Easy Riders - 23rd May

Stephanie's route with the Easy Riders, starting in Sefton Rd, lunching at The Woodman and taking Tea at The Wells

Steph, Rosemary, John C., Tom, Norman, Mark Roy, John S. near the Tea stop (The Wells)
(Photo taken by Birthday Boy)

Brain-teaser of the day

Bike tutorial for dummies:how to fit new cleats?

The scene is:

1.New pedals
2.New shoes
3.New cleats
4. Bolt cleats firmly to shoe and clip into pedal to check position and adjust if necessary.
5.Tighten bolts (5-6 n.m)
Nothing can go wrong, can it?
After step 4 I needed to loosen bolts to adjust cleat position.
BUT, when I took off shoe to loosen bolts and adjust cleat, what did I find?
I had stood on a stray ball-bearing on the floor, which had nested very snugly in the head of the hex bolt.

Brain-teaser of the day - how do you remove the bearing/bolt?








The shimano instruction leaflet said nothing about being careful not to step on a ball-bearing before you tighten the bolt.

Jeff

Easy Riders - 16th May

The Easy Riders' route from Shepperton Greeno to Ashford and on to Five At The Bridge for Tea
(as always, we have Ron to thank for collecting the GPS Track data for this map)

MANY THANKS

....for your generosity - £57 was collected for Thelma and Hazel, the two ladies retiring from the RBL at Cobham due to doctor's orders. I spoke to Thelma last night - she was quite overwhelmed. She is going to speak to Hazel (the short lady) who has just come out of hospital and will let me know what they would like.

Terry

Post Crash Recovery

Jeff tending his wounds.

Pete getting his bike road worthy.

A Group, 16 May 2012

Shepperton - Hedgerley - Sunbury

Welcome to John

Lunch at the White Horse, Hedgerley

Tea at the Walled Garden

A-Group "Here be Dragons ride" May 16 2012

Some time ago Vic muttered on here that rides were sometimes a bit samey and rarely ventured into the North West quadrant of the putative Wayfarers' territory. So, having discovered a fantastic Pub at Hedgerley I thought  I would kill two birds with one stone.....

Thus, with the sun shining encouragement on our endeavours, our gallant band of 16 mounted our trusty steeds and ventured forth  toward that part of the Wayfarer map beyond the M4 & simply marked "Here be Dragons"!

First to Chertsey, and the river; thence to Staines. Onward rode our gallant crew! Wraysbury, Datchet, past the jousting fields of Eton onward ever faster to the Slough of Despond beyond the M4 - where the Dragons struck!

Tony was the first to fall - victim of an errant cone, Jeff and Peter too were attacked! But our trusty brothers are made of stern stuff. Up they got, tended, their wounded steeds and prepared for further trials. Jeff and Peter volunteered to venture on to face the unknown challenges ahead while Mike of Morley, generous and gallant soul, volunteered to accompany our wounded Italian Troubadour to the safer territories of the Homelands.

Onward we rode through the Poges of Stoke and into to Enchanted Forest, not far from the wondrous Beeches of Burnham. Then on, down the precipitous slopes of Hedgerley Hill  and safe to our destination - the famous White Horse of Hedgerley, a marvellous hostelry famous for serving serving warriors of our ilk ale and sustenance since the 1920's and oft voted the best ale house of the region by those stout and bearded Defenders of the Faith - CAMRA! Therein we found our trusty colleague Staring Bob - magically there before us!

Fed and watered, we ventured forth. North to the foothills of the Mountains Of Chiltern. South we turned to Fulmer, passing close to the Magical Kingdom of Hogwarts in the Pine Wood, eventually to rejoin our outward path of the morn, braving once again the deadly cones of Slough, retracing our tracks to Shepperton and thence on the the Walled Garden to be waited on by the wenches of Sunbury.

Paul Kelly

B Group - 16th May

17 of us made our way to the Rose and Crown at Woodside for lunch to-day. Our route was via St Anne's Hill, Chertsey, through Virginia Water to Virginia Water Lake in Windsor Park. There we turned left to cycle around the lake passing The Water Fall and The Temple before exiting at Blacknest Gate. Right along Mill Lane, another right into Buckhurst Road leading into Sunninghill Road before turning left to Woodside.
Our hosts were friendly and efficient - but for whatever reason - two lunches didn't appear until others had finished eating?! Hence it was too late when we left the pub to go to my planned tea stop in Walton so we made our way to Squires, Shepperton/Halliford?
Our return was along a well worn route! Entering Windsor Park at Cranbourne Gate, past The Long Walk and exiting at Bishopsgate.
Englefield Green, Prune Hill, Thorpe, Chertsey Bridge, through Shepperton village to tea. 12 of us made the most of the pleasant weather and lingered long over tea, cakes and chats!!
My thanks to Terry as back marker and Tim for his photos and mapping...and to all folks who were on to-days ride.
Pam :) :)

Three men in a pub and a large gathering for Tea at Squires

The routes there and back

The scenic part, around Virginia Water and through Windsor Great Park after lunch

about 28.2 miles from Elevenses to Tea

A Group ride 16 May 2012

A Group ride 16 May 2012. Shepperton to Hedgerley.
Tea @ Walled Garden
Leader: Paul Kelly (Piquet!)

42.5 miles 852 ft climbing

Average moving speed 14.1mph

Max speed 31.5

Calories 2200

Post lunch Bs May 9

 

Cheerful, well fed Bs at The Punchbowl, Okewood Hill. Management has fairly recently changed but the service is better than ever - well worth a visit.

B Group Wednesday 9th

Another grey rainy day! With the B’s, who like their hills in moderation, we set out from Leatherhead for an extended and convoluted figure of eight with The Punchbowl at Okewood Hill as our lunchtime destination. On our way south to Pixham Lane and the one and only climb, we saw a couple of strays from the A’s, one of whom joined us instead. So we continued up Punchbowl Lane to Henfold, Newdigate, Capel and Ockley Station.

Its here my thanks go Graham for his A ride last week. I hadn’t been up Weare Street before so the B’s did it this week in the reverse direction – 3 miles of winding lane mostly in woods – and to The Punchbowl.

On the return via Walliswood and Mole Street, Capel and Newdigate to Brockham and eventually Denbies, the rain came. Ray likened it to Scotland but it reminded me more of Cornwall in the summer but it was still rain. At Brockham some went via the road while others stuck (literally?) to the Golf Course. Regrouping at Pixham Lane the majority decided to head home in the rain whilst the remaining 5 of us (out of 12) went into Denbies, dried out and emerged to a dry run home. I did 58 miles – a good day out as always with the B’s!

Peter T

B Group - 9th May

Peter T's route from Leatherhead to Okewood Hill for lunch and back to Denbies for Tea (34.9 miles)

It was a most enjoyable day out, despite his weather.

The outward and inward routes from Leatherhead as far as Newdigate

Through Capel and then the big loop via the pub in Okewood Hill

Elevation profile (Elevenses to tea)

AW Cycles (Alfred Walkling)

I have had a request from Adam Fields on behalf of Merton Cycle Campaign for any  information anyone may have about AW Cycles (formerly Dale Cycles). I still have an AW frame that I got about 25 years ago. They got me cycling again. I used to pass the shop every day on the way to work. A real cycle shop! Here is his message:

"My colleagues at Merton Cycle Campaign are in the process of compiling a book entitled ' A Day in the Life of AW Cycles' , hopefully to be published later this year . They have been trading from the same premises at 43 Abbey Parade, Merton High St., SW19 over many generations since around the start of WW1. The current partners are in their late 60's and mid 80's so understandably we believe they may not be around for many more years and Merton Cycle Campaign wish to record the early history of the business illustrated with photos of cycle memorabilia , press cuttings from local early 20th press, etc. etc. We'd also like to get interviews with some of AW's long-standing customers .

Charles Barraball believes he's noticed one of the SWLDA still riding an AW frame. There may be several even!

Could you include a few lines on the blog and also the Kingston Phoenix's asking that anyone still riding with anecdotes of AW Cycles ( Alfred Walkling ) should contact either myself, Charles B. ( Charles@barraball.com) or the mainstay of the project, Hugh Morgan, ( hughmorgan100@hotmail.com)."

Please contact Adam, Charles or Hugh if you have any memories of AW Cycles.

Jeff

Ashtead cycle cafe

After some delay I now have it from the horse's mouth that the new BikeBeans cycle cafe in Rectory Lane, Ashtead ( KT21 2BA for the tea stops list) will open on Tuesday. Don't know the details of opening hours yet and of course they may change as they assess the business. They do have a screen so a draw this summer may be the prospect of watching the Tour de France at tea. Their website is still in development at www.bikebeans.co.uk   or for more detail ....http://www.facebook.com/Bikebeans . So if you are cycling through Ashtead go and take a look.

B Group 9th May

 Average pace 12.5 I think the "A"'s would be happy with that!

'A' Group 9 May

Leatherhead - Dawes Green - Annies

 Norbury Park House seen from Crabtree Lane

 Lunch at the Seven Stars, Dawes Green - them and us

The eleven stars including John

A Group 9th May

With the forecast reporting dismal weather almost non stop for the last month it was quite a surprise to find that it was merely scotch mist when with some trepidation I arrived at the Leatherhead Day Centre to lead the ride. As reported by Mike M - he advised me of the road work beyond Box Hill. This was a disapointment for me as in my recce on Monday there were no problems and finding the Zig Zag to the top of the hill was a perfect surface with humps removed but with the surface thereon to Pebblecombe my planned route untouched.

With a revised route in mind we (approx 16 of us) left Leatherhead in the direction of Dorking only to be split into two parties when I found I was leading too fast on arriving at the entry to the cycle path to Givons Grove. My intention was to be able to continue on the path beyond Givons Grove without negotiating the dangerous R'about there. Although on waiting on the other side of Young St to reassemble we appeared to have lost some when shortly turning off the cycle path for the climb to Norbury Park. When we stopped to enjoy the view before descending to West Humble we numbered 11 but on arriving at WH, Jeff T was waiting for us he having taken a different route. From WH we crossed the A24 using the tunnel continuing on to the Olympic route revised avoiding 9 circuits of the Zig Zag, our route being via Little Switzerland and eventually on the planned route descending Pebblecombe thereon to Betchworth (fame of the film 4 weddings and a funeral- at the church) and to the Seven Stars pub at Dawes Green.

It was a very quiet lunch - not surprising - either because the weather forecast or the prices had put people off.

We returned still in dryish weather and with a following wind quite fast via Brockham until unfortunately Pete had a tumble in Pixham Lane on mud where more roadwork was in progress. He was quite shaken but am glad to say nothing like as bad as Cavendish in Monday's Giro D'Italia Sprint when he was brought down.

There were 10 of us at Annie's for 3's after which we parted company for our homes hoping that the wet weather forecast would hold off.

Ray

Easy Riders - 9 May

We were a select few C riders leaving Leatherhead Day Centre. I led Norman, Sandy, Sonia, Ron and Mike towards Ashtead station. The barrier was down; so we went the backway, through the alley towards the Common. A bit muddy at the beginning; but it drains quite well on the newer path, so it was quite pleasant cycling through. We made our way to Longmead cycle path and through Ewell Village. Over the lights to the Toby Carvery, where we had lunch. It was very popular today. Looked like two coachloads had just pulled up . I had a nice warm turkey and cranberry sandwich. After our leisurely lunch, it was raining when we went outside; so Norman, Sandy and myself decided to make our way towards Cheam. We stopped at Nuffield for tea. A shorter ride today; as I just got back from Melton Mowbray last night.

Lynda.

Easy Riders - 9th May

Lynda's ride from Leatherhead to East Ewell for lunch and then to Ewell Court Library for Tea

Box Hill

Knowing that Ray had planned an "A" ride over the newly surfaced Olympic Road Race circuit of Box Hill and in view of the fact that I would not make the ride today due to a further visit to Epsom Hospital with my damaged wrist I went to Leatherhead down the "Zig Zag" Ignoring the sign I was eventually stopped by Tarmac workers and told the road was closed. After tactful negotiation I was told I could proceed on the muddy path at the side and on reaching the N.T. tea room side there was Terry trying to go the other way. It became clear that they had only so far re-surfaced the up side from Rykers end to N.T.tea room. Did not enquire when work would be finished but they still have a lot to do if they are going to resurface the whole of the circuit near Box Hill school Mickleam etc.

I did not take a picture but someone had very distastefull put grafity on the new surface which was going to cost a lot of money to remove according to the workmen!

Isle of Wight Randonnee

May Day Bank Holiday, so Maggie and I were off to the Isle of Wight, as usual, to ride the Randonnee.  It was a pretty hard go this year - very cold (4.4º at worst, never much over 8º), strong winds and rain.  Despite this we enjoyed our ride, though we probably enjoyed the hot bath afterwards rather more.

Mark

John Scott

What's all this about housemaid's knee?

John Scott

...rang me last night to say he'd experienced pain in his knee when returning home last Wednesday, forcing him to walk up a hill. The pain returned later and John sought medical help/advice. They seemed surprised at the  mileage he covered and thought he should reduce it. Hopefully treatment will be effective otherwise John might need to catch a train to and from Wayfarers' meetings.

Terry

A Group 2 May 2012

 Cobham - Cranleigh - Denbies

 Thelma and Hazel

We were most sorry to learn that, after some ten years of voluntary service looking after us at the RBL Hall on the first Wednesday of the month,  doctor's orders require both Thelma and Hazel to hand over the reins. I'm sure that we all send them our warmest thanks and best wishes for good health and recovery. It has been suggested that we hold a collection for them. If you agree, please have a £1 coin to hand for the collection plate. (Jeff)

 No rain today, but as Graham says, we did take a big dip at the big dip going up High Barn Road. Nothing that the log fire at the Little Park Hatch could not cope with.

Tuesday morning in Stirling sees Neil Oliver (of Coast fame) pushing his kids to school but is neither the date nor time nor place to plan the following day's Wayfarers ride. So I had to keep it simple hoping the route would avoid any legacies of the recent weather meaning no Hoe or Tanhurst Lanes and their like.

With prior knowledge of onroad hazards, Ray led a time trial through Downside, and across Bookham Common to the station where he and Mike exited left to rest before an evening event.

From the Effingham crossroads we took High Barn Road. At the big dip, construction work (St Teresa's extension?) has created a lake so it was wet feet all round. In contrast both top and bottom of White Down were bone dry. After Holmbury and Cotton Row we slalomed along Lower Breache Road – a contender for Surrey's worst surfaced(?) road. 

The Little Park Hatch provided a worrying statistic - we were 11/12ths of the customers but the usual gargantuan proportions and roasting open fire were most welcoming. Back the way we came at least as far as Ewhurst. Then it was southeast to Walliswood and Okewoodhill and up Weare Street. Mike went AWOL near Capel; apologies, that’s 3 on the trot. Cakes and tea at Denbies rounded off a dull but dry day; just over 60 miles door to door.

Graham

Easy Riders 2 May

About a dozen C group riders left Cobham on Wednesday. I was leading to Teddington Lock. We made our way to Claygate, and a few went their own way from here. Eight of us continued the back way passing The Griffin pub that takes you to Stevens Lane, (a more gentle climb). We turned left passing Squires at Long Ditton; under the tunnel of the A3, which I am pleased to say, is now dry and odourless! and made our way to Hampton Court. We passed the station and continued into Bushy Park. Always a nice ride, with the open spaces and deer meandering. We passed through Teddington High Street and made our way to The Anglers. A little longer to lunch (12 mls); so we were ready to enjoy our meals. While we were eating, Fuzz turned up and came to join us. He was pleased with his mileage; and so he should be. After, he was going to make his way home through Richmond town. The rest of us walked over the blue bridge and joined the tow path to Kingston; came out by the market place, and made our way to Ewell Court cafe via Berrylands and Worcester Park. My total mileage was 38mls. And it didn't rain!

Lynda

And the remaining prizes are.....

Ladies please note: The sporting gentlemen in the background are not part of the prize draw!

Nor I think is the cycle helmet!

Wayfarers win prizes!

No less than eight raffle prizes were won by Wayfarers cyclists in the Cobham RBL Easter draw.   The prizes were on display yesterday and two were claimed by Lynda and Terry, leaving six unclaimed as I left.  The numbers of the remaining prizes are 197, 61, 152, 37, 55, and 44.   Take your winning ticket along to claim your prize.

B Group 2 May

 

 

 

Interesting fence at East Clandon

Ed led a large group from Cobham via Chilbrook Lane (expecting Plough Lane to be flooded) past The Black Swan, along Guileshill Lane to Ripley. Papercourt Lane led to Send then a hitherto unexplored off-road stretch brought us onto Potters Lane and soon the familiar sight and sound of the A3. From the A3100 junction we headed into Burpham, soon joining the London Road into Guildford where a good lunch was quickly served at The King's Head.

After lunch a climb up the (thankfully dry) cobbles of the High Street to continue on the A246 to East Clandon where knowledgable Ed and Vic suggested we view the above fence (anybody know the explanation ?).  Taking to the lanes we headed for Cobham Sainsbury's, riding along a surprisingly non-flooded Plough Lane.

Terry

B Group - 2nd May

Cobham (RBL) - Guildford - Cobham (Sainsburys), about 27 miles with Ed

The slightly muddy path between Send and Potters Lane

How we arrived at "Guildford’s oldest and most haunted pub"

A Group 2nd May

A novelty from Graham today - a ride without rain, though there was no shortage of water.  36.56 miles from elevenses at Cobham to tea at Denbies, lunch being taken at Little Park Hatch, Cranleigh. 2,241 feet of ascent and 1,638 calories.

Now that the rain has stopped, can Summer be far away?  *

Mark

* -  yes, it can be.