Isle of Wight short tour, 9th - 12th May 2017

A smaller hostelling group than usual (Pam, Tim, Tony, Ed, Vic and Terry) met at Woking Wetherspoon’s for 11s on Tuesday May 9th before catching a train to Brockenhurst. After a pleasant alfresco pub lunch there at the Foresters Arms we rode to Lymington (passing one of Tony’s old schools) to catch the ferry to Yarmouth. Tim had plotted a route from Yarmouth alongside the river Yar to the Youth Hostel at Totland - some of it was on roads, some of it was along an old railway track.

The warden at the Hostel is Bob, a very good, friendly chap - he ran Streatley Hostel for a year but we never saw him there. We had a ten minute walk up to The Highdown Inn for dinner - Bob had forewarned us of the size of the raspberry pavlova. We had a very good meal, Tim and Terry shared a pavlova but one member managed a whole one on his own. After arriving back at the Hostel Vic realised his wallet was missing.

Tony had plotted a route for Wednesday and after checking at the pub for the wallet (no luck) we headed for The Needles and the New Battery. The view was superb. We then headed in a clockwise direction, diverting slightly to admire the view from Sconce Point, then keeping to minor, deserted roads to 11s at Gossips in Yarmouth and lunch at The Waters Edge in Gurnard. Tony modified his afternoon route and after successfully navigating through Cowes and via a splendid ‘avenue verte’ (avenue wight?) to Newport, diverted slightly to see the entrance to Carisbrooke Castle. A somewhat undulating road (but a good fast final 3 miles) brought us back to the Hostel where we were pleased to hear Vic’s wallet had been found at the pub.  We had dinner with wine at the Hostel.

Thursday morning we split up - Tony wanted to see a model railway and Vic took Ed to hopefully see a rare butterfly, leaving Pam and Terry to follow Tim. His route was anti-clockwise on the coast road to Brook, then inland to Brighstone and on to 11s at a deserted Wight Mouse Inn at Chale. Another pleasant, undulating 8 miles and we arrived at Wroxall for a leisurely, alfresco pub lunch at The Star Inn. A series of quiet roads, farm tracks and cycle paths along former railway lines led to Newport and 3s, after which we returned to the Hostel via Shorwell, Brighstone and Shalcombe . Another very enjoyable day. Meanwhile Tony had found the railway closed, Vic and Ed had seen a few butterflies but they had flown by too quickly to be photographed. We had good dinners at the pub again, this time lemon cheesecakes were shared.
 
Friday morning we returned to Yarmouth by road to catch the ferry and having time to spare had 11s at the nicely converted Yarmouth station. It must have been wonderful when all railway lines were being used by trains.


J.Obsworth was driving the train from Lymington to Brockenhurst and he was only licenced to carry four cycles, so we rode to Brockenhurst. We soon noticed we were on English roads. After changing at Basingstoke we arrived at Woking about 1430 in time for a late lunch at JDW, after which we made our way home.

A great holiday, thanks to all for company especially Tony and Tim for route planning. The island was very quiet, roads good, motorists courteous and weather wonderful.

~ Terry and Tim

CTC AGM Wesley Hotel Euston NW1 Sat 13 May 2017

For those that may be interested see my report on the SWLDABLOG.
Not sure if I will bother to go again so boring and such a non event but I did combine it with a visit to see a friend near the Olympic Park and came back via W'Spoons at the Tower, all in all a very good value Rail Card, £8.10 Zone 6 Tadworth to London Bridge, bike to AGM, bike to Liverpool St, train to Walthamstow, train back to Liverpool street, bike to London Bridge back to Tadworth by 9.30pm.

One very good thing about the AGM was the excellent lunch, top quality sandwiches, Deviled Prawns and Scallops on cocktail sticks and chicken a la the same, masses of fresh fruit and fruit juice.

B Group - 10th May

Steph has sent two photos from John A's ride from Caterham:

She adds:

"The ride today was beautiful and the pub at the top of Toys Hill a very pleasant place to munch al fresco. We were joined by Dave and Moira for a bit.

I opted to return via the back road from Bletchingley to Merstham so avoided John's final ascent - Wray Lane."

~ Tim

Twickenham with a touch of Versailles: easy riders 10 May

A lovely bright sunny morning, after waving off a few of the As and Bs to Caterham from North Cheam, the Easy Riders headed to Hersham for coffee.  Shortly after arriving, we were concerned to see one of our members felt unwell.  Fortunately the experienced centre staff  took care of him, an ambulance was called and he was sent for medical attention.

From Hersham Lynda lead us to the White Swan at Twickenham, where we commandeered three tables on the lovely riverside garden terrace for lunch. The food was good and we enjoyed the warm bright sunshine.

Afterwards we headed back along the riverside path and into the little formal gardens, for a touch of Versailles; a fabulous 19th century water feature, with marble statues known as
 the naked ladies of Twickenham.  And some of us (well, me anyway) had believed the local brewery's ale was named after the autumn crocus!

From here it was a short ride through to Kingston Market Place for tea at Patisserie Valerie.
Thanks Lynda and everyone for a beautiful and enjoyable day's ride.

Easy riders 26 April

A much chillier day than expected, and some of us wished we had worn an extra layer or two as we made our way to Teddington Elleray Hall for coffee!  Liz Scrivens then lead the easy riders through byways to Isleworth, Syon Park and via busy Brentford to Kew Bridge. From there we followed a delightful towpath, with pretty cottages and even an allotment site overlooking the river bank, all the way to the Ship at Mortlake, in the shadow of the former Watneys brewery. We settled in the conservatory as the skies opened and the rain began, warm and comfortable indoors while we enjoyed our lunch and lingered on chatting afterwards -  definitely time well spent with friends!  The weather cleared for a pleasant ride through Sheen gate and across Richmond Park for home. No tea stop today. Thanks Liz for finding us an interesting and enjoyable route.

A Pilgrim's Tale

The key to a successful ride along Pilgrims' Way is the weather.  You need a long dry spell, followed by a good, sunny day, as parts of the Way will become impassably muddy with heavy rain and others dangerously slippery with even a short shower.  We were lucky enough to enjoy perfect conditions.

Rolling out of the Caterham Day Centre just after eleven we were soon enjoying the sunshine in the Woldingham Valley, and even the short climb up Ganger's Lane.  This is one of the two early diversions in the Way caused by 16th and 17th century landowners obliterating the route to beautify their estates.  Crossing into Kent we had a very short piece of the original surface, a harbinger of things to come, then past the peculiar duck-house at Otford Pond and along to Kemsing, where Brian left us to return home to fulfil domestic commitments.  Interesting bits of history here; Becket is said to have struck the ground with his staff at Otford and caused a spring to rise, and the knights who killed him spent the night at Kemsing on their way to Canterbury.

Here's our full route:

We were now properly on the Pilgrims Way, mostly tarmac lanes rolling through pleasant countryside, with a couple of miles of unsurfaced trackway just before Wrotham.  That strung the peloton out a little, but it did stage our arrival at lunch which turned out to be handy enough, and a help for the kitchen. 

We ate well in the sunshine, but slowly, and we left the pub later than I had intended, which turned out to be significant by tea-time.  Dave and Geoffrey left us here, heading back to London, and Ray Wren joined us to ride the Pilgrims Way as far as Lenham on his mountain bike.  The hard work of the day was now beginning, with a variety of surfaces and some excellent views over the Weald.

The Trials of the Pilgrims began on this stage, with a couple of mechanical mishaps and a minor 'off' for Dave B, which left some quite spectacular bruising.  Bloodied, but unbowed, we pressed on over the Medway at the fine new bridge, and back on to the trackway.  There's an interesting piece of trackway here where the surface is exactly the same as the track over the Mount, at Guildford, some fifty miles away.

The novelty of riding fast on rough surfaces was beginning to wear off as we approached Lenham, and, as another mechanical delayed us an advanced party set off to try to catch the tea rooms.  No luck; they were shutting as we arrived.  

Neil set off home from here, the rest of us enjoyed cakes, flapjacks and sugary drinks in the sunny village square.  That worked out quite well, and got back a little time. Ray Wren set off ahead of us, knowing that his mountain bike would be slower on the tarmac, and decided in the end to take a train back from Charing.  The rest of us rode hard, and very fast, over rolling countryside to Chartham, where we picked up the Great Stour Trail on a beautiful Spring evening for three long miles into Canterbury.  'Irish Miles', said Hans. The gravel of the riverside track now seemed laughably easy, and we set a very fast pace along the river and into the City.

We arrived at twenty past seven, about an hour later than planned, so Hans, Ged, Mike and Dave scooted off for the next train; the rest of us went to 'The Foundry', a well-recommended micro-brewery where the beer and the pies were exactly what we needed.

Here are the performance stats:

A pretty good showing.  Our speed on the gravel sections went up as the day went on - there's undoubtedly a knack to it.  As for the bikes, there wasn't much to choose between them.  Ray's mountain bike might have been a bit better on the trackway, but not markedly so; the light carbon jobs were quicker on the road, but again, not markedly so.  For this sort of mixed route it didn't seem to matter what type of bike you used.  Mike's tubeless tyres turned up trumps, sealing an improbably large cut; most people had no trouble at all.

My thanks to Simon for his sterling work as back marker, to all corner markers who kept us rolling, to Geoff and Simon for the photographs and to all of you for your help and cheerfulness on a long day.  We did well.

Carpe Diem, as they say.  We did.

Mark

More tails from the IoW

Today's ride lead us up to the Needles gun batteries, hilly to say the least. Today's total climbing was 2927 foot. A lovely sunny day.

Vic's celebratory knicker Boker glory after the return of his lost wallet.

Pilgrims Way to Canterbury

Mark's merry band of Pilgrims assembling at Caterham ready to do it their way! Much better weather than the Tri-Vets

As for me I really wanted to do this trip and staying the night with the Archbishop would have been great if only I could get out of the Habit! Not to be outdone I did my own little pilgrimage on the way home and visited Chaldon Church.

Took a picture of the wall painting as well but that already posted in the preamble by Mark.

Now all I have to look forward to is the purgatory of this evening's KPRC 10 TT on the dreaded A24.

Wayfarers Isle of Wight Tour

On our way to Lymington through the New Forest.

B Group ride from Caterham

We shall have an undulating ride into the Kent countryside and return to Reigate for Tea.

Steph intends to lead any B Group riders who show up at North Cheam.

~ John Austin

MG meeting at Cowdray House Midhurst West Sussex

OK what has this got to do with cycling? Well Grant Pyke and I decided to go and meet Joanna Rowsell Shand MBE with her Double Gold Olympic medal and MBE and here we are!

Grant and me decided to change from a cycling day out to an MG meeting because Joanna was promoting a good cause for Alopecia! Grant really appreciated the day out. I had not realised that he was such an expert vintage car expert!

Joanna is an amazing girl running around presenting prizes and being such an ambassador for her sport and her cause!

A Group 10th May - Notes for Pilgrims

The weather prognosis continues dry, so the probability is that we will be able to ride the entire Pilgrims' Way.  Paul Kelly and I looked at a potentially muddy stretch today, and it was as dry as dust.  I'll check again before we start.

Here's the route:

The bits marked in red are the sections of trackway; the rest is tarmac surfaced country lanes.  The surface of the trackway varies, but is nowhere very rough.  It does take some skill in places, as the best course for a bike may be narrow, but it's all entirely do-able on a normal touring bike.  The route is just over 60 miles from Caterham; about 15 miles are trackway.

If you're coming to Caterham over Farthing Downs it's worth spending a few minutes at Chaldon Church looking at the strange and wonderful 11th century wall painting.  The church is open from 1000.

We'll leave Caterham at 1100, and go through Woldingham to reach the Pilgrims' Way at Titsey.  It's mostly tarmac to lunch, with a couple of miles of track as we approach Wrotham.  Lunch will be at the Rose and Crown, Wrotham, and Dave Vine will lead a party back from there, for those that want a normal Wednesday ride.

From Wrotham the rest of the pilgrims will continue along the Pilgrims' Way to Halling, where we will cross the Medway over a fine new bridge, very near to the ancient ferry crossing which last operated in the 1960s.  We'll continue to Lenham, where we'll take tea at Pippa's Tea Rooms.  There are trains from Lenham to Victoria and there is an hourly service from Headcorn - about six miles South - back to Redhill and on to Dorking.

Leaving Lenham we'll go over the hill towards Canterbury using country lanes, and will pick up the very pretty cycleway into the City itself at Chartham.  We'll stop in Sun Street for photographs, and then adjourn for refreshment.

It has always been a popular spot for cyclists - here's Tommy Godwin in Sun Street on his record-breaking ride in 1939 - as you'll see, Mike Morley is behind him, wearing one of his hats.

I'll be staying overnight in Canterbury, heading back the next day.  I've booked in to the Premier Inn, which is modestly priced and has a good bike policy - you can keep your bike in your room.

There are two stations in Canterbury, East and West, and here are trains departing at about 1900.

The trains have bicycle spaces, the number depends on the length of the train.  I've no idea how fussy they are, and I have never had a problem, but spreading ourselves between trains can't do any harm.

Fingers crossed for a sunny (or at least dry) day!

Mark

ps - perhaps uniquely for a Wayfarers ride, there is a badge:

£4.50, from E-Bay.  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canterbury-City-Pilgrims-Way-Kent-County-Crest-Small-Pin-Badge-0971-/380662104776?hash=item58a13ac2c8:g:aXkAAMXQHU1RwFRL

Mark Roy update

Lynda has received a bit more news concerning Mark from Pat Matthews. Pat went to visit Mark at home but learned from his daughter that he had just been readmitted to hospital.

~ Tim

3rd May B group at Cobham:getting ready to go

Easy riders 19th April to Brockh

John Bellamy lead us to coffee at Leatherhead, and after democratic discussion about 12 of us headed to the Royal Oak at Brockham, via Pixham Lane. The wind was chilly but the sunshine warm, so the group divided for lunch with the hardier souls in the garden, the rest indoors. You can just glimpse BoxHill in the background of the group pic in the garden. John is laughing on the far right of the lunch table, to balance the picture of him in the last newsletter when he felt he looked miserable standing behind MP Paul Scully!
After lunch, three of us headed up Box Hill as Sue (left) wanted to tick it off the bucket list...picture shows us halfway up the Zigzag - because it was a lovely view, not because we needed a rest!
John lead the rest of the group via Mickleham and Leatherhead back to tea at Ewell Court.
A lovely spring day out, thanks everyone.

A touch of spring fever? C group 15 March

Following an excellent lunch at the Stepping Stones, four of our group, inspired by Liz and Maureen, took our first trip up the Zigzag road to the top of Box Hill. Gorgeous day for it... and the cracking view from the top was reward enough! Plus the long ride down on the other side, of course!

Just a month ago! Easy riders 5th April

Setting out from Cobham after coffee, then lunch in the sunny sheltered garden at the Woodman in Ashtead. Lead by Liz Scrivens via Bookham Common.

Easy riders 3 May

Not the best weather for cycling, but lead by Lynda we enjoyed an easy ride through to Leatherhead after coffee at Cobham, enhanced by a road diversion for other traffic. From there a favourite route through Ashtead Park to the Barley Mow in Epsom, which Lynda had booked ahead in hope that we could enjoy lunch in the lovely garden. No matter that it was a bit chilly outdoors, the food was good and company convivial inside! A few of the group then had a short ride for tea at Ewell Court. Thanks Linda for leading us away from the showers!
Photos of chat over coffee at Cobham and C group ready to ride after lunch at the Barley Mow.

Cycle Talk with Ned Boulting

Don Elms has drawn our attention to this upcoming comedy event:

https://thelittleboxoffice.com/riverhouse/event/view/59615

Ned is well known to everyone who has followed the Tour de France on ITV4 in recent years.

~ Tim

B Group - 3rd April (map)

Peter's route to Knaphill (14.7 miles) and back (16.2 miles)

A Group - 3rd May. Cobham to Loxwood, tea at Westhumble.

Another (unseasonably) cold day for 16 A's today for our ride to Loxwood. Under leaden skies we made swift work of Green Dene, followed by descents of Combe and Barhatch, through Cranleigh and on to the Onslow Arms, via Tismans Common.

The promise of sunshine tempted the more hardy to sit in the blooming flower pub garden, but with temperatures still in single figures there was no time to linger. Our return took us through Rudgwick and the 'four Greens' -  (Cox, Ellen's, Mayes and Forest).

I had promised one hill-climb - as opposed to easy 'altitude gains', but with a little encouragement from Mark, opted for Tanhurst at 21%, rather than the modest Leith Hill Lane, up to Coldharbour. Still, Jenny found it a bit challenging, once again coming-a-cropper on one of my rides, but thankfully again to no obvious ill-effects. Relief! We made our fastest descent of the day down Coldharbour Lane, with Mark not quite hitting his normal max. of 50mph.

Tea was at Pilgrim Cycles for 11 of us at 4.00pm, aware that rain was forecast towards evening.

Simon's Garmin read exactly 1000m. of ascent - a fact! (But it was still only one hill!)

Thanks to Colin for back marking. It's going to be summer next week!

A Group 3rd May

All of the promised hills, both up and down, were delivered on Ged's ride today, together with a good lunch at the Onslow Arms and tea at Pilgrim Cycles.  (Where some were Tempted by Bikes...)

A lively, pacy ride in good company.

Mark

B's Ride from Cobham 3^rd May

What do an Italian politician, Napoleon, Deer, bluebells, a game played with long sticks and ancient industrial archaeology have in common?

A long and winding road (on and off) to Knaphill.

Peter T

A's Ride from Cobham, 3rd May.

We'll be setting out to Loxwood for lunch at the Onslow Arms. http://onslowarmsloxwood.com, and tea at Westhumble. One challenging descent and a few easy climbs - we don't want to miss Leith Hill do we?