Ride to Cobham 22 August

 

By Stuart

A good turnout of riders at The Mansion House in Nonsuch Park today and it was great to see Maggie back in the saddle.  Conditions were perfect for cycling - dry, not too hot, not too cold.  Normally, Steve leads this group but as he hadn't turned up by the time we were ready to leave, I took the reins.  Rob offered to back mark which I gratefully accepted.  I wondered whether Steve may be feeling it in his legs as he did a 90 mile!!! ride yesterday.  I also thought that if he did turn up, he knew where we were going and would almost certainly catch us up. Well, that's what happened - he'd caught us before we left Nonsuch Park!  With Steve, there were ten of us in the group, five girls and five boys.

Off we set taking the normal route to Stoke D'Abernon via Malden Rushett and Oxshott.  I thought the pace was OK as most were keeping up with me but I got a couple of requests to go a bit slower so I obliged.  I knew the route to Stoke D but have only been to Cobham once with the Saturday Gang and couldn't remember the last bit.  I was going to take the main road from Stoke D to Cobham. However, just as well Steve had joined us as he knows the back-roads route.  I asked if he would lead this last bit which he did.  We stopped at Gails in Cobham and there were lots of goodies to choose from.  A particular favourite was the toasted croissant with chocolate and almond flakes (a few of us had it, including me).

I asked Steve if he wanted to lead the ride back.  He said I could as it would give him a chance to have a chat with the others.  Fine by me.  Back via Stoke D, Leatherhead, Ashtead. Epsom, Longmead Road and across Hogsmill Open Space.  This route takes us past a bungalow where I used to live so I pointed it out to the group. Wendy wondered why I'd moved (it is rather nice) and I had to explain that I lived there with my parents as a teenager back in the 1960s and before I got married (my dad was a Fleet Street printer which was a well-paid job back then but it did mean he had to work nights).  I then took the group past my current home as it is not much of a detour on the way back to Nonsuch Park and we also went down Karl's road although not past his house. 

A most enjoyable ride with a lovely group and many thanks to Rob for back marking.  I clocked about 26 miles to and from The Mansion House.  With thanks to my fellow riders, Helen, Jackie, John, Kasumi, Ken, Lorraine, Rob, Steve and Wendy.