A ride to secret location Weds 16 Oct

A group will be leaving Dorking headed for £@&##*^ (my lips are sealed)  and the freewheel competition. Fortunately, as I’m leading I’ve been told the location but all I can say is that it involves a hill.

As we’ll have done very few miles in the morning (and at least some of those will be downhill) we’ll be adding a few extra after the competition by heading off for a 10 mile circuitous and secret route to The Star in Rusper. If the weather is reasonably ok we’ll head for Denbies after lunch via  Horsham and 22 miles of mostly pleasant lanes. The clocks won’t have gone back yet so we’ll have plenty of daylight.

If the weather is as currently forecast we’ll have the option to head back north straight after lunch.

Urgent Leak Enquiry Demanded

 We shall dig you out

 

I trust that 'The Committee' will urgently be convening a 'Leak Enquiry' to uncover the mole who has so flagrantly dishonoured the trust placed in him/her/they by revealing the location of our highly prized event. Downing Street - yes.  CTCSWL - no!

Jeff

Exclusive: BBC reveals top-secret location of Wayfarers Freewheel Competition

The freewheeling Tomasz Shafernaker

Normally a highly-classified secret, the location of this Wednesday's Freewheel Competition was accidentally disclosed by Tomasz Shafernaker on BBC1 this evening.

Mr Terry Lowe, competition director, said "this is highly irregular.  The location details are only shared with a small number of vital ride leaders."   He added that a full investigation is in progress.   Possible sanctions could be as serious as disqualification from the competition.

Wednesday the 16th - Dorking

This week is the annual freewheel competition. Details on the day.

Tony..

A Group Ride Report - 9 October

A Group Ride Report - 9 October

19 of us gathered at Addlestone, and with thanks to those who abandoned their place in the coffee/cake queue, managed to be on the road by 11.10.

The objective was to visit Burnham Beeches to take in some autumn colour, and lunch at the Royal Standard at Wooburn Common. This pub we last visited back in 2013 under Frank Cubis’ leadership, which is a surprise given the friendly welcome and speedy service, not to mention their range of 10 real ales.

Given the distance involved, and the recent weather, this ride was always going to be a gamble with the rain gods, but today we were lucky, seeing no rain and frequent bursts of sunshine.

Pausing in Burnham

 

Thanks to efficient corner marking and no punctures we made lunch in 2 ¼ hours, and due to efficient pub staff we were fed and watered in an hour. With a bit of tailwind help we made the 24 miles to tea at Squires, Upper Halliford in 2 hours, in time for most to get home in daylight.

On the downside, despite reminders, we were forgetting to leave gaps in the peloton, especially on the way out to Wooburn, and I understand we were partially to blame for some very ill-advised and dangerous overtaking by motorists.  Doubtless we were also contributing to the ill-feeling towards all cyclists, which endangers us all. So remember, if you are no. 7 on the group, drop back and leave some space for cars to pull in; you will not be forgotten by the corner markers. Also do not overtake a rider who is leaving a gap unless there is a very good reason, such as getting a message to the leader.

Many thanks to Simon for back marking, to Brian and Simon for QA’ing my somewhat wayward
gpx tracks, and to Janice for photos.

48 miles Addlestone to Halliford, 13mph moving, almost no climbing.

Easy Riders - 9th October

After so much rain of late we were a little dubious of riding through mud on the various tracks that we normally take. However, we left Chessington taking the roads around Claygate and took our first track to Fairoak Lane and then the track to The Star on the Leatherhead Road. It was a bit muddy but we prevailed. By crossing over to Ashtead Common we left the mud behind and made our way over to the Jolly Coopers at Stamford Green where Liz Scrivens joined us for lunch. Five of our group enjoyed tea and cakes at Ewell Court where we watched the only rain of the day.

John

'B' Ride - Weds 9 October 2019

For whatever reason, perhaps the brief lull in the recent run of wet weather, there was a very good turnout at elevenses at Addlestone, and the queue for refreshments was so long that some members did not get served until well after 11.00 am!   This led to a late start to our ride, but we made steady progress towards Windsor Great Park via Trumps Green, Callow Hill, and Englefield Green despite the the rather blustery headwind.   In the park we paused briefly for a glimpse of Wembley Arch in the distance before heading down into Windsor, using a slightly different approach from usual, and arriving at The Windlesora just before 1.00 pm. 

At lunch there were two dozen of us, a few having arrived by a route avoiding the morning's climbs.  Mostly the food orders arrived quite quickly, but, as we have observed before, anything from Wetherspoon's Wednesday Chicken Club menu always, mysteriously, seems to take longer (note for future reference)!

Despite these small delays we were still able to set off homewards by 2.00 pm with a bit of a tailwind to spur us on.  The attempts by various level crossing barriers and temporary traffic lights to split us up were to no avail, and we managed to keep together well as we rode through Datchet, Horton, Stanwellmoor and Ashford to reach the tea stop at Nutty Lane, Shepperton.    Not a very scenic route but at least not one we do not do very often, and with the added bonus of passing Ed's old school! 

For once I was fortunate to lead an incident-free 'B' ride with no mechanical mishaps, or riders lost (especially me)!    Many thanks to Tony Hooker for back-marking, to all the eager corner markers, and to everyone else for your company.

A map for Dave's B Group ride

B Group: Addlestone - Windsor - Nutty Lane (Shepperton)

Tri-Vets badges - update from CUK HQ

If you ordered a Tri-Vets badge at the event, you will have been expecting them to arrive about now.
Apologies, but there is a short delay, explained by the email just received:

I just wanted to give you an update on the Trivets badges that were ordered by some of the participants in this years events. 

We have been waiting sometime for these to be delivered to us and have been regularly chasing the manufacturer. Unfortunately when they arrived this week they had been produced in the wrong size. A fresh production run is being made and we should have the badges in the correct size within the week. We have advised those participants who included an e mail address on their order form but just wanted to let you know the up-to-date position in case you are approached.

I apologise for the inconvenience.

Best Wishes

Julie Rand

A Ride from Addlestone 9 October

Unfortunately Steve Duffin is unwell, so I will lead, adapting a route I was preparing for later in the month.

Lunch will be at the Royal Standard in Wooburn Common (www.theroyalstandard.biz) last visited by  us in 2013 with Frank Cubis.

(NB this is not the more well known Royal Standard of England)

There will be one off-road section alongside the M4 from Staines to Poyle. The surface was firm when I rode it last on Saturday but there has been rain since. Thereafter it’s all road. We will be traversing Burnham Beeches, so hopefully the sun will shine for that section at least.

It’s 23 miles to lunch, 24 to Squires at Upper Halliford, so a prompt 11am start from Addlestone please.

Don’t forget lights in case we are delayed or the forecast evening showers catch up with us.

'B' Ride - Weds 9 October 2019

Given my recent lamentable record when leading 'B' rides (June - broken derailleur and puncture; August - tyre blow-out), I hear that bets are being taken on what mechanical misfortune might befall me on Wednesday's ride!    I will merely say that, if I do suffer any mishap, it will happen either in the 14 miles between Addlestone and The Windlesora (aka Wetherspoon's), Windsor, or else in the 12 miles between Windsor and Nutty Lane, Shepperton.

(Not so) Callow  Hill and a few hump back bridges will be the only serious climbs of the day, and, in the light of recent rainfall,  I have redacted the route as originally planned to remove all unsurfaced, off-road sections.   The Windlesora is on the edge of Windsor shopping centre, and well outside the main tourist area, but cycle parking is not brilliant, and I would advise you, as I always would with any busy town centre lunch stop,  either to come armed with something stronger than a 'cafe lock', or else to bring a friend with a good lock!

Cheam & Morden Easter Tour 2020, 10-13 April

Here are details about the Annual Easter Tour organised by Ann Bath.  Wayfarers most welcome!

We have a hotel booked for next Easter. Staying for 3 nights starting Good Friday 10th till Easter Monday 13th April at the Red Lion Hotel, Milford Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2AN www.bestwestern.co.uk/hotels/best-western-red-lion-hotel

Organised rides on Saturday and Sunday, around B group pace.

The price is £65 pppn db&b sharing a twin or a double room. £12.50 supplement pppn single and the meal is a 3 course set menu with options.

There is indoor bike storage. Being in central Salisbury, the hotel has limited, chargeable parking (only 6 spaces at £15 per night). There is a public car park nearby at £10/24 hours (Sundays free)

Contact Ann (or any of the many Wayfarers who've been previously) for further information if you’re interested.

~Ann

B Group Ride to the Dolphin at Betchworth

It turned out to be a pretty good day for a ride in the country and luckily enough 25 other B group riders thought so too. We set off in brilliant sunshine, which more or less stayed with us for the rest of the day. The ride started without any incidents but before the start of the first hill the puncture fairy visited us. First Richard punctured, with Tim who was back marking, and John stopping to help. As the main group was raring to go on, Bob was appointed back marker and we ascended the first hill, up Hogden Lane up to Ranmore, only to hear that Peter had a puncture half way up. We carried on down Ranmore and through the outskirts of Dorking before going up Punchbowl Lane. Here we heard that Steph was the latest victim of the puncture fairy, and that Peter had been visited again and was off to the Stepping Stones pub for some sustenance. Following this, thankfully we all made it safely without further incident to the Dolphin pub. The food was good and served quickly and we were all out and assembled on our bikes for a diversion by Pete Bayer who took us to look at a windmill. The windmill was once used to power a wood saw and lathe but was now powered by an electric motor. We then returned to Betchworth and following Pete's Tours, had a quick look at the church where Four Weddings and a Funeral was filmed, followed by an off road excursion to Brockham where I took over leading once again. We then had an uneventful ride to tea at Stoke D'Abernon. Thank you to all the riders who corner marked for me, to Pete for the windmill, church and off road adventure and a special thanks to Tim, David,John and Bob who backed marked and mended a number of punctures.

A group - nice day for a ride

We set off from Cobham in on a beautiful sunny but crisp autumn day, following Geoff Gregory's original planned ride to lunch, 16 riders in all.

We took very familiar roads via Plough lane to Ockham and Ripley to pick up the A3 cycle path towards Burpham, and then the main road straight into Guildford town centre. Through the town centre and out on the road towards Godalming, we turned off up Sandy Lane, and then followed this via Stakescorner Road and Furzen Lane into Farncombe, and then up Farncombe Hill and past Charterhouse School. There then followed a very long, pretty straight run down through Hurtmore and Shackleford into Elstead, where we arrived about 10 minutes early for our lunch stop at The Woolpack in Elstead.

When Geoff first sent me his proposed ride, I followed it on a map and thought that it followed a lot of roads that I was not familiar with, but on my recon ride I realised that I had ridden these roads several times before, but always in the opposite direction, usually as an after-lunch ride back towards home. Over lunch, several people mentioned the same thing to me and all seemed very pleased to do something they had not done before.

The sandwiches took a  bit longer to arrive than we would have liked, but otherwise we were given a very warm welcome, and the service we received was outstanding, all finally topped off with a 20% discount for booking in advance!!. A worthy addition to the list of lunch stops and one that I'm sure we will use again.

After lunch, we headed up towards Puttenham via Fulbrook Lane and Suffield Lane, and then on via Wanborough Hill (down, thankfully) onto Normandy. We then took the busy but very fast roads back via Worplesdon, Sutton Green, Mayford, Old Woking and Send to turn up Tannery Lane and Papercourt Lane into Ripley. We were back there by 3.30, so pushed on for tea in the late afternoon sun at the Medicine Garden back in Cobham.

21 very enjoyable miles to lunch and another 23 back to tea.

Many thanks to all who came along, those who marked corners along the way, and to Hans for back-marking and making sure we didn't lose anyone !!

A sunny day for the As

A chance to catchup with some of the Wayfarers and it was a sunny day for the ride I was supposed to lead. How good it was to see Graham looking so well and now being able to drive himself, great to be independant.
The weather brought out lots of riders for the As and Bs, I hope that I will soon be discharged from the hospital appointments and get back to riding, may need to test the hand and not put to much pressure through it.
I hope that all groups have had an enjoyable day.
Geoff

A group ride from Cobham, 2nd October

This week's ride was supposed to be led by Geoff Gregory, but as he is still recuperating from his unfortunate accident, (get well soon Geoff), I have picked it up. I have tried to stick to Geoff's original planned ride as much as possible but at 53 miles from 11's to tea, it was probably a bit over-ambitious.....I think even one of Hans's turbo-charged rides would have struggled!!!
So, we will head from Cobham and follow Geoff's route in full towards lunch at The Woolpack in Elstead.

http://www.woolpackelstead.co.uk

After lunch  I have had to do some editing of Geoff's ride and so we head back towards home via Puttenham Common, picking up his route again at Normandy, and riding to tea at either Geoff's original destination of Pinnocks in Ripley, or depending on how we do for time, to the Medicine Garden back in Cobham.
The weather looks to be the one decent day this week, dry and sunny but cold, so possibly the first sign of some winter clothing?.
21 miles to lunch, and 19 back to Ripley. A couple of climbs, nothing major, but plenty of undulations, about 1700 feet of climbing all in.