A long-awaited return to The Rookery; Beddington Beginners 19 March

Paul writes......

Maggie had been in contact with several prospective newcomers in the preceding days but none of them turned up to the Pavilion in Beddington Park for the ride.  

We still had a good turnout; eleven altogether if you count Thomas in his trailer, and it was especially good to see Ray back after his serious stomach surgery.  Welcome back, Ray.  We had done shorter rides of late to accommodate newcomers (that, after all, is what we are there for) but it was a sunny day and there was no-one really inexperienced so this was our chance to enjoy ourselves over one of the slightly longer, slightly hillier routes and we all eagerly accepted Colin's suggestion of Streatham Common.  Well, some more eagerly than others.

The plan was to ride in two groups of five with a clear gap of a couple of hundred yards between us, so Colin led the first group and Paul followed on.

It worked quite well on the way there, though the two groups merged at the foot of Gibson's Hill, which was not a bad thing as there were "riders" and "pushers" in both groups.  So the riders rode; most impressively Matthew, pulling little Thomas in his trailer.  Impressive in another sense, Anna in her little paradise on her spanking new electric bike.  Paul and Ken were the others who rode up.

  Both groups outside the Nettlefolds' former home at Norwood Grove.  Missing from the photo are Colin, who took it, Thomas. fast asleep in his trailer, and Roger, who was taking a phone call! 

The cafe at the Rookery was busy and there was a bike exchange stall there, but nobody fancied trading theirs in. The way home was past Norbury Station and through Mitcham Common but three of us got left behind when we had a minor incident involving a road sign blown by the wind and at Norbury Police Station the lights delayed us again and we lost all contact.  Luckily we had Paul to lead us, and luckily he admitted as soon as he realised that he didn't know quite where he was.  In his defence the route was not available electronically and it had been over two years since he rode it; and he's getting on a bit, and he was suffering withdrawal symptoms because his tea had been decaffeinated.....Never mind, he found a route back to Beddington Park along Watneys Road and Therapia Lane and through the Asda car park and decided to celebrate such a pleasant afternoon with a second coffee, back at the Pavilion Cafe.  But we arrived there at that point where some were waiting for their drinks and they weren't serving anymore.  Doh!  So we left Matthew and Thomas in the playground and went home.

A perfect ride for a Saturday afternoon saunter in the sunshine.

The Snake Pass is closed! Ian's adventure

Ian Prince writes.............

Last week I had a fab Sunday on the closed A57 Snake Pass, in the Derbyshire Peak District along with many, many other cyclists and walkers following Cycling UKs legal workaround for avoiding the currently closed bit of the Snake Pass. So good in fact, I plan the same thing again next weekend. A proper CTC type “tour” including the off road bridleway / walking along the public footpath and crossing the fords. 

All follow the real legal  rules as advised by Cycling UK not the improper inept paranoid ones invented by Derbys CC because they don't implement proper engineering repair solutions to the road and are at budget year end. 

An amazing traffic free on and off road  ride!

My ‘do anything’ bike on the Moors

Ford and a black sheep!

The point to leave the main road

Another ford

Official CTC / Cycling UK advice

Cliff Whitfield has died

It is with great sadness that I am passing on news from Maureen that Cliff passed away peacefully in St Helier Hospital yesterday morning, 12th March.

Maureen and Cliff's daughters are planning his funeral and will advise us about the date and venues for the funeral and wake and will want to know how many of us they should expect.

Our heartfelt condolences to Maureen and their family. Quite a number of us have very happy memories of riding with Cliff on club rides as well as numerous tours abroad.

~ Tim

Cliff leading the peloton up the hill to St Florent le Vieil (2014)

In Nonsuch Park for a Saturday ride

 

Emergency training day: Nonsuch beginners 5th March

 

Report by Sue Bellamy

I lead 11 of us including Thomas to Bushy Park on Saturday 5^th. Hadn’t expected to be doing this- sorry if I went a bit too fast. Please tell me next time!

We had a cool ride via Berrylands and Kingston. Whilst we were at The Pheasantry in Bushy Park I had a request to go back along the River Thames. We did this just as the RNLI and the emergency services were finishing their training day. Whilst I had read about it I had completely forgotten it was on! It added an extra bit of interest on our ride as we only saw a few deer in Bushy Park.

 We arrived back in Nonsuch Park around 17.30 just as it started to drizzle.

Sou'Westers club kit consultation

See details below........

there has been a healthy response to the consultation about the kit, but in case there are those who want to comment but have not done so yet, the deadline is extended to Sunday 6 March.  

Latecomers breeze; Nonsuch Beginners 26 February

Paul writes....

It was the Beginners AGM on Saturday so rides were tailored to ensure the few, the lucky few who were planning to attend, got back to the Prince of Wales in Cheam in time for the big event.

Maggie and I were delayed by a succession of minor incidents involving motor vehicles on National Don't Tell Other Road Users What You're Doing Day and we arrived at Nonsuch to catch a glimpse of the rear of the main party disappearing down the path on a short trip to Epsom.

Nigel, who wanted to get back even earlier to sort out the papers for the meeting, and Colin, who was not coming on the ride, and we were joined by Ian on his Brompton, another latecomer, so we all persuaded Nigel that the four of us could make it as far as Ashtead, have a quick coffee and then get back in time for Nigel to sort out his business, and off we set.

The three musketeers and Madame D'Artagnan in Ashtead Village 

This is very familiar territory and we made good time but chatted too much over coffee, so Nigel went the quick way back through Pleasure Pit Lane while the three of us returned via Ashtead and Epsom Commons.

Had Nigel not had a nasty fall while getting on a bus on his way from home to the AGM, the plan would have worked a treat, but as it was the AGM started the best part of an hour late.  The consolation for everyone except a bruised and grazed Nigel was that since we only had use of the back room until 6.30, proceedings were completed in record time. 

Sou'Westers Club Kit Consultation - Tell Us What You Think

 

Our current blue and yellow Sou'Westers outfit has been around for quite a while now and has done us good service over the years.   Some like it, some don't, and some members have asked us to consider changing it, so we are consulting you as a member.  What are your views?  Would you pay more in the future or is it already too pricey*?   Do we need our own club kit anyway?

Please tell us what you think by completing a short online survey about Sou'Westers' club kit.

Whatever the outcome, club kit will still remain strictly optional on rides, and, if we do make changes, there will be nothing at all to prevent anyone continuing to wear the present design.

Responses are completely anonymous and we'll share a summary of the results in due course.  The survey will be open until 28 February 2022.

Please note that when you open the survey you may be invited to sign in to Google but you don't need to sign in to Google to do the survey.

Anyone without internet access can get a paper copy of the survey from any committee member to complete anonymously - please help spread the word.

*(Just as a reminder, Sou'Westers current kit costs about £35 for a short-sleeved jersey, £40 for a long-sleeved jersey, and £65 for a heavyweight long-sleeved jersey).

Sou'Westers Committee