New Years Day 2012

 

Spring Tavern, Ewell

Where are they now?

 

Sunday the 12th May

 What a glorious day for a long ride. I was the first to get to the NT cafe, I left home too early and arrived at 9.45, but Simon arrived soon after, then Andy and Niall. Graham joined us ,but left to do his own ride when we departed. We moved inside as there was no shade what so ever outside. It was funny not to have to have Dave with us, wishing him a speedy recovery,  as he says, "things fall apart when I'm not there" Sim

 

Bray Churh Yard

Very little wind made it a speedy ride, through Windsor, and a chance meeting with some other cyclist friends. On through Bray and a photo stop in Bray church yard, courtesy of Andy. At Waltham St Lawrence we took Sill Bridge lane and into Plough lane and onto Hurst, passing an old favourite, the Green Man. 

As usual, a photo at the CTC sign the Castle Inn and a decision by the group to change this as our lunch stop. A good choice, child's fish & chips on the menu and it sorted 3 of us for lunch, we sat in the garden, we will muse this venue again.

 

A childs Fish & Chips, we are kids at heart

We were soon on our still heading south and passing Dinton Pastures, then heading East using quiet country lanes. Back to Waltham St Lawrence and Paley Street back to Windsor, passing Fifield, where sadly the 2 giant heads of the old Queen and Prince Philip are no more, sold I believe, it looks like the house has been sold, we headed into Windsor farm shop for tea, but alas, the close at 3pm, so back to the NT cafe, most had ice creams. At this point I left the group and headed home solo to my daughters birthday party, they waited for me before bringing out the cake, so only a minor telling off. A great day on the bike, than you Simon, Andy and Niall for your company

 

The Castle Inn, Hurst

 

 

Tony..

Sunday 5th May 2024

 

I don't fully understand Wetherspoons pricing structure and today's £1.04 for limitless hot drinks (The Whispering Moon, Wallington) appears outstanding value in this day & age...& the "white coffee" is perfectly drinkable.

The location was previously a cinema & opened as a 'Spoons in 1992. Plenty of old pictures adorn the walls including one of child actress Shirley Temple !

Nice to see outgoing C&M General Secretary, Graham making the journey from Kingston to see us off & 10 went due south up to Oaks Park, passing some chatty MTB'ers on the way.

The café here has recently been extended & it was busy with locals soaking up the sun on this Bank Holiday weekend.

After the fast descent it was up How Lane & a short cut to avoid Coulsdon town centre & up (again) to Farthing Downs to where Pinkie left us, followed shortly by Keith.

Past Chaldon church, and a very fast descent of Whitehill Lane to Bletchingley. 

Being 1pm, stomachs were rumbling & I decided to patronise Lamingtons in the High Street where we've been coming since 2010.

The guy at front of house was so welcoming and it was like travelling back in time in this quaint little tea room.

Colour co-ordinated top & nail varnish.....I approve!

When we emerged from this time capsule, the skies had clouded over & there was intermittent rain as we travelled south to join the track through the Henshaw's farm estate.

Past Redhill Aerodrome, Earlswood Lakes to Brockham church where teas have resumed and are now every Sunday 2.30pm - 5pm until late October when they'll be supplying the bonfire builders with refreshment no doubt.

Thanks to Chris for backmarking & others for corner marking & your company, & to Chris & Steph for the photos.

Ride Report - Sunday 21st April

On yet another cold windy day, we gathered at The Vines coffee shop in Effingham for elevenses. Except for Keith, who caught us up later, and Terry, whose bike developed a spontaneous deflation issue in an effort to keep him away. Liz also had had a mechanical that morning, but just made it in time, and so altogether 15 came for the social but only 9 plus an out-of-breath Keith set out for the ride.

Everyone look this way....over here....

Robert had requested a copy of the route before the ride and so was promptly promoted to backmarker – thank you Robert!

I had promised it would be just the one hill – Green Dene – and all tackled it without any trouble to be rewarded with bluebells and fresh green foliage at the top. After the descent down through Combe Bottom we then enjoyed the quiet villages of Albury, Chilworth and Wonersh before skirting around Chinthurst Hill and coming without incident into Godalming. David couldn’t resist a little detour to confirm all was well at Thames Water Utilities.

Admiring the Spring colours

Fed, hydrated and caffeinated = ready for action

We took a few photos outside The Jack Phillips, where all were served quickly despite the inconsistent Wetherspoons wi-fi. David departed first, no doubt off for some allotment-ing, and once everyone else had had nearly enough free coffee refills we were on our way again, scrambling our way out of Godalming by a new and unexpected path (sadly terminating in a grassy bank) but otherwise on tried and tested back streets and cycle paths to Peasmarsh and Broadford, where I had decided we would pick up several miles of towpath along the River Wey. The terrain had been pre-approved (by myself and my recce team) and happily it wasn’t too busy on this cold dry Sunday. 

Did someone call for back-up?

To stay on the west bank coming into Guildford, we came off the towpath briefly around St Catherine’s Hill. This exit had no steps but was quite steep and as there was only one hill planned for today, it was only Simon who rode up it, but at C&M you don’t get points for that, only kudos. Getting back onto the towpath further along, Steph had to leave us at Guildford, but a healthy peloton of 8 cyclists gamely followed on as far as Stoke Lock, where we then picked up some more off road before emerging onto the cycle path beside the A3 and then back on the roads and into Ripley.

Still smiling at Stoke Lock

Keith and Chris (making his C&M debut) declined to stop at Pinnocks, leaving Andy, Martina, Simon, Robert, Lilian and myself to make all the tough decisions about which cakes to order. And it was just then that Terry joined us, although after much discussion we concluded it would be “nil point” for him too.

Thanks all for joining me, it was a pleasure to lead. Around 28 miles from elevenses to tea.

 A reminder that the AGM will be staged this weekend (14/04/24 at 1300).

The ride will start from 11s at the Old Moat in West Ewell and finish with the AGM. For what it's worth the latest forecast is "Cloudy changing to clear by nighttime.". So we'll continue the tradition of picnicking in Richmond Park close to Kingston Gate where there's a new/refurbished cafe/toilet.

Three supermarkets (ASDA, Lidl, (small) Coop), several pubs and cafes are nearby. As a last resort my home is 600 yards from the park.

The agenda has not changed in more than 20 years but unusually up to four officers have intimated that they will be stepping down. Some posts MUST be filled so please consider standing for election.

AGM 2023

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lrB6iGRDZYwtJ9fh_0ORdm7LhuE_LYRxHFAEC5uX9uw/edit?usp=sharing

Rides Report

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HevMPenlaRmOBvny2KbW6M8BwW3B9t6b/view?usp=sharing

UPDATE (as I dont use WhatsApp)

From Old Moat we should reach Richmond Park between 1200 and 1230. If anyone needs food we'll pause near Norbiton Station. My house number is on the above link for any emergencies.

Ride Report - Sunday 7 April 2024

 

It was just a touch breezy today and I had already scaled back the planned ride to take account of the expected headwind.    A very creditable contingent (Tony, Robert, Pam, Terry, Graham, Dave and Jennie J, Andy, Keith and me) battled with the elements to reached elevenses at Brookwood,  a venue not used by the C & M for some years.

Graham and Tony wisely turned back for home leaving the rest of us to head towards Guildford, although Terry left us part way.   One benefit of the recent windy weather was that Muddy Lane, which has been more like a waterlogged lane for the past few months, had dried out to something at least rideable!    After that it was the back doubles  of Woking to Jacobs Well, and then a mystery tour of Guildford which led us towards the cathedral looming on the skyline.   The plan had been to continue up there but Keith fortunately suggested an alternative meander through the groves of academe (Surrey University) to take us to the town centre.   I'll do anything to avoid a hill and was happy to agree to his suggestion, although I didn't have a clue where I was going.   It turned out to be an enchanted land of lakes, water spouts, parkland and elaborate planting.   

By mere chance we didn't get lost and arrived at Wetherspoons for 1.00 pm lunch.  Dave and Jennie made their own way back but the rest of us at last got some benefit from the wind and were blown back to Ripley from where we went our separate ways.

Thanks to all for your company.

A Change of Wetherspoons!

On Sunday 7 April we'll now be riding to The Rodboro' Buildings, Guildford for lunch instead of Camberley.   

Elevenses is unchanged at Harris & Hoole, Tesco Extra, Brooklands (nb not the Tesco cafe upstairs).   Bike stands just outside (good lock advised).   Toilets on the right of the main entrance lobby.   If you're not sure how to get to Brooklands I'll be leading a ride there leaving at 9.40 am sharp from outside the Aston Martin garage, junction New Zealand Ave with Bridge St and Oatlands Drive, Walton-on-Thames (Walton Bridge traffic lights). 

The ride to Guildford will include a trip up to the cathedral as a bonus before lunch!  Tea will be either at Cobham or Claremont Gardens as preferred.   Wetherspoons at Guildford is very convenient for the station if you wish to return by train but note that this Sunday trains to London via Epsom will be starting from Clandon.  However, the stopping service to Surbiton via Woking still available from Guildford.

Easter Tour 2024 to Eastbourne

The C&M Easter Tour is a fixture which marks the changing seasons, eagerly anticipated by those who attend.  The basic format is a weekend of cycle rides, based somewhere away from our regular riding territory, with options for both off- and on-road riding, and for those not riding.  Adventures were had by all.

Eastbourne

The 2024 venue was eventually set as the York House Hotel, Eastbourne,  after we were let down by an alternative location.  It proved popular, with 49 people in the hotel or staying nearby.  About half rode down to Eastbourne for Friday night.  Surprise - there were no trains to Eastbourne over Easter,  so several got trains to nearby,  or not so nearby, and rode the final miles.

Pete B, legendary ride leader, had planned the weekend's rides for the on-road contingent. For Saturday, he had organised a flat ride around the levels to the east.  Flat is of course a relative term.   We set off along the coast towards Pevensey, and then north across the levels, which I think we all agreed were flat, and lovely.

Leaving the hotel

After this, opinions were mixed about the flatness of the lanes to Herstmonceux Castle and Observatory.  At Herstmonceux village there was a minor mutiny when some wanted to stop for coffee.  Nothing that Pete couldn't handle.  After a bit of a car park viewing opportunity for the non coffee stoppers, we split into two groups.  One sped along the 11 miles to lunch, and the other group did our best to catch them up.  We pedalled through gorgeous quiet lanes, lined with spring flowers: celandine, primrose, cuckoo flower, wood anenome and hawthorn blossom; serenaded by birdsong, not motor vehicles.  But I think it's fair to say that by now serious doubts about the flatness or otherwise of the ride were emerging.  Some of the slightly less flat parts required bottom gear or even some walking.

The lunch spot at Horam was ideal.  Good food was served quickly, and we sat in the warm sunshine to enjoy it.  After lunch some took the direct route along the Cuckoo Trail, an old railway line, to Eastbourne, while the majority followed Pete along more quiet lanes, even flatter than the morning's flat ride, and back through the levels, to a surprise tea stop at a farm shop.  Then it was back along the coast and the promenade to Eastbourne for showers, refreshments, dinner and much chat.  A great day out.

 

The Short-Cutters on the promenade

Returning across the levels

 

Tea

Sunday's ride was exceptional, even for Pete.  We were forewarned that there might be no lunch, due to Easter Sunday, and tourists taking our rightful place in the pubs.  We set off like lemmings in a stiff breeze towards Beachy Head, and then onwards with a beautiful descent to Birling Gap, where most of us admired the view if the Six Sisters (the seventh was Beachy Head, now behind us).  After a bit of very busy main road, we set off north towards our lunch destination at Alfriston.  But we discovered a cycle cafe at the Long Man Brewery, so indulged in a late elevenses stop instead.

Two Petes and six sisters

Elevenses at the Long Man Brewery

 

Lunch in Chalvington

Plans had to be rearranged.  A new route, more beautiful lanes, to a pub in Chalvington, at least on the map.  But it had closed long ago,  so lunch was taken in the sunny churchyard instead.   Then things got exciting.   The obvious route back was along NCN 2 towards Polegate.  There was a short stretch of bridleway,  but how bad could it be?   Very bad, unfortunately.   It started badly with soft mud right across the track,  and got worse.  At the first real quagmire, some of the lemmings revolted and decided to take the longer way round, but a majority had already forded the mud bath and so were committed.  It was the longest short stretch of off-road ever, with the stickiest and deepest mud, and no way round it.  Shoes were nearly lost.  Keith even tried to build a bridge from logs - or was it a raft?

 

And so another legendary ride was created.  Arriving back at the hotel, filthy shoes and bicycles had to be handled carefully.  Steph went for a paddle in the sea to wash the sticky mud off her shoes.  Another rider found it necessary to use a combination of bathroom shower and toilet brush to clean his shoes.

But at dinner, everyone was buzzing about a beautiful and adventurous ride, so perhaps it was a good example of Type Two Fun - where the enjoyment comes after the activity instead of during it.

The off-road group disappeared each day into the hills, emerging once or twice to speed past us on the road, and returning with plenty of smiles and mud each evening.

Some of the off-roaders at a chance meeting in Horley

The whole event was masterminded by Steve Gordon and Ann Bath, who are stepping down after organising Easter Tours for fifteen years.  During that time thousands of miles have been ridden, many pints and cakes consumed, memories made, and lasting friendships have been built.   They are hopeful that someone will come forward to take it over for the future, and so are we.   Huge thanks to Ann and Steve from all of us on this year's trip and those dating back to 2009, for all they have done.

Ann and Steve

Many thanks also to Pete for leading the rides, and to Pete, Steph, Helen, Keith, Jen, Tony and probably others who took and shared some of these photos.

Ride Report - Sunday 31 March 2024

 

The fleshpots of Eastbourne had tempted the rest of the group away today (or perhaps they had heard I would be leading the ride) and so it was left to a skeleton crew (Martina, Tony, Sabina, Bernard, Graham, Geoff and me) to keep the flag flying at elevenses.

Elevenses over, Graham and Geoff wisely turned for home but I could not deter the rest from following me on a meander through some of the more forgettable parts of west London.   The typical Bank Holiday weather (overcast with a chill breeze) provided a perfect backdrop and the only moments of relief were provided by the odd sewage works, stately home, and new born lamb.

A light lunch was taken at that delightful oasis in the Heathrow desert which is the White Horse at Longford.   After that it was just a matter of dodging the low flying planes along the Western Perimeter Road cycle path, and we soon found ourselves at Walton Bridge where we went our separate ways.   By now, of course, we were bathed in warm sunshine!   Typical Easter!    Thanks all for your company.

Dinosaurs! 24 March

It was the best of rides, it was the worst of rides.   It was cold, it was hot.  It was flat, there was a big hill.   There were dinosaurs, there was Croydon.  But I didn't mention Croydon in the pre-ride publicity, so loads of people turned up at North Cheam.  Eighteen!   And that's just the cyclists - there were dozens of others just supping their early morning pints, as you do.

Anyway, now we know what Cheam & Morden riders like.   Dinosaurs.   It was nice to see Richard at North Cheam, and also Robert and Margaret, returned from Canada for a while, and Mark who's been busy with something called work, and a young family.  Ed, Richard and Margaret had just come for elevenses, so a group of fifteen set off on the ride.  It was loosely based on my Wayfarers London ride in 2018, a very long time ago, when dinosaurs had only just become extinct, and Covid hadn't been invented.

We followed route 75 eastwards from North Cheam, along the baby river Wandle to its source, or one of them; and then used Paul and Maggie James' latest route through Croydon, managing to dodge the tram lines and most of the traffic.  Along the Addiscombe Railway Park and then turned north to begin a gradual, and gradually steepening, climb towards the now visible transmitter tower at Crystal Palace.

The last stretch up Anerley Road was proper lung-busting stuff, but we all felt a sense of something when we arrived at *NOT* the site of the Crystal Palace exhibition, 1851 (see later).  Was it awe, or was it just exhaustion?   The exhibition had 100,000 exhibits and attracted over six million visitors.  The most popular exhibit, as judged by me, were the world's first public toilets, known as the Retiring Rooms, which cost a penny to use.  The profits (£21 million in today's money) were used to found the V&A, Natural History and Science museums.

The building had 60,000 panes of glass and a floor area of about a million square feet, which sounds quite impressive, but in metric it is only about thirteen football pitches.   Unlucky for some, since the whole structure was moved after the exhibition to a permanent location in Penge  (the cost of the move was nearly ten times the cost of the original construction), and only 80 years later it burnt down.  It came as quite a surprise since it was made of glass and cast iron, not renowned for being flammable.  Wikipedia article.   *Edit* Apparently my thorough research late last night was not thorough enough.  The Great Exhibition was in fact in Hyde Park, and the structure was re-opened on its new site at Penge  Common in 1854.  The area became known as Crystal Palace only after the building of the same name was moved there.   Confused?  I was.   Thank you to Dave Vine for pointing me in the right direction, not for the first time.

Crystal Palace viewed from Anerley Road

After relocation to Penge Common, which was
later renamed after the building to Crystal Palace.

But I digress.   So we did a bit of a tour around Crystal Palace Park, admiring the trees, the lakes, the sphinxes somehow left behind from the Great Exhibition, all the while thinking ... where are the dinosaurs?   Suddenly we saw them, luckily segregated by a moat around their island, otherwise it would have been too dangerous for the many small children wandering around.   They have been lovingly restored since my last visit in 2018, with the very latest dinosaur colour scheme, and were looking very fetching, and fierce of course, in the sunlight.   We took a few photos, actually, quite a lot of photos, and then it was lunchtime so we stopped at a nearby Wetherspoons, the Retiring Rooms, in nearby Penge.  When the sun was out, it was pretty warm, so we had lunch outside, perhaps for the first time this year?

Dinosaurs!

General excitement and milling about

Tree growing at a funny angle (?)

After lunch, we followed the river variously known as the Ravensbourne Brook, River Pool, and Dartford Creek, downstream to Greenwich, had a quick look at the Cutty Sark, where we tried and failed to decode the message being displayed by the signal flags.  We then rode along the river for a bit, admiring the sunlit views along the Thames, before joining the newly completed Cycleway 4, (Greenwich to London Bridge) for a very straighforward ride into Southwark, turning onto C14 to Waterloo.

Our fifteen had now dwindled to eleven with the loss of David W, Mark, Keith and Andy, and we had already lost two back-markers, so we stopped for tea in Lower Marsh.  We couldn't use my planned tea stop, because it had somehow ceased to exist since my recce ride, but in a perfectly acceptable nearby cafe.  Dawn caught the train home, Carolyn failed to catch a train home (they were very infrequent) so rejoined the rest of us to ride back to Richmond Park, a scenic route taking in the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, C15 and Putney Bridge, site of the Boat Race next week.

Cutty Sark and crew

What does it say?

We arrived in Richmond Park as the sun was setting in the west and a beautiful full moon was rising in the east.   A good day out.  Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable day, to David, Andy, Geoff, Christina for photos, and to David, Andy, Geoff and Alan for back marking.

Full list of lunch attendees: Christina, Bernard, Sabina, Geoff, Steph, Robert, Carolyn, Alan, and Lilian, David W, Mark, Keith, Dawn, Andy, myself.

letter J   or  "I am on fire and have a dangerous cargo"

letter K  or "I wish to communicate with you"

letter W or "I require medical assistance"

letter S or "I am operating astern propulsion"

The top flag is a special version of the Red Ensign for ships on the National Register of Historic Vessels.   So now you know.

Sunday 17th March 2024

Spring is here...so says the Met Office.

LAUGH OUT LOUD. 😂

I kinda expected not many would be out.....but with a combination of rain, rough stuff & hills.....what is there not to like?

If two's company, & three's a crowd...then we're having a party.🙌

The rain had stopped.

Dave, Simon & Colin joined me from café Barbera, Stoke D' Abernon across the Cobham Tilt & past the M25 services (having a quiet day, I suspect).

The main beneficiary of this weekend's closure of junc 10-11 would of been the environment & that can only be a good thing.

My tried and tested route took us to Bookham via the common (the rough stuff) but a few puddles weren't going to impede our progress.

We paused for a photo at the top of Bagden Hill.

Incidents to report:

The battery on my camera is depleted but by some miracle produced this picture. 😃

The "electric fence" here is either passing a very low current or is in fact switched off....& Simon lives to tell the tale.

After a comfort stop at Rykas.....Headley Lane/Lodgebottom Road (known locally as Little Switzerland) brought gradually up to Headley where it's not uncommon to see horses.

But I did feel a bit sad for these animals (one cart had a flat tyre)....but apparently they can easily pull a wheeled vehicle that is six times their own weight. 😲

Simon, who's recovering from a nasty chest infection, left us here for a more direct route to lunch.

We carried on Hurst Lane into Hurst Road & the unmade Motts Hill Lane to Epsom Lane North.

Across the Downs, Chalk Lane & The Assembly Rooms for lunch.

One of my least favourite 'spoons this, mainly because it's always so crowded & NOISY.

But this is where the majority of the club were to be found. 😉

Thanks to Colin & Simon for your company & Dave for backmarking (& your company also....ofc). 👍