Tony's rainy day ride

The weather forecast was not too good, but I decided to take a chance and cycled to Carshalton to join the river Wandle and followed it through Beddington Park to its source at Wadden Ponds and Wandle Park.

I then cut through Croydon and climbed up to Upper Shirley to view the windmill and then on to the viewing point in Addington Hills, but found the view obscured by the misty weather. I stopped briefly at the Coach House Café in Coombe Wood where the Saturday beginners led by Norman Goody used to stop for their tea. Turning back for South Croydon I went on to the RAF Memorial for Second World War victims and a view of the Croydon Airport building, then returned home to dry off.

(26 miles)

~ Tony 

 

Player's Please

 Most Wayfarers will be old enough to remember when smoking was common; some will remember a time when smoking was thought to be a perfectly sensible thing for an athlete to do.  This little artefact is from that time, it's a Player's cigarette card album from 1939.  My sister found it in an antique shop in Wales and bought it for me, knowing my enthusiasm for cycling memorabilia.

The little album was published by John Player & Sons, and cost a penny. It contains fifty cigarette cards, each depicting an aspect of cycling in the century up to 1939.  They are hand drawn and coloured, with a paragraph or two under each picture.

The pictures do give a glimpse in to the spirit of the times, the long-standing involvement of women in cycling and cycling clubs, for example.

J Foxley Norris' Journal, of which I have previously written, underlines the same point - women occupied the same position of equality in the cycling clubs of the early 1900s as they do today, an aspect of Victorian cycling that often passes unnoticed.

The pictures depict, to a degree, the cycling technology of the time, and records and record-breakers are faithfully recorded.  No British cycle album of the time would be complete without time-trials, and they are there, too.

The CTC does not get a mention, but the YHA does. I've no idea why this should be so.

It's a curious piece; although not in perfect condition, it's not bad for its age, and it is complete, which I suspect is not that common.  Smoking at least fifty packets of cigarettes to obtain the cards, and then probably swapping duplicates to get a full set is a hobby that is hard to understand, these days.

To quote L.P. Hartley, "The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there".

Mark

Winter in the air

It was quite a strange morning. Not much sign of frost at home and I didn't leave till it was clearly thawing. Roads were mostly dry and no sign of any ice - just damp in places. But as I got a bit higher there was clearly some temperature inversion. Roads still dry but my Garmin was showing Zero to -1C and the cloud over the hills was freezing leading to some lovely effects.

When I got home I found that Garmin had given me a Frosty Award.

Mike Morley update

From a conversation Jeff had with Mike a few days ago and my call to Barbara this morning we've learnt that Mike had to go into hospital on Boxing Day suffering from an infection. He came home several days ago but has had to be readmitted, yesterday I think. So his treatment for the cancer which he told us about last year has been suspended for the time being. It's so good to know that he can be looked after in hospital during what is an exceptionally challenging time for everyone involved in the provision of medical care.

Our thoughts are with Mike. 

~ Tim 

Tony's local ride to Barnes

The rain had stopped by 10.30am so I cycled out following Beverley Brook which starts in Cuddington Park, located at the end of my garden. The route took me through Richmond Park, Palewell Park and Barnes where I found a cafe and W.Cs in Vine Road Recreation Ground.

Continuing to follow the brook I came upon The Beverley Works iron gates which turned out to be the entrance to an Aeroplane Factory which produced parts in 1916 and then after the first war made luxury cars.

My journey continued past the wetlands and onto the Thames Path, Opposite Fulham Football Stadium (which is being extended) following on to where the Brook meets the Thames.

Heading home to Roehampton and Wimbledon Windmill Cafe.

22 Miles

~ Tony Hooker 

Cycling in Lockdown 2 - Staying Local.

What's local? 

We are now only allowed to exercise in our local area. I took it to mean the part of the City where I live. Hence I abandoned plans to ride into Surrey, and hopes of replicating the usual elevenses of the first Wednesday Wayfarer ride from Cobham. Instead I decided to stay within London - and the six boroughs nearest to me - Wandsworth, Kingston, Richmond, Hounslow, Hillingdon, and Ealing. As for mileage - half my normal seemed about right.

I'd missed Steve Duffin's Grand Union Canal ride on 30th September - being still in post-op recovery mode, (though I did manage to drive out to elevenses in Addlestone). From the write-ups on the blog it seemed just the type of quirky off-road, water-based themed ride I fancied. For added variety I wanted to explore river paths.

Although much-improved, the Beverly Brook path on Wimbledon Common is still a bit cruddy in winter for a road bike. But it's a nice way to enter Richmond Park at Robin Hood Gate. Then it was out of the Park at Richmond Hill, over the Bridge, and along the Thames into Isleworth.

The Beverly Brook - at the Richardson Evans Playing Fields.

Richmond Hill - the Thames at Petersham.

The Duke of Northumberland's River enters the Thames at Isleworth. I tried to follow the Dukes Path up River, but soon got lost in the back-streets and decided to make for Syon Park and the Grand Union Canal (GUC) at Brentford.

The Duke of Northumberland's River, joining the Thames at Isleworth.

This part of the GUC is familiar, being the route of my commute to Uxbridge ten years ago, but the path - especially in winter, hasn't improved. Still it was nice and sunny - and warm enough for a kayaker to paddle along!

Boston Manor - footbridge over the Canal, and the top lock of the Hanwell flight of locks.

The last time I rode along the Paddington Arm of the GUC was a ride Hans led to the Black Horse at Greenford. No chance of a pint now! So I carried on to Perivale, and then on to Ealing - first opportunity to stop for a coffee.

The Grand Union Canal at Perivale.

After Ealing it was more quiet paths before hitting the cycle path under the M4 flyover, and then over the Thames again at Kew Bridge, and into Richmond Park again at Sheen. 

I didn't follow a set route for my ride: lockdown, despite the limitations imposed, nevertheless provides the opportunity to meander along unknown paths and trails. Check out my route:- 

https://www.strava.com/activities/4577132011

Last ride of 2020 and first of 2021

With the option for groups of 6 Wayfarers rides closing down as tier 2 became 3 moving rapidly to 4, Frances and I joined up as in earlier lockdowns for ‘plus one’ rides. We’d take turns suggesting routes we’d already travelled, some with the Wayfarers and others with KPRC and Epsom cc.

Now that tier 4 has become 5 (or is it called lockdown) I’ve got the time to write up our last couple of rides!

On 30 December we set off not having realised we had a miscommunication. Frances thought we were going to Horley and I was leading the way to Horsham. Not to worry, half way there Frances mentioned our intended takeaway coffee stop, Serendipity, and the mistake was realised. As we set off the sun was shining although the ‘feels like’ temperature was -1  (actual 2) so we avoided the route’s descent of Pebble Hill in case of ice. We took the A24 cycle path, Pixham and Punchbowl Lanes, up the freewheel competition Roothill and then Newdigate and up to Rusper making it feel like a hilly ride. As we descended from Rusper the temperature seemed to go down a couple of degrees and I did see ice on a puddle just outside Horsham. 

We arrived at Horsham Park where the new owners of the conservatory cafe (I can’t remember the new name) were doing a roaring trade in takeaway coffee and large slabs of cake and we were able to find our own park bench table to sit at. It had been beautifully sunny on the ride down and we hadn’t felt cold but it’s amazing quite how quickly you cool down when you stop so it was back on the bikes as quickly as possible. 

We left Horsham via Roffey, then past the Frog and Nightgown but even the climb up Wimland Hill failed to warm our hands, especially as the sunshine had now disappeared. We headed for Lambs Green, Partridge Lane and Brockham before re-tracing our route towards Epsom. As we parted company I felt I’d warmed up and could do a bit more, I also wanted to achieve 100km, so I did a loop via Headley and Walton on the Hill making it 63 miles and one very dirty bike ready for cleaning.

On 2 January we set off for Horley to do the route Frances had in mind a few days before. It’s a route we’d done in a previous lockdown and indeed in a previous life when Neil C led a large group of Wayfarers to ‘spoons for lunch (remember those days)! Another very cold day and we set off with a climb up to Headley and down a busy Boxhill in low cloud which reduced the temperature further. Not to worry, another climb up Punchbowl Lane and a swift ride on Flanchford Road and Lonesome Lane had us feeling toasty as we skirted around Horley before stopping to find that the Serendipity cafe was closed up. A sad sign of the times. Fortunately James’ cafe almost next door provided us with hot food and drink. 

As quickly as possible we headed for home via Charlwood and Russ Hill for warmth before re-joining our outward route but this time staying on he A24 cycle path. Having enjoyed it so much previously I did my Headley/Walton loop again to make 70 miles with a very dirty bike ready for cleaning again.

The two rides were very enjoyable, thanks to Frances for her company, and overall were exhilarating rather than cold despite temperatures being little above freezing. We only felt cold straight after our stops and I’ve been very impressed with my new cold weather gear. Shimano winter boots kept my feet warm and dry at all times and ive been really impressed with a DHB relatively inexpensive windproof jacket. Not to mention the existing kit of merino base layers, fleece lined longs, winter cap, glove liners and Rapha deep winter gloves. 

With a month or 2 of local and indoor cycling in front of us I’m so glad we were able to get out when we did. 

Happy cycling, whatever you can do, and stay safe everyone. I look forward to joining you for longer rides in due course. 

2020 Photo Competition

Though we have had a very strange year we know that it hasn't been at all bad for all the photographers in the club so we'd love to see your best photos.

Please submit your photos before the end of January using this method:

Visit this website: "2020 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 this important information about each photo:

•       the photo filename (e.g. P1040276.jpg)
•       a caption which we will inscribe on your photo
•       the competition category (see below)
  

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 2020 calendar year.

Your photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a bicycle or cyclist 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 you store your photos. It does not require you to install the DropBox app.

This is the best way of sending photos. Please note that some methods of transmitting photos, such as WhatsApp, shrink the photo before sending, diminishing the quality of the original photo as it is in your camera or phone.

Now I can sit back and await the cheerful tinkling sound your photos make when they land in my DropBox.

~ Tim

The Edge of England

 It's a miserable afternoon, here in Lockdown Land, and I've been daydreaming of rides done, and rides yet to be done, to amuse myself.  Here's the story of a little ride that I did in the summer of 2019.  It wasn't a hard ride, and it wasn't long, but I enjoyed it, and little rides like this can't be done at the moment.  So here it is, for your entertainment.

It's a story from the Before Time.

I started on the quay at Folkestone.  It's a town that has seen better days, I would guess that its hey-day was around the the first world war, when the ability to run trains on to the quay would have been a considerable military asset.  The rail-bed is still there, it's a promenade now, but the trains are long gone, as are the ferries.

I rode under the railway arch and stopped at a little cafe on the quay to take in the sights.  A couple of German cyclists were there, doing some rides along the English coast on their e-bikes.  We exchanged a few words, and I was pleased to hear that they were enjoying themselves.

Around the back of the cafe, up the cobbled street past the Life Boat Inn, and then steadily up for a couple of miles on NCN 2 to Crete Road, on the top of the cliffs.  It's a quiet back-road with good views, and it features in several of the hilly Kent Audaxes.

After a mile or so I turned on to the Old Dover Road, a cul de sac that leads to a tarmac cycle way along the top of the cliffs, with some interesting scenery.  I met a road-gang here, too, with their lorry and roller, maintaining the cycle way.

You really are on top of the White Cliffs here, and there are various bits of WW2 memorabilia.  

This one is a Sound Mirror - it's a large concrete parabola, at the centre of which a microphone was fixed. There was a network of these, some smaller, some larger, and their purpose was to identify incoming aircraft by listening to their engine noise.  I've never been sure about them, there are a couple of pre-war films describing their use.  I have long wondered whether they worked at all, or were a propaganda piece to draw attention from the (highly secret) radar on the next hill.

I passed the 1880 Channel Tunnel Bore, picked up the Old Folkestone Road, now a cycleway, and after a couple of miles crossed the very busy A20 on a cycle bridge.  Although I had never been far from it, I had not been able to see or hear it, on what had been a quiet ride.

Down the South Military Road, past the King's Ropewalk, then a mile or so of pavement cycleway before crossing towards the Cruise Terminal and on to the Esplanade.

This is a side of Dover that you won't see if you're just rushing to the ferry.  The seafront has been restored, and Waterloo Crescent looks pretty handsome.  The cycleway goes underneath the busy A20, and meanders through town before setting off up to another piece of military history, Henry II's Dover Castle.  The road up Castle Hill is fairly steep, and there is a green-paint cycleway for this section.  I switched my bike to 'blue', and was getting up pretty steadily when I passed a family of holidaymakers, walking up the pavement.  By their clothing, I would have guessed them to be Italian.  Anyway, the whole family turned and applauded as I went by.  That doesn't often happen.

Around past the Castle and on to the top of the cliffs.  There's a National Trust car-park and tea shop here, so it's predictably busy.

I stopped for a couple of photos, and thought that Simon would know the NCN Cycleway sign from his coastal adventure, but, of course, he won't yet, as he's going round anti-clockwise.  It's ready for you, Simon.

Upper Road, now, to St Margaret's at Cliffe.  More memories of Kent Audaxes here - Maggie and I riding the tandem in to a strong headwind, with a little gaggle of solos drafting us.  The Audax control is usually at the bottom of Sea Street, down a big hill, so I didn't bother with that one.

A pleasant roll down,  a tarmac cycleway again, to the seafront at Walmer and along by the sea to Deal.

Deal was en fete, with bunting, flowers and flags, and I had a pint of beer at the King's Head. It was from the Faversham Brewery, not far down the road, and I ate the special of the day - fish, said to be local.  As I was enjoying my coffee I checked the train times on my phone, and was pleased to see that there was one back to Folkestone in about twenty minutes.

Now, it's a funny thing about e-bikes, they seem to elicit a positive reaction on trains, both from railway staff and from other passengers.  I think that they can see the point of them - people often say that they are thinking of getting one.  At Deal station I had a chat with a member of railway staff, who admired the bike, and then, on the train, had a long conversation about it with a couple of lawyers in full fig, who had presumably been representing a client in Deal, Assizes or Prison, I liked to think.

So that's how things were, in the summer of 2019, and how I hope they will be again this summer.

Mark

How far did you ride in 2020?

Annual Mileages 2020

Further to Jeff's recent note on this blog ...

https://midweekwayfarers.blogspot.com/2020/12/lockdown-mileages-2020.html

... this is a request to submit your mileage totals for the last twelve months (1st Jan. 2020 to 31st Dec. 2020) for consideration towards the annual awards for the greatest distances cycled. Jeff has very kindly handed over the keys to the Big Spreadsheet where for the last twenty years the precious records of your accomplishments in the club have been maturing, at approximately the same rate as ourselves.

There are two shiny trophies, one for the woman who has cycled more miles than any other woman and one for the man for the highest mileage amongst the men. At this point in our social evolution having two separate prizes for persons of each gender might be starting to sound a little quaint. But that is our tradition and while the prize money attached to these two awards remains identical for both winners nothing is likely to change.

To summarise the rules, your miles must have been clocked up whilst riding your bicycle, tricycle, tandem or eBike on or off road. Mileages achieved on turbo trainers, Watt bikes or any other static contraption don't count. We know that this is something of a blow to members who have been keeping indoors, out of harm's way, during the pandemic, riding through virtual alpine landscapes with Zwift or Rouvy but for now we are only considering miles actually, rather than virtually, travelled.

For the competition, contenders for the prizes must be regular riders in the club though we are happy to collect mileage data for everyone who is a paid up member of CTC South West London. And we wish to continue recording mileages for our several members who ride eBikes.

One of the joys of club life during 2020 has been the number of new people joining our rides. If you are curious at all about how many miles you ride in the course of a year please start recording your distances today in a diary or spreadsheet.

Just one word or warning; several riders who use smartphones running apps like Strava or RideWithGPS have experienced rides when their phones stop communicating with the satellites, sometimes for quite a while, and this can lead to totally unreliable data. So please verify the accuracy of your data. The evidence of this known problem is a long straight bee-line between two points on your ride where you know the road really had many twists and turns. (In my opinion this is not a problem which is specific to Strava or other phone app but is to do with the phone and its own software, memory resources perhaps.)

Please write to me with your total mileage:

Tim Court (Apprentice bean counter)

We sincerely hope that we might be able to present these prizes in our traditional awards ceremony at our Annual Lunch which happens in early March. But it is far from clear that this will be possible. In the meantime keep clocking up the miles.

A very Happy New Year to you all

Tim