July Beddington Park ride

Torrential rain overnight and intermittent showers this morning were enough to deplete our numbers this afternoon. But Trevor joined us with his 4 week old bike having been encouraged to take up cycling when he acted as support to a charity fund raiser London to Paris cycle ride.

We couldn’t compete with Avenue Verte and Croydon was our destination, not generally twinned with Paris! However, Colin, Ken, Maggie & Paul set out with Trevor through the South London roads. We left Beddington Park by the church and took the paths by the Wandle to Croydon. One driver in a hurry decided to weave between our bicycles and get in front of Colin only for us to be directly behind him at the next two sets of lights. We turned right up to East Croydon and left our smoking, inconsiderate driver to face central Croydon traffic. We passed Croydon Court and crossed to Park Hill Park leaving by the water tower. We then cycled through the quiet roads to Lloyd Park where we stopped briefly to orientate Trevor. It's then across the park, downhill and a short ride to Coombe Wood for tea and cake and a robin flying between the tables and selecting the best crumbs.

We turned left out of Coombe Wood through the undergrowth to descend to Croham Road. Making our way through South Croydon we can't complete a ride without a hill so up Haling Park Road we go. Recovering our breath we cross Purley Way and return to Wallington where we separate to make our way home. We hope to see Trevor again at future rides.