Green Lane has been resurfaced at last.

  Green Lane is a path between Lower Morden Lane and Worcester Park which goes past the Merton and Sutton Cemetery, the Green Lane Riding Stables and a new private Housing complex with New England style houses, to come out by the station in Worcester Park. It has always been a potential way to avoid the A24 going north to South and is part of the short ride route to Morden Hall from Nonsuch, but has been in such poor repair that it was usually avoided altogether by a tedious detour through Joseph Hood playing fields and Morden Cemetery.
  The resurfacing is a massive improvement, although the short section outside the Primary School still resembles a World War One battlefield. This stretch is in the Royal Borough of Kingston, not Merton. Joined up action is therefore still required.

Ride to Hampton Court on Saturday the 5th July

  Lynda led 12 riders on this ride. The sky threatened showers but most were prepared for these except Carolyn who had forgotten headgear. Not unusually for the beginners, there were more women than men on this ride and Lynda led us by a familiar route via Malden Manor, Tolworth and Long Ditton to her favourite cafe, the Five on the Bridge.
  As we sat inside, it began to rain and waterproofs were donned for the return. Luckily the rain eased off almost as soon as we started. I left at Surbiton to see the start of the Tour de France on ITV. It was sunny and dry in Yorkshire.

  

Next step ride in July

  Please note that the planned ride for Sunday 13 July has been postponed for one week. Cliff will lead a ride on Sunday 20 July to Pyrford lock via Cobham and Send. The return journey after lunch may include a quick visit to Wisley Garden centre and café.

  Meet Cliff at 09:50AM just outside the Nonsuch cafeteria for departure at 10AM.

Total cycling distance approx. 40 miles with stops for coffee, lunch and tea.

Rainy Saturday the 28th June

 The day had started reasonably enough, with a heavy shower followed by hot sunshine, and although the forecast was for more showers, after recent warm dry days it looked as though a good afternoon's riding lay ahead.
  Turnout was a bit reduced at Nonsuch due to many being away in Dieppe, but several newcomers were there including some smaller children.  With a leader shortage, one ride was to go to East Molesey, and the other stay more local around Ewell, though dark clouds loomed over the horizon to the West.
  The ten on the longer ride got no further than a couple of large trees in the park before heavy rain began to fall, but decided to see out the shower before resuming the ride. There were even the usual comments about it being good for gardens. The short sharp shower proved to be too optimistic a description and after 20 minutes a decision was made to abandon the ride and return to the cafe to wait for the rain to pass. Some had not even brought waterproofs and elected to abandon altogether as by now the air temperature had also fallen several degrees.
   The short ride had not even started and some stragglers also went into the cafe, where hot drinks and cakes improved morale to the extent that it looked as though some sort of ride could be possible after all later on.  In due course the rain did ease off and the sky become lighter so I led a half dozen intrepid souls on a shorter ride to Horton Park.
  When we got to the Hogsmill valley path near Hook the sky began to darken again and spots of rain become heavier and more persistent, so this ride hastily turned back by the Golf Centre. By now, such waterproofs as some people had, including mine, were proving inadequate, and in these conditions the only consolations were no wind to speak of and the end of the ride in sight. Still, we all finished and can say it was a learning experience about proper clothing and weather forecasting.  Tennis at Wimbledon was rained off until the evening, and true to form, as I reached my front door the rain stopped for the day and the sun came out.
  There is always next weekend, which surely must produce better weather, for the start of the Tour de France.

Angie's ride to Charlwood on the 21st June

  Saturday dawned bright and sunny, but when I arrived at the Mansion House only 4-5 people were there.
  Then, low and behold, more intrepid cyclists arrived.  I say intrepid as I seem to have a reputation for cycling quickly!  In all, there were 16 of us.  It was a lovely ride out.  Up, up, up to Banstead, out to Walton on the Hill, when I made history by stopping for coffee by the pond.  We all whizzed down Pebble Hill and withOut further ado made our way via Irons Bottom to Norwood Hill. 
  During the descent to Charlwood, Maureen had a complete blow out of her back tyre and inner tube.  David patched it up and she made it to lunch after which Cliff called a taxi and they were taken to Crawley for a new tyre and inner tube and a train back to East Croydon. 
  On the way back towards Leatherhead, Bev was unwell and was revived with Lucozade Sport!  He kept suffering from terrible cramp.  We stopped for tea at Annie's in Leatherhead, then made our way home in dribs and drabs.
  I hope everybody enjoyed their day.  I certainly did.  Thank you so much to Maureen and Harry for being such splendid back markers.  Thank you, Harry for helping out with Bev on the way back, and to David A. and others for helping out with the cycle repairs. Door to door I did 49.65 happy miles.  Angie x

David Aylett's new bike

  David's first new bike for over half a century is a customized one from Hewitt. He needed a new bike as his old one was wearing out and the components were becoming difficult to replace.
  Initially he wanted a carbon-fibre frame because of its lightness and did some research on the matter, writing to CTC's technical officer, Chris Juden for advice. Somewhat to David's surprise, his letter and Chris' reply were published in the June/July issue of CYCLE on page 68 and David then decided to go with Reynold's 631 steel.
  Only Hewitt, based in Lancashire, who were reviewed in the CTC magazine recently, supplied an off the peg frame in the right size, though not in David's favourite colour purple, and he went with their blue option. For all the other components he wanted Campagnolo as they can be replaced, though in the end had to settle for some lower quality items as only they would fit the frame and frameset. He admits he was a very demanding client and can go into greater detail if requested.
  The result is what could be described as a fast day tourer that has the qualities David wanted such as comfort, lightness, and ease of riding. Many cyclists dream about having a custom built or customized bike, and this is one example of that dream coming true.
  

Next Step ride on Sunday June 15th

Cliff with Maureen as back marker led Andrea, Lillian, Tony Z ,Anna, Paul, Jane and Helen on an ambitious ride to Gatton Manor Golf and Country Club in Standon Lane near Walliswood, coming in the long way round. 

Maureen clocked 59 miles and Cliff 47, having chickened out at Dorking Station . At the imposing entrance to the Golf Club some riders expressed alarm that it looked too posh. Having played there, Cliff was able to assure them it wasn't but kept his fingers crossed in case it had gone upmarket since his last visit some 15 or so years ago. It hadn't, and a good beef and horse radish sandwich cost £4.95. Other food at good prices was also available. It's worth a visit. 

The return was shorter through Ockley, Capel Newdigate and Brockham for Tea. Cliff said farewell at this point to catch the train at Dorking as did Helen and Jane and Andrea picked up her car, the others riding home. Everybody seemed to enjoy it, at least they said they did !!

Maureen Whitfield