Ride to Richmond Park on Saturday the 29th November

  Not many days recently have been as fine as it was on Saturday. Relentless gloom and rain have been our lot for most of the month, so to get a day like this with continuous sunshine and little wind was a treat not to be missed. 9 riders set off, minus Pat who, after posing for a photo with his new Roberts fast tourer discovered he had a flat rear tyre. Christine was more fortunate.
  We sped down Stoneleigh Avenue, through the bridge and Worcester Park to the A3 underpass and around the back of New Malden to the short hill up to Coombe Golf course. This has an annoying kick up where it crosses the busy road from Raynes Park to Kingston and is poorly surfaced, so counts as a minor challenge.
  The Coombe Hill estate is full of massive detached houses which are always being demolished and rebuilt even larger. Great for builders and for cyclists as the roads are virtually traffic free. We entered Richmond Park via the Ladderstile Gate, went down Broomhill and up to the Pen Ponds for the view from the Royal Ballet School. Then on down to the Roehampton Gate cafe which seemed to have a staff shortage, hence long queues and also high prices for cakes. Pat rejoined us here having fixed his flat. Nevertheless we were able to sit outside and watch the sun set.
  Lights become a necessity after 3.30pm at this time of year, so a line of twinkling stars set off for the return along the lower road to Robin Hood Gate. Mist was starting to form and the temperature plummet as it grew darker and after a short spin on the road parallel to the A3 we crossed the Golf Course and returned through New Malden to the A3 underpass and retrace our route to the start.
  I took some photos of Pat, Christine, the tea stop and the sunset. Let's hope we get some more days like this.