The Cheam and Morden ride to Cheam AND Morden! 26 November

 You have to admit, it's a pretty exciting idea for a ride.   But it was a most unpromising day.

The dawn chorus of WhatsApp messages was strangely silent today.  No cheery "see you soon"s, "what time are we leaving"s.  Could it be the weather?  (Frost now, improving to cold rain later.)  As I crunched across the grass to my bike palace, I ruminated on my bad luck with the weather.  It was 1 degree as I set off for Cheam.

And yet... and yet... it could have been worse.  The sky was clear, there was no ice, and no wind.

Riding past Berrylands, I passed Maureen, riding in the other direction in a chain gang of fit young men.   Your secret's out now, Maureen!

At North Cheam

A surprising number of crazy cyclists braved the extreme cold to come to Cheam.   We welcomed Sue Bellamy for her first C&M ride.  It was nice to see Richard Delamere, whom we persuaded to tell us a bit about his early days in the club.   Richard's first ride was in 1960, as a teenager, when the C&M met under the tree near where we were sitting in North Cheam.  They rode to Cuckfield for lunch, as you did in those days, where after an incident, Richard and another rider had to go to A&E in the local cottage hospital, before riding part way home.  Dave Vine also joined us for coffee and chat before heading home.  Dave V and Richard weren't riding with us, so that left nine of us to follow my off-the-beaten-track route towards Battersea, trying to avoid the main roads or anywhere that you might recognise.   

Frozen cyclists admiring the Petrified Tree
(nobody knows what frightened it)

We passed through Lower Morden, Morden Hall Park, skirted Mitcham, Colliers Wood, Tooting Bec Common, Balham, Clapham Park (or is that just a posh name for Brixton?), before succumbing to the gravitational pull of Battersea Power Station.  It was an ideal ride if you were looking for a different area in which to buy a house, except that we were guessing where we were most of the time.

By now it had warmed up to a toasty 5 degrees.  Battersea Power Station was crowded with Christmas shoppers, so we picked our way along the riverside to Battersea Park and then the London & South Western pub for a slap-up Wetherspoons lunch.   Still no rain!

Chrstina warming up with her 4th coffee,
as Keith finally gets his lunch.

Heavy rain was forecast for 1pm, but we only had light drizzle.   David W and Alex caught the train home, and the remaining "sodden seven" (according to Steph) braved the expected rain, riding through Earlsfield and a diminished number went on to Richmond Park, where we decided to skip tea and head for home before the rain.   In the event, the rain didn't arrive until after 6pm, so barring any isolated showers, I think we will have all got home dry, and perhaps we will all get warm again sometime in the next few days.

A nice day out in good company.  Thank you all for turning out (the hardest part!) and for your company, and special thanks to David W for back marking.

Ten fun facts about Battersea Power Station.

Sunday 19th November Ride Report

Sunday saw 16 cyclists descend on our regular elevenses venue, Café Barbera in Stoke D'Abernon. Arrival times covered quite a time span, so in view of the large numbers and a delay on a couple of drinks orders, David kindly agreed to lead a second group out. I went ahead with Dawn, Ann, Sabina and Bernard, followed by our second half of Simon, Terry, Tony and Geoff back-marking. Keith broke away despite the carrot of a 'Spoons lunch, and Ed made his own way directly to Epsom. David's second group comprised Graham, an unfixed Fixie Dave, Steph and Andy. 

I had plotted a route that would be a decent length to lunch, different to my previous routes, flat and exclude any muddy tracks, so we headed out of Stoke D'Abernon on the gravel path to Downside and then on-road through Hatchford, turning south-east at Ockham and then up the beautifully tarmac'd surface of  The Drift and on to Effingham. From there we followed the quieter backroads through the Bookhams Little and Great, Fetcham and into Leatherhead, popped over the railway line at Ashtead and came into Epsom via the drier parts of the Common. 

No muddy bikes or cyclists here

Clean and shiny second group

The Assembly Rooms was quite busy but we managed to get four tables inside near to each other, helped by Bob and Ed being there already. 

After lunch I managed to convince a few to join me for another loopy loop route to Squires at Long Ditton via Old Malden and Berrylands. Tony peeled off near Surbiton leaving Steph, Simon and myself to ensure traditions were upheld and afternoon tea was taken. 

Thanks everyone for coming out on a dry but very windy day, to David and Simon for sub-leading/gapping and to Geoff for back-marking.    

  

Plans for Sunday 19th November

Everyone is very welcome to join me on Sunday's ride from Cafe Barbera in Stoke D'Abernon to The Assembly Rooms (Spoons) in Epsom. On account of the recent very wet weather and with promises of more to come this week, I've planned a largely on-road flat route of 17 miles going via Ockham  - the only off-road is the familiar gravel track coming out of Stoke D'Ab towards Downside and then a little bit of Ashtead and Epsom Common, both were fine to ride on yesterday. At the moment Sunday's forecast is for dry weather, but if that changes we will all switch to a more direct route (and as usual, those preferring to go direct regardless of the weather are very welcome to do so, we'd love to see you at elevenses and/or lunch). The gpx file for Plan A is here  

Afternoon tea with be at Squires in Long Ditton, about 9 miles or less if preferred.  

Have a lovely week and hope to see you then.

Sunday 12th November 2023

I'm glad I came with two panniers today.

Thanks to Dave W (Sou'Wester jacket), Graham (unwanted - all 14 London Cycle maps circa 2007) & Dave V (a favourable Cycling Plus review 9/10 of a Condor Heritage).

Diane also gets a mention as she manages to include 11's today....before heading off in the opposite direction to recce a future ride. 👍

Seven - Dave W, Geoff, Jennie, Steph, Keith, Alex + me left Morden Hall Park to follow the yellow brick road.......well, blue & made of tarmac actually but still heading north to the "Emerald City"......of London that is.

To me at least, Cycle Super Highway 7 is a joy to ride along & deserves a bit of history.

Constructed in 2010, its completion was timed to coincide with the closure of the Northern Line (LU) which it follows, so TFL were able to promote it as an alternative.

Although nowadays, it looks quite dated compared to the more recent schemes in London but it remains a fast route into London for many commuters.

Beyond Colliers Wood into Tooting Bec, it's fairly narrow going past the London Sewing Machine Museum (now you know) !

You're never far from a cycle shop on CS7 (I counted at least 3 in 13km). 😄

Past Stockwell & Oval tube stations the road widens considerably & is probably the best part.

Elephant & Castle is avoided entirely (St Mary's churchyard/Elliots Row) to join quiet side roads to emerge on Southwark Bridge.

Wetherspoons........love 'em or hate 'em, they're a part of many Sunday rides and today is no exception. 

The Crosse Keys originally was an inn from the 1550's, burnt down in the Great Fire, & its replacement burnt down in 1734.

Rebuilt again, it was more recently the home of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) from 1913 & 'Spoons aquired it in 1999.

Inside, the building is stunning, with marble columns & huge lighting rigs in a cavernously airy room.

Apparently, it's "rammed" full of suits in the week, but today it felt barely half full.

The rear entrance (which we failed to find) in St Michael's Alley.

Thanks to Dave & Geoff (backmarkers) & the rest for joining me. 😊

Sunday 13/04/03 Wisborough Green (revised)

For what it's worth I dug out the 2003 Attendance record. I led the ride and 31(!) rode that day.

But only 23 at lunch:

From L to R in the photo : Pete C, Richard D, Daphne S, Bob E, Simon Legg,Matt S, Pete F, Pete B, Lisa C, Keith R,Pete M, me,Crystal Sheldon,Chris Jones, Jen M, Andrew H, Simon M, Jake D, Ed S, Irene N 
Lurking in the bushes (?) : Ian Burt, John Mason, Norman G.

Our current Runs Secretary was last seen at Shere (11s) 

E& OE

 

Cheam & Morden Sunday the 5th November

To the Fox at Hanwell, eventually

I had planned a route of about 18 miles to lunch with a fair bit of off road, great I thought, 11's was at the Pheasantry Bushey park, which was very crowded, even at 10am. I settled down for a coffee with 4 or 5 already there, but soon the number began to swell until there were 21! Luckily a few were not going to lunch, still, 18 assembled in 2 groups, Dave, backmarking the first group and Simon leading the second group and without the route and satnav! I had my Garmin but forgot I had taken its mount off my bike, still, I knew most of the route, just a couple of side roads, to keep off main roads that I wasn't sure off, but any worries were unfounded.

 

Buhey Park

Off out of Bushey at Hampton Hill and through roads of Hampton, and under the A316 to the edge of Feltham. We were soon cycling through Heathrow Airport, at times with a really strong headwind, and through Harlington and the M4 underpass, at which point the puncture fairy struck my back wheel. Many helpers and 20 minutes later we were off again (couldn't find a puncture in the tube?). As we were 2 groups, it meant a slow ride trying to keep the other group in sight, and with the puncture delay, I decided to shorten the route to lunch and use more of the canal towpath, one look at the thick mud at Southal changed my mind.

 

Photo call while I mened the Puncture 

So after 2 deadends and a couple of oneway streets, we were on the Norwood road heading to Norwood Green and back on the canal, down past the Hanwell flight, arriving at the Fox ¾s of an hour later, 1.45. The pub had still kept our tables.


The pub was very busy and considering we added another 18 into the mix, we were fed reasonably quickly. Some have chosen a child's roast, which included an ice cream dessert. So we decided to split the return in dessert and no dessert groups.

 

The Fox

As the towpath was very muddy in places I decided to head back to Bushey all by road. It was roughly 10 miles back to tea at Bushey. But on the way, people turned for home at different intervals. When I got to Bushey there was just Liz and I left in my group, We both decided to head directly home.

 

The Canal at Norwood Green

Simon led the ice cream dessert group and a few of them stopped for tea in Syon Park. Not the best day on the bike but we had a good crowd, it was nice to have such a big audience while mending a puncture.

Thank you to all who joined the ride and a special thanks to Simon for leading the second group and Dave etc for backmarking.

Tony..