Easy Riders in CycleClips

Lovely picture of some of the Easy Riders in Cycling UK's CycleClips weekly email today:

B Group - 5th February

We all arrived at elevenses in various states of fogginess but by the time we headed out there were signs of it lifting with hints of a blue sky and probably a nice day emerging. Twenty one of us looped around through Church Street to Cobham High Street and took off down past the Cobham Mill (the Mill on the Mole) towards Fetcham, taking in the more scenic Tilt Road for a brief respite from the main road. Beyond the Yehudi Menuhin School we turned into Fetcham Common Lane which starts off with good intentions but soon degenerates into a muddy track, to the delight of some and the frustration of others. We bobbled along The Glade and the Commonside path to Bookham Station then meandered our way past the Effingham Vineries and up Culvert Road.

Green Dene was the great pleasure it nearly always is although while the leader was day-dreaming two young women rocketed past him and on up the hill. Fortunately they had heeded his shouted warning and were waiting for us at the turnoff into Shere Road. Ann and Jacqui rejoined the group when it finally arrived and, as far as I could tell, behaved themselves for the rest of the ride to lunch.
 
I had warned everyone about the steep little climb up to Hillside Farm but it still seemed to surprise us. We regrouped and enjoyed the descent to West Horsley and within minutes we were parking in the garden bar around the back of the King William IV public house.
 
We were warmly welcomed at the pub and our lunches were good although Sue mentioned that she could have done with a bigger portion of her very yummy soup.
 
Just a short ride had been planned for the afternoon but it was a very pleasant one, passing through Ockham, Martyr’s Green and Downside to reach River Lane and the Upper Cobham Tilt Cemetery. Fairmile Lane and a roller-coastery stretch of the Portsmouth Road brought us to G!ro (wonky typewriter?) Cycles. Their coffee, tea and cake is extremely good and was enjoyed by quite a number of us although I forgot to count how many.
 
Thanks to everyone who marked corners and especially to Dave “Mono-cog” Cullen for his diligent work as back marker, quite a tricky undertaking on a fixed-wheel bike I think. Thanks to you all for coming out to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.
 
~ Tim

Easy Riders - 5th February

We left Cobham by Bridge Road and turned off into Cobham Park Road towards Downside and then took the road to Bookham Common. After traversing the Common we made our way to Fetcham and on into Leatherhead to take Epsom Road and then Garlands Road to cross the A243 and M25 into Ashtead where we settled upon the Woodman for lunch. After lunch I then took a slightly different route around Ashtead and managed to lose two of our number because of a dropped chain from one of the bikes. I made the mistake of assuming that we were all together and when we stopped at a junction further on  to gather ourselves we found that  we were two short. As I sometimes make up a route as we go along and usually we are such a small group so can keep an eye out for each other I did not set a corner marker early enough. I apologise for leaving those two riders in the lurch.

Three of us stopped for tea at Senzo café adjacent to Epsom Station.

John

Thanks to Don for the map data. After lunch Don took a different route home but the afternoon tea stop, Senzo, is shown.

A Group Ride Report – 5 February

A beautiful day for a ride, with dry roads and the prospect of sun later, but unfortunately not all went well.

21 of us left Cobham, taking the track across Bookham Common, thankfully reasonably dry, to avoid the long drag up to Effingham. After climbing Chapel Lane out of Bookham, Patrick had the misfortune to fall heavily when descending Bagden Hill. As he was unable to move and in pain an ambulance was called. Thanks to everyone for controlling the traffic and looking after Patrick while we waited for the ambulance. He was eventually taken to hospital where his injuries were diagnosed as a fractured collar bone and two fractured fingers, not to mention the bruising. He was discharged Wednesday evening. Special thanks to Neil Warland for accompanying Patrick, and letting us know how things were going.

Meanwhile the ride continued, with an advance party taking an adventurous route through the Denbies estate to the Royal Oak just south of Dorking, to be joined by the rest of us taking a direct route.

A good lunch was quickly served to our reduced party, but it was around 2.30 when we left. One climb remained, Ranmore Rd out of Dorking, for me the first time as a Wayfarer. After assembly at the top it was downhill almost all the way to tea at Ashtead Park Garden Centre, where we mustered 6.

We wish Patrick a speedy and pain-free recovery. Many thanks to everyone for their quick thinking and support on a difficult day, to Janice for photos, and of course to our much-appreciated back marker.

We should also thank the paramedics who arrived within 15 minutes and dealt with Patrick in such a professional and caring way.

And a footnote. This is not the first Wayfarer fall on Bagden Hill. Perhaps it’s just coincidence, but we should all remember the 20% sign at the top and take care.

Coast to Coast - Downs to the Severn Sea

This morning, I made an early start from Marlborough, beginning the next stage of my Coast to Coast adventure.  A good breakfast, then through the archway of the Castle and Ball car park, left along the High Street and left again at the old Town Hall, starting the climb that leads to Hackpen Hill.

The climb isn't very steep, but it is long, five miles odd to the top, which is unusual in England.  Geoffrey Shields and I rode it one spring day, and were entertained by the signs warning of ice.

The signs didn't mean much then, but they were of much greater moment early on a February morning, and I took things very carefully,  particularly on the descent.

Hackpen Hill is the highest point of the English part of my journey.  At 269m it's higher than Titsey Hill by 2m, not a lot, but things will be very different when I get in to Wales.  Anyway, it was very blowy on the top, the beginning of a strong head-wind that didn't change much for the rest of the ride.

There's a White Horse on the North side of the hill, not much of one, and quite hard to see.  It's a bit of a youngster, as these things go, apparently having been cut by a local publican to celebrate Queen Victoria's coronation.

Onwards across the plain to the West of Swindon, then following the ridge to Malmesbury.  The developing custom of this ride is to vary the route to take in Winged Wheels, and this was quite a good one - The Smoking Dog.

This may be the last of the trip, as there are very few Winged Wheels in Wales, and none reasonably near to my route.  There'll be other chances.

Steadily onward, crossing Fosse Way and heading in to the Cotswolds.  Some more climbing, still in to the wind, then, just by the Beaufort Tower, my first glimpse of Wales.  All downhill from here, then...

No, but not too difficult, either, and I rode up to the Severn Bridge Viewpoint at about half past twelve - very good going.

So there we are.  I rode back down to the waiting car, popped the bike in the back, and Maggie and I went to the White Lion in Thornbury for lunch.

Here's a cross-section of the ride across England.  250 miles, give or take, and just over half of the  journey is done.  The next stage will take me to Cardiff, where I will be properly in Wales.

A brief e-bike note on today's performance.  There was a strong head-wind, with quite a lot of steady climbing into the wind.  I was on the motor for a lot of the ride, which was fine, but it consumed a fair bit more power.  I had about 35% left after 56 miles, which is quite a contrast with the Lenham to Carshalton stage, roughly the same in terms of climbing and distance, where I had 55% left.

So, climbing fast into the wind takes a lot of power, eh?  Who knew!

Mark

B Group - 5th February

We're off to the King William IV in West Horsley for lunch. On the morning ride we will encounter a busy road, a narrow muddy track, a bumpy road, a longish stretch of moderate climbing, down a bit then a short, sharp little gut-buster before cruising to our destination.

Be good and remember to separate into bunches of six to make it easier for motorists to pass us.

A pretty short afternoon ride will skirt around Cobham to Tea in Esher at Garsons Farm or G!ro Cycles perhaps.

The weather should be reasonable, not much prospect of rain, cool to start out but temperatures ramping up to 7 or 8°C.

See you in Cobham

~ Tim

A Group – 5 February

Our ride from Cobham tomorrow takes us to the Royal Oak, Chart Lane South, Dorking (www.royaloakdorking.com) with a couple of gentle climbs on the way. We will be leaving Cobham on the track across Bookham Common, which has a couple of muddy patches, but much pleasanter than the drag up to Effingham. The rest is on road. One more gentle climb after lunch.

2019 Photo competition - Last orders please

Further to the great popularity of our photo competitions since we went digital we invite you to take part again this year.

Please submit your photos before the end of January. Oh, all right, I'll accept a few more if you can get them to me in the next couple of days!

Please use this method for sending photos to us:

Visit this website: "Competition Dropbox" and follow the instructions to choose and deliver your photos.

N.B. When using this website to post photos to the Dropbox it is not necessary to sign up to, or log into Dropbox even if you are invited to do so.

Once you have selected one or several photos fill in your name and email address then click 'Upload'.

Send an email to me, Tim, to provide information about each photo:

             the photographic category
             the photo filename (e.g. P1040276.jpg)
             a caption which we will inscribe on your photo

The rules and categories are simple. The full 'Competition Rules' document is available under the 'Information Hub' heading on our website.

Competition Period: Photos taken during the 2019 calendar year.

Your photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a bicycle for example, or some obvious cycling association.

You may submit two photos in each category:

        6.1. Male      one or more male cyclists
        6.2. Female    one or more female cyclists
        6.3. Action    cyclist(s) in action
        6.4. Scenery   scenery or landscape
        6.5. Building  buildings, architecture
        6.6. Humorous  funny or amusing
        6.7. Group     any mix of male and female cyclists
 
Note that the award for a winning photograph in each category will be given to the photographer who took the picture, not to the model(s).

This method for submitting photos should work with any device (PC, Apple, iPad, iPhone, Tablet or Android phone) but if it doesn't work for you, please let me know so that we can address the problem. It does depend on you being able to locate the folder where your photos are stored. It doesn't require you to install the DropBox app.

~ Tim

Hilly 50km - Saturday, 7th March 2020

A sportive challenge. On Saturday 7th March join in the Sou'Westers' well-established Hilly 50 km event: 33 miles of the best of Surrey Hills and 3670ft of ascent, supported by route sheets and maps (available in PDF format), with GPX data for devices such as Garmin.  This is a challenging circuit starting at Ryka’s Café, Burford Bridge and finishing at the top of Box Hill.

Pre-entry is preferable and can be made by visiting:  http://www.swlondonctc.wixsite.com/ctcswlondon/hilly-50k, or Cycling UK events page http://www.cyclinguk.org/event/hilly-50km-2020

Follow the instructions to enter, or just turn up on the day.  Entry fee of £7 payable at the start and all proceeds will go to St. Raphael’s Hospice in North Cheam.  Signing on is from 9.30 am with a start time of 10 am to finish by 2 pm.  This is a challenging unsupported event and riders participate at their own risk.