Invitation to the All Day Ride to Greenwich on Saturday 13 August

The annual All Day Ride to Greenwich will be on Saturday 13 August, leaving the Pavilion Cafe in Beddington Park from 10am.

We hope to escort a group of those who can't find Beddington park from Cheam at 9.30.

32 miles back to Beddington Park, flat as a pancake apart from having to climb up to Blackheath (annoyingly, they built the Observatory on a hill!), through South London parks in the morning, up the river to Bermondsey Beach and then through the back streets of Camberwell and Brixton to see the windmill, and home over Tooting Common.

Depending on the uptake, we hope to run an alternative home route to Cheam, and an option of a pub lunch or sandwiches.

Volunteers for group leaders would be most welcome, and a final recce will be available if you want it on Thursday 11th or Friday 12th, or by arrangement.  I will shortly publish the route on Ride with GPS.

Those who want to join the ride please e-mail paulandrewjames1949@yahoo.co.uk   

The Alpine method; Beginners, 23 July

Paul reports.....

Nigel is still injured, so Steve volunteered to lead the longer ride out of Nonsuch Park on a warm day with a bit of a breeze.  The rides list said it was to be Farthing Down but Steve decided that Farthing down was too far away and too hilly for a warm day, so he would go over Box Hill (which is further).  Box Hill, he explained, was not hilly at all except for the Box Hill bit.

Once we had vaguely agreed that those who cannot deal with altitude could turn back from Rykas, he had eleven takers so we decided to split into two, Steve taking the first group and Paul the second, giving him a five minute start.  It became a bit longer than five minutes when Lynda set off with the short ride to Ashtead, but set out we eventually did, Ken, Karen, Anna, Roger, Maggie, Alan and yours truly with Mariaan, a relative newcomer to the club, who is trying to get in the training to do a charity London to Brighton ride in September.

There had to be a balance between maintaining Beginners pace and not being stranded overnight on the vertiginous slopes of le Col du Box, so onward we drove, through the Valley where the glacial waters of the Mole tumble from the Surrey Hills slopes and we set up Base Camp on a wooden table at Ryka's.

The earlier expedition had not even bothered to stop there, but we were taking no risks and the support team made themselves at home coiffing tea and coffee and cakes while the climbers took quicker refreshment and set out for the peak.  

We climbed in the Alpine tradition, no supplies, no oxygen, to gain the peak and return safely as quickly as possible and that we did, all of us attaining the first objective, the viewpoint, but only the leader making it to Smith and Western.  Just as he got there he believes he made out, in the distance, the shapes of Steve's earlier expedition, some quarter of a mile ahead of him.  It proved a poignant moment, for they were never seen again.  We may never know whether they made the true peak, or disappeared in a valiant attempt, though thee tracks in the snow recorded by Strava suggest that they conquered it.

In contrast, we three returned safely to base camp where the support team were on their umpteenth cake and beverage, and from there we returned to civilization via Ashtead Common, where we took a "short" cut to make the ride a really worthwhile 37 miles door to door.

Sunday 10th July - ride report

 Thanks all for accompanying me on my quest to see the amazing interior of the barn.  Ian - well done for determination to get there after missing us at Kingston.  Thanks to Tony Hopkins for excellent off road route alternatives and Tony Hooker for back marking.

It was a lovely day with a good turn out.  The off road section was improved by avoiding the tunnel by the old marshalling yards nature reserve and heading northeast for Hounslow Heath through better surfaced off road .  A leisurely lunch ...mix of picnickers and Crown pub.  Such was the improvement to the route we arrived before opening time but were able to confirm our orders and order a much needed drink.  The village is pretty and the barn impressive.  Some took in the church with the gravestone of Mr Cox the grafter of Coxes Orange Pippins and testament to the orchards and market gardens that once occupied the fertile soil beneath the concrete runways of Heathrow.     The memorial down the road to Barnes Wallis and his bouncing bombs was visited by John who was then accosted by a lady with news of a time trial shield for West London Cycling club with names engraved on it from the 1950s.  She had picked it up out of a skip but was reluctant to hand it over.  

The return route joined the Grand Union via another section of Tony Hopkins inspired invention.   The notable sign at Balls Bridge informed of the mileage to Paddington if anyone wished to return by train.  We exited the canal into Osterley Park but it being Sunday and busy we kept to the perimeter bridleway.  Soon cruising down Church Rd into Isleworth we kept north of the Thames enjoying the Twickenham riverside with teas and ice creams and finally a viewing of the massive Carrera marble statue of mermaids and webbed hoofed horses hidden away in the shrubbery.

A great day out.

Meeting the requirements; Nonsuch Beginners 9 July

By Paul

With a fairly long All Day ride due on the morrow and my consequent need to get to church on Saturday evening, I was given a string of parameters for Saturday's ride by my various managers.

Not too long, for fear of exhaustion the next day and so I would be back in time, but long enough not to be a short ride; no hills but something different.

No hills is the most difficult thing around here, and unless we are going to do the Wandle Trail again, requires the redefinition of what is a hill.  Great Bookham Common was deemed too far, so I opted for Richmond Park by a different route.  The hills there are all in the mind.

There were fewer riders at Nonsuch Park, perhaps because of the Sunday ride, but Maggie and I were happy to take out a small group and Sabrina and Bernard were keen to join, as was Alan and that might have been it had Alyson (returning to Beginners for the last few weeks after a long absence) not got chatting to Maggie and had John B not been keen to show us his suggested innovations to my route and then, as we set off, up the path with his usual perfect timing came Steve W, who tagged on.

A good size group then.  John took us through the most convoluted twists and turns in Stoneleigh and Old Malden in order to avoid the main road and the traffic lights at Worcester Park.  It was an enjoyable route, and certainly traffic-free, but not one I would want to take trying to get to Wednesday elevenses in time.  We used the well-ridden path crossing the Hogsmill to descend the Col de Berrylands and then into Kingston Market and along the Kingston Riviera.  Then John took over again in Ham, taking us to Ham Gate along Church Road; picturesque and a history lesson on the prison that used to be there.

Up the non-hill into the park, we went across the top, past the Ballet School and made our way to the increasingly expensive cafe at Roehampton Gate.

John Baggins (Bilbo's brother) put on his magic ring after tea and cakes and disappeared from view.  Please tell us if you see him again.  The rest of us split up along the way home through Raynes Park and Lower Morden to get back home at 5.30; 27 miles door-to-door.

A good ride.  Thanks to all for the company.  And thanks, John, wherever you are, for showing us something new. 

Sunday 10th all day ride to Harmondsworth Tithe Barn

10 am at Kingston Bridge

If you would like me to preorder your lunch from The Crown please leave me a text.  There should be plenty of time at Harmondsworth to eat and see the barn.  Return via short section of canal and T at Osterley or Richmond Park area.

Paul and Maggie James

Maureen

Helen Tovey

Lillian and Ed

Alan Clarke

Roger and Anna Parsley

Tony Hopkins

Alice Betts

Tony Hooker

Matthew maybe

Another option for lunch on Sunday 10th

For the ride to Harmondsworth this coming Sunday please note this alternative to the Sunday roast at The Five Bells or a picnic. The alternative is this menu at The Crown in Harmondsworth High St:

(click to enlarge)

~ Tim C

See here for details of the ride.

 

The leader isn't always right. Nonsuch Beginners 2 July

By Paul J

Nigel has a nasty foot injury, and Steve W was busy at home, so Colin looked a bit relieved when someone on the list of approved leaders arrived willing to take a longer ride on a breezy but sunny Saturday.

Matthew's mechanical problem ruled him out of my ride, so eight riders joined me for a pleasant afternoon at Beginners' pace on a course so flat that Berrylands was a significant hill.  It was a perfect day for a suburban ride; it might have been a little windy on the North Downs but in Malden (Old and New) and Kingston there was plenty of shelter from the side winds.

Bushy Park

Kingston Bridge, Bushy Park and back across the river at Hampton Court with the intention of having coffee at Dish, but, dismounting on the scruffy green there, the captain faced a challenge to his authority "It's much nicer at the (East Molesey) Rowing Club" and when this challenge engendered a little tetchiness, his plans in ruins, the whole crew joined in and he had a full scale mutiny on his hands.  Eager not to be cast adrift in a rowing boat, he meekly followed.

So up river it was, to the Rowing Club, and not a single thing happened to give the captain any excuse to say "I told you so".  Van drivers stopped to let us turn right on to the riverside path, dog walkers stood aside and told us they were delighted to let us through (surely they could not have been that delighted), there was far more parking space for the bicycles, the cafe was deserted with two young ladies eager to serve, and the terrace overlooked a delightful stretch of the River and the posh houseboats on Tagg's Island and we supped an excellent cup of tea to the sounds of  cricket match being played in the sunshine.  Grrr, he thought, the mutineers were right all along.  Even the chocolate brownie was delicious.

After coffee we made our way through Church Road to Molesey, and over Willow Mead to Chestnut Avenue and the delightful wooden church by the pond at Weston Green, thence through the John Bellamy patented route back to Berrylands.  We split up at Worcester Park Station in good spirits; the ride had been about 21 miles (I only measured my door-to-door; 27 miles).

There is an epilogue; next day Helen told us she had tested positive for Covid; get well, Helen and I hope it does not delay your knee operations.  And a post script; thank you, Lorraine for taking us to the Rowing Club, and I will definitely be going there again in preference.

East Molesey Rowing Club