Ride Report - Wednesday 11 Jan – A Group to Lightwater

A welcome respite from daily deluges encouraged no less than 27 riders to sign up for today’s ride to Lightwater. We were three groups of 9 with enthusiastic group leaders Frances and NeilC.

Neil writes:-

Dave had organised the ride with military precision. Start times, ride times, lunch arrival times and menu choices. But organising the weather in January is a bit more problematic. We knew there would be wind but the big question was whether we could avoid the rain.

My formation of nine lined up at the appointed hour and we set off into the wind to follow Dave's intricately planned route. Past a couple of stations, across the airfield, down the Muddy Lane, and along a flooded road or two before arriving at The Red Lion in Lightwater at precisely 12.15.

Here Dave had enlisted all the staff to expedite his plan. As soon as we entered the carpark the landlord appeared to open the side gate, act as bike-park attendant, and direct us to our tables and the bar. At the bar the staff had been briefed of our requirements and as soon as we sat down (and sometimes sooner) the food started to arrive. All the food was very good and it would have been nice to have stayed a little longer but we could see the approaching clouds through the conservatory roof.

After a quick photo outside, by Janice, we set off for the return journey. We had been at the pub for only 40 minutes, which must be some kind of record.
    
                                   

With the wind behind we flew back towards home with no sign of "lunch legs". There were a few spots of rain occasionally but we were doing our best to outrun the approaching black clouds. As we neared Addlestone there was a call to stop for waterproofs as the light rain was getting heavier. But this stop seemed to appease the weather gods and by the time we reached Walton we were once again ahead of the rain.

Here most pushed on for home rather than wait for the rain to catch up.

Thanks to all my group for a faultless team effort into the wind and a swift return.

Frances' group of 9 were second away.

We promptly departed Hersham but had a few hiccups so reloaded Garmin whilst Neil's group past us by. Muddy Lane did not disappoint and we made good progress after it to arrive at pub just after 12.30.
I was so keen to avoid rain forecast we left without a photo and quicker pace with wind behind got us back to Walton for 2.30pm.

4 stayed for tea and then we headed for Hampton when first drops of rain arrived.

Thanks to NeilW for backmarking and all for patience with navigator.

Finally my "full value" group, first away and last to finish: -

Despite today’s sun the recent deluges had taken their toll. Muddy Lane was awash, and many of the roads littered with debris. Jennie punctured in Woking and generously instructed us to continue, while she and David, unable to sort the puncture, returned home by train. Paula’s puncture was repaired over lunch with assistance from Simon and NeilW.

Lunch at the Red Lion, recently “discovered” by Ged, was excellent, served enthusiastically, and the pre-ordering meant we were away in under an hour.




Over lunch the weather was deteriorating. On our return over Chobham Common the view over the spires of Woking to the North Downs was becoming murky. However we were fortunate to have a strengthening tailwind for the return to Walton. Before that there was a parting of the ways in Weybridge where those headed further south left us to go home directly.

Arriving at Walton Riverhouse we met up with Frances’ group who were enjoying tea.

Simon’s prediction that the forecast afternoon rain would pass us by proved accurate for all but a select few who decided to linger over the Riverhouse’s giant teapot.

Thanks to Keith in my group for back marking, and to everyone who joined me, especially Frances and NeilC for making it all possible.

Invitation to A-group ride from Dorking on Wed 18 Jan

This is a rerun of Ged’s ride last January. The ride will start from St Martin’s in Dorking (group times TBA). It’s 22 miles to lunch at the Punchbowl Inn in Okewood Hill (via Farley Green and Cranleigh), then another 17 miles via Newdigate back to Leatherhead for tea. Total ascent 2,400ft. If you’re planning to come, please email michaelreynell@gmail.com by 7pm on Monday 16 Jan, and please indicate your food order from the full menu at https://www.punchbowlinnokewoodhill.com/ or the sandwich & light bites menu BELOW: Thanks, Mike R

Paul's winter tootle down the river, departing from Hersham on 11 January, running order

 Group 1, the Lechlades, depart 10.40

leader Mick Arber

Dave Cullen

Ian Prince

Paul Day

Ken Day (maybe)

John Austin

Sue Bellamy

Arwyn

Group 2, the Oxfords, depart 10.50

leader Stephen

Lilian Chelli

Ian Williamson

Christina Berkley

Chris Hyde

Margaret McKinlay

Tim Gibbons

Group 3, the Hungerford Gaps, depart 11.00

leader Steph Wyatt

Gill Finlay

Pam

Tony Hopkins

Liz Bernard

Francis D'Silva

Group 4, the Eel Pie islanders, depart 11.10

leader Paul James

Maggie James

Alan Clark

Tony Hooker

Julie Buckman

Bob Pannell

Brian Greenwood (maybe)

Group 5, The Craven Cottagers, depart 11.20

leader Madeleine

Anne Walker

Tim Court

Sabina

Bernard

Geoff Gregory

= any non-bookers who have not already left

Annual Subscriptions for CTC South West London

Thanks for those who have paid the £2 annual subscription (2023) for CTC SW London.

We are in 2023 now, Membership Representatives Patrick Watmough (A), Christina Berkley (B) and Helen Tovey (C) are now ready to collect the £2 annual subscriptions from Wayfarers for 2023.

Please remember too that for Third Party Insurance purposes we all need to be members of Cycling UK, of which CTC South West London is a 'Member Group'.

If you are able to pay online, which we encourage you to do, please get in touch with Simon Lambourn or Tim Court for our bank account details if you don't already have them.

Kind regards

Christina

Report for Easy Riders - 4th January

Six met at North Cheam for the first Midweek Wayfarers ride of 2023, Gill, Frank, Anne and John, Ed and Helen, heading into the wind for our ride via Claygate and Blackhills to Cobham. No delays at the private estate gates this morning, much to our pleasure, a happy start to the new year.

On arrival, we were pleased to find our esteemed membership secretary, Christina, as she had missed the early B group departure, and welcomed her, along with Don and Jane to our merry band for coffee and the day's adventure.

We decided on the Woodman in Ashtead as our lunch destination, posting it on the WhatsApp group for benefit of any oversleepers who wished to join us. Away we headed shortly after 11.40, crossing Bookham Common and heading downhill through Fetcham. We took the River Way via Fetcham Splash, where the Mole was swirling full and fast after the previous night's rain. Then down into Leatherhead and along the cycleway from the station to Lower Ashtead. 

Liz S joined us for lunch, so we were a cosy party of 10 around the table together. Food was excellent, service kind and welcoming, and company friendly and warm as usual. And as we set off with the wind behind us for our crossing of Ashtead and Epsom Commons, the sun emerged to brighten our ways home. All in all, our day was a very good start for this year's Wednesday rides out together. About 25 miles round trip from North Cheam.

Helen Tovey

Winter Down the River. Invitation to the B Group Ride from Hersham on 11 January

You are invited to Paul's B Group ride on Wednesday.

A gentle winter's morning ride of 16 miles through parkland, side streets and along the barge path to lunch in the Sussex Arms at Teddington.  Thereafter another 7 miles to tea at Roehampton Gate, including the only real hill of the day, the short climb inside Ham Gate in Richmond Park.

No need to book for lunch, but the Sussex Arms would welcome confirmation of numbers, So I should be grateful if those who want to come e-mail me at Paulandrewjames1949@yahoo.co.uk by midnight on Monday

Route, prior to any changes resulting from Monday's recce, is to be found here.

Look forward to seeing you.

Paul

  

Ride Invitation - Wednesday 11 Jan – Hersham

Wednesday’s ride from Hersham will be to the Red Lion Lightwater for lunch, finishing at Walton for tea.

19 miles to lunch, all on-road or surfaced except for Muddy Lane (again, sorry).

16 miles to tea at Walton Riverhouse Barn.

The pub have asked me to pre-order lunch from the menu below.

Please email me d.vine207@btinternet.com with your lunch order by Monday evening 7pm if you would like to join me. Thanks.

A Group Ride from Cobham, 4th January, Second Instalment.

After Neil's illustrated history tour of Chilworth, Dave Jackson reported on his group's ride.

Our group of eight riders left the RBL in Cobham, the first group out, on time at 10.30. hrs sharp, an eclectic gathering, three ladies, five men, three electric assist cycles, I had decided that as there was eight of us we would try to undertake our ride without a back marker, which proved fine. Avoiding as much of the wet/flooded roads as we could we made our war to Ripley and then towards the outskirts of Guildford. As we approached the first of the real climbs one of the group mentioned that there is a way up to the top of Halfpenny Lane by a much flatter route other than Tangier Road and One Tree Hill, so we thanked Ged for that so quickly after the Christmas period! This did not however deter us and by whatever way we had to, either assisted or not made a good steady pace up then down and onto the pub, where we arrived at 12.15. None of the other groups had passed us so we were first to be served and would be first away after lunch.

More of the same after our break, through or around the flooding at the bottom of Coombe Lane, this a harder climb than in the morning but approached in the same manner. We arrived in Leatherhead, having had a couple of riders peel off home, again in good time, some stayed for afternoon tea whilst others headed off home as well.

From my point of view, thanks to everyone for such an enjoyable day out, big appreciation and thanks to Ged for devising a challenging but rewarding route.

Combe Lane - after the ascent.

After a few weeks of Christmas indulgence, our first ride in 2023 - and the only serious ascent of the day, caused this group to pause atop Combe Lane to catch their breath. At least it was dry on top - compared to Combe Bottom.

A wet Bottom!

We were 23 in number leaving Cobham, with Neil W and Dave J as sub leaders - and with half-a-dozen Dave's spread amongst us. After a slight hiccup missing the turn into Clay Lane, we reached the Percy Arms on the dot of 12.20pm. We'd last visited the Percy Arms 4 year's ago (Mike Reynell had led us up Martha's Hill - descent down Halfpenny Lane was somewhat easier this time), and lunch didn't disappoint.

Setting-off for tea - from the Percy Arms.

Many found the route interesting - so here it is again:- https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/141420629.

Thanks to Neil W and Dave J for leading their groups, and to Mike R for expert back marking of my middle group. Also special thanks to Dave Vine for cakes at Cobham. (And if you ever need an urgent bike repair in Woking, I'd highly recommend this LBS - Martin at Woking Cycles).

 

Report for B Group - 4th January

Steph writes for 'Mother Goose'

What a performance.  After Tony's meticulous cast list Mother Goose kept them waiting.  A flustered late entrance but in the nick of time before the remaining characters fled the scene.  The ride, for a leader, was a gift of straight lines (apart from a set of zigzags which climbed slowly allowed close observations of the verge cutters, rakers and sweepers and the beautiful Belted Galloways safely behind their electric fence on the opposite side of the road).  A bit galling to come out of the loo to find Fixie Dave and Alan desperate to join the leading show.  We departed swiftly.  Lunch was great and a detour by the master of detours- Pete Beyer - led us on an unusually unmuddied side road near Tyrells Wood.  Tea was taken by Tim G, Julie and me at the Old Moat where we caught up with tired A riders Jennie and Dave .

 

Another good day out.

~ Steph

 

Tony writes for 'Aladdin'

Our New Year's ride started well with free tea and cake provided by Dave Vine on the occasion of his recent birthday, thanks Dave.

Twenty actors made the show on a dry overcast day. The Aladdin players left on time climbing up to Polesden Lacey and down to West Humble and on to Leatherhead via Box Hill.

We arrived on time for lunch at the Running Horse, but  the service was rather slow especially for the Mother Goose group but we did eventually leave at 2.10 p.m., heading towards our tea stop at The Horton Café (for the first time) It was a very interesting building.

Thanks to Tim and Stef for leading (30 miles).

Happy New Year to all

Regards Tony

Diane, radiant after her conquest of Box Hill

Tim C writes for 'Peter Pan'

Tony had promoted his ride as a season of pantomimes but he was as surprised as the staff at The Running Horse that the events drew a larger crowd of 20 than the expected 15. Grant stayed at home with a cold, no doubt brought on by last week's water themed ride. Happy Birthday to Dave Vine who treated us all to Tea, Coffee and cakey treats at Elevenses.

Anne, Colin, Ken, Paul, Chris, Ian Williamson, Ray Youlden and myself comprised the cast for the 11 o'clock performance of 'Peter Pan' and the curtain was raised on time, which is unusual for us. We headed South to Effingham Junction and were soon on the slopes of Chapel Lane up towards Polesden Lacey. We took the descent of Bagden Hill with due care and just past The Stepping Stones pub Anne discovered a front wheel puncture. This seemed to be a slow leak so she pumped it up for the ascent of Box Hill and made it up to the NT café where it demanded a tube replacement. Fortunately there were numerous men in the group to give advice and we were soon cruising along the top through Box Hill Village.

Although the ascent of Box Hill was a slow affair for those of us who hadn't yet managed to jettison our Christmas ballast we all enjoyed the several fast downhill miles through Headley and most of the way to Leatherhead for lunch at The Running Horse. It's a pub with a good ye-olde cozy atmosphere and despite the very few staff being slightly overwhelmed by the number of us we were well fed and satisfied in the end.

Tony had been trying to ascertain whether the new Horton Café would be open when we got there and as the last group out we didn't expect we could make it in time but later Dave called to say that Tony's group were there and that we could get there before 4 p.m. We wiggled our way through Ashtead and into the Commons then were soon meandering our way through the labyrinth of cycle paths to Haven Way and this very palatial café in the former Horton Chapel. Our table was where we think the organist would have sat, overlooked by the colourful organ pipes.

Horton Asylum Chapel (postcard) shortly after opening. Image reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith 1901.

Apart from minor drizzle we had no rain all day and after a low turnout of just eleven last week it would seem from these simple statistics that it only takes an absence of rain to bring B Group out in force. Thanks to my athletic group for riding up hill and down dale with me without complaint; thanks to Tony for devising a very good ride and thanks to Paul Day for keeping order at the back of the peloton.

~ Tim C

2023 Jan 4th Neil's A group report - the colour supplement

Weds 4 Jan - this was a great route, making it a joy to start the 2023 calendar of rides.
Our group, Patrick, Janice, Andy H., Dave W. Dave V. and backmarker Hans (thks) set off last, on time. Ride conditions were mostly free of rain, and a bit windy. At Old Woking I pointed out the cycle shop and genuine Italian cafe which had helped us out on the recce; not so useful: the cycle shop was closed this Wednesday.  

Coming to Guildford area the gradients kicked in, on Warren Road we had caught up with the other groups. I knew up ahead was One Tree Hill. Earlier checks found the only local history on it was a 1912 photo..

So I caught up with Dave B., explained, and quizzed, off the top of your head can you give me a line from U2's song One Tree Hill? A brief pause, "The Moon is up and over One Tree Hill". Truely he is our living rolling music encyclopedia!

We descended Halfpenny Lane, I pointed out the military pillbox in the field on the left..

behind this is Chillworth Manor, we took a detour left along Blacksmith Lane to view the manor.  

A week before I had walked the area, I related the info they show about the vineyard in the next field, including the use of spraying water on the vines as a protection measure against frost (What!!??). 

A little further on is access to the Chillworth Gunpowder Mills.

A few of us rode a short way along the trail to see the four millstones, about 3 tons each, the extensive water channels and remains of buildings, and the dragons teeth. 

It's a rewarding area for a proper walk. Also search Chillworth Gunpowder Mills on Google or Komoot for gpx routes. 

Lunch was good. Dave Vine made the brave choice of South African farmers sausage. On the recce I had asked about it and was told yes its like billtong, so I had something else. 

After the lunch-with-chips Coombe Lane was surprisingly ok, then the welcome long descent. We arrived at Leatherhead with another group, it seemed too many of us for our usual Amici cafe, so we few tried the Italian delicatessen/cafe approximately opposite Wetherspoons.
It's not welcoming from the outside, but inside we found its a real gem. Quirky: a full size antique horse inside(!?). Very good coffee and a great range of Italian cakes. And, a novel display of wine bottles, enticing us back for a summer revisit.    

Invitation to enter the 2022 Photo Competition

Attendance for all groups was high in 2022 and many have been off on other adventures too. So we hope that you have been busy with your cameras and phones and are keen to review your photos and send the best ones in for the competition.

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

Visit this website: "2022 Competition Dropbox" and follow instructions to select and deliver your photos. This is what you should see:

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.

Click on 'Add files' to select the source of your photos then select your photos (or folders), or if you already have your file list open just drag and drop photos from the list into the white box.
 
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 2022 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 in your phone, tablet or PC where you store your photos. It does not require you to install the DropBox software.

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 

How far did you ride in 2022?

2022 Mileage totals please

This is a request to submit your mileage totals for the last twelve months (1st Jan. 2022 to 31st Dec. 2022) for consideration towards the annual awards for the greatest distances cycled. Your scores will be entered into the Big Spreadsheet where for more than twenty years the precious records of your accomplishments in the club have been maturing.

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.

And we have a special award, the Mark Roy Trophy, for the person recording the largest increase in mileage over the previous year. So anyone who has posted their mileage for both 2022 and 2021 is eligible. 

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 were 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 2022 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 for 2023 in a diary or spreadsheet.

Just one word or warning; several riders who use a GPS enabled device such as a Garmin, or smartphones running apps like Strava or RideWithGPS have experienced rides when their devices 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.

Fixie Dave's Garmin nodded off for a while with this result!

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. This erroneous data can also accumulate if you have hopped on a train with your bike but forgotten to stop recording.

Please write to me with your total mileage:

Tim Court (Apprentice Bean Counter)

We hope to be able to present the prizes in our traditional awards ceremony at the Annual Lunch which should be on the first Wednesday in March.

A very Happy New Year to you all and if you haven't been collecting your mileage scores please start now, from January 1st 2023.

The Bean Counters need your numbers!

~ Tim