 or so, ride to the BP Garage at Dorking where the Audaxers can buy something to get a receipt to start their timing.  Then we'll ride the route until we get to the top of Box Hill.   Audaxers will return to the BP garage to get their finish receipts and the rest of us will ride direct to Annie's, where we will all meet for tea.

Audax Brevet cards can be got here for £3.00 (£3.50 Paypal), the route and route sheet are below.

If anyone would like to know more, please ask.

Mark

A Group, 12th February

Hammersmith
The Plough and Harrow

Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.

Some had already headed for the station. Waterloo? The harrowing bit was the ride home in gale force winds which buffetted you all over the road. Wimbledon Common was particularly lethal. I was very relieved to get home intact.

Easy Riders - 12th February

In which Ron and Fuzz pay a visit to Roger Mitchell

Since no one else turned up at the Elleray Hall for the Easy Riders' day out Ron and Fuzz went to Strawberry Hill House and walked around the garden before it started raining properly. After observing that it now costs £6 to get in they contented themselves with the views of the exterior. Realising that it would only be a modest ride around to Roger's place they crossed at Teddington Lock to find the water thundering past and pressed on into Kingston and found Roger at home and spent a happy hour talking with him before heading out into the eye of the storm to head for home.

B Group - 12th February (map)

Peter's weather was abysmal today but he led us from Teddington with great gusto, directly into some ferocious South Westerly wind and rain, to deliver us not a moment too soon to The Anchor in Bookham (15.5 miles). Afterwards we were blown back to Esher for Tea with Peter navigating (8.1 miles).

A ride 29 Jan: Shepperton - Shere - Leatherhead

Let's begin with the positive points:  We visited a very welcoming pub and got seats by the fire.   Annies served excellent cake.  I particularly enjoyed my warm shower when I got home.   There was no evidence of hail, thunder, or snow, and we nearly saw the sun once.

A smallish contingent assembled at Shepperton-on-Sea, and nine were foolish enough to join me for a ride to Shere, which featured two of my favourite downhill rides.   With the easterly wind & rain at our backs, it didn't seem too cold as we headed along recently-flooded roads to Chertsey-in-Thames over the river, which looks as if it's put on a few pounds over Christmas, through Addlestone & Woodham & West Byfleet, threading round Old Woking before turning South to Jacobswell and Burpham.  Then it was a gentle climb up to Merrow and not-so-gentle to Newlands Corner.  The view from the top was admittedly not at its best, but the swooping downhill run to Shere was made even better by the prospect of a warm dry pub, the White Horse in Shere.  

The hardy few at the White Horse, Shere

Surprisingly reasonably priced (£6 for a main course) with good food, good beer and a log-burning stove right next to us.  The pub was originally a 15th century farmhouse, and has a ghost (a body of a girl that was found in a bricked-up fireplace) and a smugglers' cellar, which when discovered was full of casks of brandy.  It has only become a pub recently, in the 17th century.

Clothes drying round the fire

We were tempted to linger, but reluctantly we put on our wet gear, headed outside, and warmed up by ascending Combe Lane.  After avoiding several lake-sized puddles along the top, next was the second main descent of the day, down Green Dene, where we found the road blocked at one point by a lengthy stretch of flooded road. 

Luckily it was less than bottom bracket depth and we were able to cycle through it, and onwards to Effingham, where Hans and Steve left us for the direct route home.  The return journey through Bookham & Fetcham was straight into the wind and rather cold and miserable, and we were glad to get to Annie's.   Thanks to those 8 brave souls who braved the elements to come with me today.  I measured 29.7 miles from elevenses to tea. 

B Group - 22nd January

19 riders made good time from Dorking to the Jack Fairman Pub in Horley in which we found good service and food.

The route was now clear of flooded roads and we had fine spring weather all the way.

Reduced numbers made the afternoon section to Fannys Farm  in Upper Gatton for tea. There were a few hill climbs on route but everybody enjoyed the challenge?

I enjoyed the day with good company thanks to back marker Neil and helpers.

Approx 25 miles.

- Tony Hooker

Most of the route from Dorking to Horley and beyond

Tony's hills

B Group - 8th January (maps)

Terry's route from Cobham to West Clandon via Ripley, then back to Cobham for Tea:

B Group - 18th December

Maps for Frank's route showing the morning ride in red and the afternoon ride in turquoise:

Easy Riders - 11th December

Lynda's route with the Easy Riders from Claygate to Stamford Greren for lunch then to Cheam for Tea

The bit from Ewell to Cheam has been made up so please let me know if this wasn't the route actually taken so that I can fix it.

- Tim

B Group - 11th December (Christmas Lunch)

Bernard led us out of the fog and into Kingston for Christmas Lunch:

Someone left a map on the pavement outside the DC in Claygate. There is an envelope containing a card tucked into it. Please claim it from me. I can bring it to elevenses on the 18th.

A Group 11th December

A foggy day in London Town …

Bright sunshine as I left the house, but I was soon in the fog as I went down the hill.  Foggy in Ewell, foggy in Claygate.  Never mind, it would soon clear.

We were in no rush to leave our elevenses, but, in the end, seventeen of us set off North towards Hampton Court Bridge.  There was a slight issue in this, as the pub had agreed to squeeze in twelve of us, and didn't seem overjoyed when I rang to give them the good news.  Oh well.

Some sunshine in Bushey Park, and quite bright at Kingston Bridge, but foggy again by Ham Common  and it didn't really clear as we went over the top of Richmond Park and down again to Roehampton Gate.  Up again to the Telegraph, and it was noticeably brighter, so we trooped in for our lunch in good spirits.

Despite the slightly gloomy telephone call everything was fine -  a big table for us, and plenty of room in the dining area.  It looked as if their concern was around a couple of large parties that were following us, but we were gone long before them, so nothing to worry about really.  Good food, good value and a good choice of beers, so a happy crew was back on the road before two o'clock.

Some of the Wimbledon dwellers peeled off at this point, the rest of us swooped down Putney Hill in the sunshine, slipping back into the fog on the towpath.  There were some pretty spectacular sights as we rode along - fog on the river, but buildings in the sunshine above it, and some very Turner-esque lighting at times.

Leaving the river we climbed back into Richmond Park by Sheen Gate, very foggy indeed here, but as we climbed Sawyer's Hill we got above it again.  Excellent views once more, and the deer close at hand giving a genuinely rural feel.  Hazy sunshine as we went down Richmond Hill, becoming fog again as we got to the river.  But we were in for tea by three, and while most would not be home before dark we didn't do too badly for a short day out.

23.2 miles elevenses to tea; rolling average 10.5 mph.  Not far, and not fast, but about right for the conditions.

Mark

Wednesday's A Group Ride

Wednesday's ride will be a continuation of the A Group's popular series of Short 'n Easy winter rides.  Lunch at the Telegraph, Putney Hill [click for website]and tea at Richmond Bridge.  Early lunch, early finish and everyone home in the light.

As you will see from the map, there are a couple of miles of towpath.  Shouldn't be a problem for anyone as the surface is firm and dry -  the Moulton was fine on slicks.

Mark

B Group - 4th December

After thanking Maureen and Wendy-Jane for their hard work serving morning tea to us all during this year, and the presentation of awards to John Bassett and Ed Sharpe we set off at 11:15 down Plough Lane and Ockham Lane on our well worn route to Ripley. We crossed the High Street and followed Newark Lane before turning left into Papercourt Lane. In Send we turned right and rode up to Old Woking then along the High Street before veering off into Vicarage Road and Westfield Road. In Moor Lane we immediately turned right into New Lane then, rather than being seen to be duplicating Pete Barnard's recent route (in reverse), we took a left into Robin Hood Lane at the end of which we turned right into Sutton Green Road and left again towards Wareham's Farm then right into the small lane known as Foxes Path. We passed through a gate and so that we could savour the beautiful countryside we rode slowly along the lane up to the Catholic church of St Edward the Confessor. King Ed, son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, starred in the lively history leading up to the Norman invasion. Françoise enjoyed, that is to say 'blushed', to be reminded of this cataclysm in our history. Although we may only believe it as a result of the forceful barrage of political spin from the Normans of the time, it appears that Edward probably chose William as his successor, long before his own death early in 1066.

This photo is on the website: http://www.saintedwardtheconfessor.org.uk/

At the church it might have been tempting to turn East towards Sutton Place, the Grade 1 listed Tudor manor house, former residence of J Paul Getty, which is now owned by a Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia's richest men, but significantly, a Putin era oligarch rather than a Yeltsin era one. He is also a major shareholder in Arsenal FC which may endear him to a minority. However I hadn't called ahead to ask him if we might visit, and with other arrangements for lunch, we did a quick pirouette around the car park in front of the church and turned West down towards Blanchards Hill.

At Jacob's Well we turned down Clay Lane to cross the A3 and then turned right into Burpham Lane followed by New Inn Lane. Near Merrow Common, in Park Lane, we dismounted and trundled across the road to get into Old Merrow Street which brought us out onto the A25.The large ornate gates into Clandon Park seem to be permanently shut so we rode another half mile along to the Henchley Gate and rode along the small lane, on the Earl of Onslow's land I believe, until we reached a small gate for pedestrians which enabled us to continue along to Clandon Park House. Once out on The Street in West Clandon we turned left for the last 100 metres or so to the Bulls Head.

This is one very warm and cozy pub, brightly decorated for the festive season, where we ate some very decent and freshly prepared pub grub. They had set aside a nice area for our 20 or so riders and served us as quickly as they could. After 16.7 miles we were all quite peckish and greatly enjoyed our lunch. Vic had taken a quite different route from the rest of us and when we arrived he was in the final stages of polishing off his lunch. Such cunning has probably evolved from years of riding with the A Group!

We managed to tear ourselves away just before the pub's closing time of 2:30. After galloping the two and a quarter miles along the A246 we turned North into The Street in West Horsley. For a change we took the quiet road called Long Reach up to Ockham and retraced our route back to Cobham where nine of us stopped for refresment at Café Aromas in Hollyhedge Road after just 9.1 miles since lunch.

It was a pleasure to welcome two new riders into our group, Bill Thurston and Andy Bowskill. I hope they haven't been deterred by what was a fairly big mileage for this time of year.

Many thanks to David for being back marker, to Terry, Pam and Peter for being ready, with some maps I had prepared earlier, to lead any strays back onto the correct path. Thanks too to Neil and everyone who marked corners; there were a good few opportunities for people to miss the turns today.

- Tim

 

The pink trail is the morning route and the turquoise one is the afternoon ride

A Group 4th December

Ray took us over the hills to Walliswood today.  31.36 miles from elevenses at Cobham to tea at Denbies; lunch at the Scarlett Arms.  Moving average 13mph; maximum speed 38.5mph and 1,405 calories.

A good winter's run, and not too cold.

Mark

Easy Riders - 27th November

B Group - 27th November

Liz S. started out with about 25 of us, first heading North up Waldegrave Road and Cross Deep to Twickenham where we turned down Wharf Lane to enjoy the quiet route along the embankment past Orleans House and Marble Hill Park. After the Warren Footpath we crossed the road which leads up to Richmond Bridge and followed the river around through Isleworth and into Syon Park.

The main road through Brentford brought us out at Kew Bridge which we crossed before looping around and taking the river path for the rest of the ride to The Ship in Mortlake. The service was friendly and brisk despite the time it took to take all our orders and serve drinks to so many of us. Nice pub food, freshly prepared and a hearty vegetable soup-of-the-day set us up nicely for the ever so arduous 5.7 mile ride to Tea at the YMCA Hawker Centre. To get there we made our way up Sheen Lane and into Richmond Park. We took the Ham Gate exit and carried on into Lock Road to Teddington Lock where we turned left onto the river path for the last short stretch to the YMCA.

This was an unusually short ride but with the weather being so mild it was a thoroughly enjoyable and sociable day out.

This was the second time out with us for a new rider, Geoff Gregory so we are pleased to welcome him into the group. Last week Mick Furnival-Adams came out with us for the first time and today, learning that the A group were not going to be riding up any big hills, he went out with them, as did at least two other regular B Group riders. Perhaps there is a load balancing mechanism starting to kick in, with people who have been appalled at the large numbers turning out to ride with B Group promoting themselves into the A Group. The Elleray Hall was certainly jam-packed this morning.

Thank you Liz for a lovely day out and please consider leading us from time to time in the future.

A Group 27th November

Paul had promised flat, and flat it was, with the bridge over the Grand Union Canal and Richmond Hill being the day's summits.

25.2 miles from elevenses at Teddington to tea at Richmond Park; lunch at the excellent Fox, Hanwell. A steady pace and no-one lost - a sociable and enjoyable ride for a Winter's day.

Mark

C Group - 20th November

This route map has been reconstructed from what is believed to have been Lynda's route.

Weybridge DC to Ye Olde Swan in Thames Ditton for lunch then to Ewell Court for Tea

B Group - 20th November

On leaving Weybridge D.C. at 11.30am what should have been a bakers dozen turned out to be only 12!! having lost one before I started didn’t seem too good.

 

Ray of the “B” group had somehow tucked himself away in the foyer talking to one of the volunteers and didn’t hear the rowdy lot leaving. I had fortunately told him where we were going so he made his own way & caught us up in Chobham.  We lunched at Castle Green,  The Grove  public house and except for one gentleman sipping a pint at the bar the rowdies were the FLAVOUR OF THE DAY.

 

The publican was very good and provided everything we asked for very efficiently except Tim had to settle for an omlette instead of a soup but seemed very happy about it.

We returned to Shepperton where 8 stayed for tea, coffee and cakes  It was very early when we arrived 2.30pm so hopefully everyone got home in the light.

 

I would like to thank Terry & Tim for doing a very good job as T.E.C.   And a very big welcome to a new member today  MICK  FURNIVAL-ADAMS hope to see you again.

 

Many thanks folks for turning out on such a miserable day but which ended nice and sunny,

 

Irene

Pam was to have led today's B Group ride but, on hearing about her wrist injury, Irene volunteered to lead in her place. Consequently Pam is feeling very bad that Irene copped the torrential rain that was originally scheduled for Pam. So Pam has asked me to record her profound thanks to Irene for leading today. In the event, Irene's spirit of endurance was rewarded with a lovely blue sky after lunch.

The other good news is, as Pam writes:
"By now you would have heard that according to the consultant whom I saw yesterday, my wrist is not broken, just badly sprained so now have a brace instead of plaster on it!  Have to give it a couple of weeks to heal before getting back on the bike."

In the maps the turquoise line shows the morning ride to Castle Green, near Chobham (8.9 miles) and the dotted pink line shows the afternoon route back to Shepperton (9.3 miles).

B Group - 13th November (map)

Peter's clockwise route from the Hersham DC to The Cap in Hand (7.9 miles) thence to Tea at the new cyclists' café, "Giro" in Esher (5.4 miles). Thanks to David Cox for collecting this data.