It was a lovely morning and a baker's dozen of
us (Don Clarke, Bob, Vic, Graham, Ed, Lillian, Alan, Pam, Maureen, Jeff, Brian
Bent, Ray Wren and me) met for elevenses at West Horsley.
Maureen, Jeff, Don, Bob and Alan
didn’t join us for the rest of the ride and Brian left us en route. We ‘roughed it’, for the first time in a long while, over Merrow Downs to One Tree Hill then tackled the blind bends and ups and downs of Halfpenny Lane while alpacas
gazed on impassively. After Blackheath we made a short detour into the cemetery
where Vic showed us a stylish cyclist’s grave. The customary, benettled sewage
works path from Shalford led us smartly to Wetherspoons at Godalming.
After lunch we stopped to regroup by Nightingale
Cemetery in the dizzy heights of Farncombe. Through the railings Ray noticed
that, by an astonishing coincidence, we had stopped exactly opposite the grave
of one John George "Jack" Phillips, senior wireless operator on the Titanic, and now honoured
with the ultimate accolade by J D Wetherspoon, no less!
The onward route was
by Littleton and Mount Browne to Guildford, very pretty but on reflection
perhaps a little harsh given the climbing we had already done (my Strava said
831 metres of ascent for the whole ride home to home but this does include one
footbridge). Then it was straightforward stuff, dodging the main centre on the path between railway and cricket ground then
taking the customary route to Ripley. Many thanks to all for another very
pleasant and trouble-free ride (barring the near loss of one valuable season
ticket) in excellent company!
Dave W
Dave W
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