Sunday 26th February 2006

"The north wind doth blow and we shall have snow..................."
"well it is the coldest winter since 1996" according to Graham who like Bob, Jake and myself arrived at Henfold lake alone. For me it was a good hour before I caught sight of the North Cheam mob and overheard Keith explaining the route (Kingswood????).
The roaring fire and mugs of coffee/tea (60p) meant there was a reluctance to brave the elements particularly the unrelenting north-easterly wind but we set off with Dougie, Bob & Grant going their separate ways.
It has to be said that Keith's choice of lunch spot, Holmbury St Mary, is one of my favourites because as a "lunch carrier", it provides a few decent seats in various locations and I managed to find one with the wind behind and the sun in front.
With half an hour to the off, I joined Mike, Pete, Daphne, Ed, Graham, Jake & Keith inside the pub for a discussion on the merits of White Down v Coldharbour for the return journey.Still undecided the topic moved to Ed who having recently dined at the C&M's expense appears to primarily ride with the Mid-weekers. Question: Is somebody who started riding with another group, considers himself to be a Wednesday rider and is quite well off be allowed to win a prize in another section. Discuss.
The up and down bit around Leith Hill proved too much for my chain which parted company with the rest of my (well maintained) bike. So with no large chainring I was forced to freewheel down from Coldharbour.
We left it to Jake and Graham to race each other up White Down whilst the remainder took tea at Denbies and discussed the sad demise of the............................................. rag & bone man.

Ray's Pic from the Dinner Run

Sunday 19th February 2006

Firstly, thanks to Lisa for setting my blog/post/diary up so speedily after acknowledging my interest.
My contribution is intended to provide a summary of the previous Sunday's ride with the following data: riders present, brief reference to the route, weather and anything else that is worth mentioning.

Sunday 19th February 2006

The day dawned dry but with a keen N/Easterly and we all met at Muffins in Addlestone having previously been warned by Graham via Bill Sq that the Tesco's cafe is non existent until Aug.
With Richard taking the reins Pete M, Lisa, Ed, Irene, Ian A & myself set off due west into a light drizzle with a planned destination of Winkfield Row. (Leaving Bob & Terry)
We made pretty direct progress going across Chobham Common towards Sunninghill, however, the expected north route B383 to Woodside was discarded for the A road going straight through Ascot giving us the opportunity of seeing the new grandstand in construction.
My (helpful) decision in a shortcut, partly off road proved a mistake when after taking directions from a local, we got lost.
Richard's habit of asking anyone in sight for directions is somewhat disconcerting for me and not least the remainder off the clubrun (Ed, Irene & Ian).
With my deadline to Richard of 1pm fast approaching he sensibly turned into first pub we came to in Cranbourne.
With a good portion of soup (£3.25) inside (Ian had Seabass to be different) we headed for home with rain and a (mostly) headwind for company.
Irene very kindly provided tea and biscuits for 4 pretty wet and cold cyclists and as I neared home I could only think of a very hot bath and 6 hours kip to lift my spirits.

Hilly 50km

A great success! Simon Legg advertised on all the web sites and the Kingston Phoenix gave out loads of leaflets to racing cyclists at events. Last year was very successful with 42 riders, but today we had 92! We had to have a late start due to the number of people signing on, so everyone left at 10:10.

The mass start stopped cars on both sides of the A24 as everyone surged forward to keep up. Then up past West Humble to Ranmore along narrow lanes. Cars must have wondered what on earth the Critical Mass was doing in Surrey. The riders were all strung out by the top and I lost site of the pack. Joined up with Paul and Ken Day and Terry from Addiscombe and 4 others and passed the Clarencourt train on the A25. Passed quite a few puncture victims and one broken chain. By this point Ray had caught up with us and helped guide us up Hoe lane and on to Whitedown. Near the top Terry could not get his pedals round on his high geared bike, so ended up sitting in the mud still attached to bike! Downhill all the way to Box Hill, then up Zig Zag for a sprint to line. I did 2 hours and 40 min - an improvement on last year. Gary and Dan Duguid did 1:50. Legs ache now!
all the best Jake.

There was a professional photographer out, and pictures can be found here.

Welcome to the new Cheam & Morden Blog

Now the Cheam & Morden have also got their blog for members to sign up to.

You need to email me for an invite and then click on the link in the invite and sign up for a free account with Blogger. Don't forget your username and password, either.

Lisa