All day Intermediate ride on Saturday the 20th February

  Fixing a date in advance in February to have a ride is always a chancy business weatherwise. It can either be cold and sunny, or wet, cold and windy. The weather was this time overcast and with a strong westerly wind when five riders set off from Kingston, with patchy rain in the forecast for midday. By then I calculated, we should have the wind largely behind us after rounding the westerly edge of Heathrow Airport, and in the event this proved to be the case.

  It took us only an hour via Bushy Park to reach a halt at the information Centre in Bedfont Lakes Country Park. The wind was directly in the face while riding, and the path in the Park rather wet in places. We rounded the airport with jets thundering overhead on takeoff and on cue patchy light rain began as we turned east and the long straight roads to Harlington via Sipson and Cranford. I wonder how much longer this stretch will be rideable if airport expansion goes ahead, but right now a good speed can be maintained with the following wind.

  We arrived at Osterley after a ride of just over two hours and in time for the cafe to open. Not surprisingly, the park was rather deserted as it was raining more heavily with a strengthening cross wind, and was still doing so when we left an hour later to ride back via Richmond and Richmond Park to the end of the ride by the A3 at New Malden. At times I began to wonder if riding in February was really worth it, wind and rain being the ultimate turnoff. Two days later I think it probably is, as you get a good workout and soon recover when warm and dry at home.

  It was good to see Eddie riding again after a long absence, his bike and gear immaculate as usual, and thanks to Godfrey, Toni and John for being so resolutely cheerful. Total distance was 33 miles.

Here we are after lunch at Osterley in assorted rain gear.

Dream on. Views of CS5 .

  I was crossing Vauxhall Bridge last week and took this of the recently completed stretch of Superhighway from the South Bank towards Pimlico.

  If only this sort of cycle lane standard was more widespread in the suburbs, we would see many more people choosing to cycle as the default transport choice.

All day Intermediate ride on Saturday 20th February

On the 20th February, meet outside TKMax on Kingston Bridge at 10am to
ride around Heathrow to lunch at Osterley Park.
Returning via Richmond Park.
No hills and a distance about 35 miles at an easy pace. Should be finished by about 4pm, so lights are not now essential.

Saturday ride to South London Parks.

   It was a pleasant surprise to see so many braved the cold on the 16th January. Luckily there was no wind and it was even possible to detect some warmth in the sun if you faced it and stood still. David was wearing headgear, but Anna had only a bandana. I failed to get a photo of David's headgear unfortunately.

We set off across Morden Hall Park and threaded our way through the backstreets of Mitcham  and Tooting to Tooting Common. Here the dividing line on the shared footpath has been removed with the odd sign asking people to be considerate. Apparently there used to be a lot of conflict between walkers and cyclists as each group claimed ownership of their particular lane. With this solution people are trusted to behave responsibly.

 After the common we went up Streatham Hill and down to Dulwich Park which, as usual on a Saturday, was crowded with all sorts taking exercise and thence on the long downhill stretch to Peckham Rye cafe and much needed warmth with sustenance.

 Wrenching ourselves back into the cold we rode past Nunhead Cemetery and up to Telegraph Park with great views of the city and points west, Big Ben barely visible throug the tower blocks springing up in South London. Back down quiet backstreets to Peckham Rye Lane and its cosmopolitan crowds we then crossed by the Library to the cycle path along the old canal which ran to Surrey Quays, an oasis of green between housing estates

 We turned into Burgess Park, built along the line of another canal where Mike recalled living and going to school and at the end turned of into Addington Square, another fragment of early Victorain London with its grand terraces. Next to this is an establishment called after Steptoe and Son, which is true to the TV series of the 60's and defies description.

  After negotiating a very urban stretch across four main roads we arrived at Route 3 and the pleasant stretch through Lansdowne Gardens and Larkhall Rise.

  Here the group split and the remainder went down to Battersea Park and a ride along the Thames to Wandsworth. This is a building site with both the Ram Brewery and Southside being redeveloped but behind it runs the Wandle Trail which we followed back to Morden Hall Park Cafe where the ride finished with welcome hot drinks and cake. By now the temperature was plummeting.

  I recorded 29 miles with no mechanicals or flats. Many thanks to Tony for back marking.

Photos are by David.

 

All day ride on Saturday 16th.

"The all day intermediate ride on Saturday the 16th January will
depart from outside the National Trust cafe in Morden Hall Park at
1030am. We will head in an easterly direction aiming to visit as many
South London Parks as possible and returning up the Wandle Trail to
Morden Hall Park by 4pm. We will stop for a break in Peckham Rye.
This is an entirely urban ride at an easy pace with the occasional
hilly bit near the start towards Streatham. In the event of extreme
bad weather, the route may be altered."

2015 photography competition

Further to the great success of the photo competitions since we went digital
for the first time we invite you to take part again this year. Please submit
your photos before the end of January.

There is now a category for the Best Group Photo thus catering for the many
photographers who have taken good photos of a mixed group of cyclists. The
winner in this category will receive the brand new Pete Mitchell Memorial
Trophy.

Please use this method for sending the photos to us:

       Visit this website: https://dbinbox.com/swlda_competition
       Enter the access code: "WingedWheel"
       Using your File Manager locate the photo(s) on your computer and
drag them onto the big turquoise rectangle.
       You may find it easier to click on the "+Choose Files" button and
select, then 'open', each photo using your file manager.
       Repeat this for each of the photos you intend to submit.

N.B. When using this website to transfer photos it is not necessary to sign
up to dbinbox or Dropbox even if you are invited to do so.

Send an email to me, Tim, confirming the name and CTC membership number of
the photographer, and for each photo list:

       the filename (e.g. P1040276.jpg)
       the competition category for which the photo is being entered
       a short, descriptive caption

The rules and categories are simple:

Competition Period: Photos taken during the 2015 calendar year.

Your photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a
bicycle for example, or other cycling association.

You may submit a photo or photos for every category.

   6.1. Person (male) or people
   6.2. Person (female) or people
   6.3. Action
   6.4. Scenery/landscape
   6.5. Building/buildings
   6.6. Humorous or funny
   6.7. Best group photo

Note that the award for a winning photograph in each category will be given
to the photographer who took the picture, not to the model.

[If the method for submitting photos described above does not work for you
please let me know as there may be a work-around. As a last resort I will
ask you to email your photos to swlda.photos@gmail.com . Attach a single
photo to each email and in your message give the information about the
photographer, category and each photo, as above.]

Winter solstice (well almost) ride on Saturday the 19th December.

The weather today was unseasonably mild, it reached 17c in North Kent apparently. This tempted out 23 riders for the two rides to Oaks Park and Garson's Farm.

  Most elected to follow Godfrey to Esher and I led the remainder to Oaks Park, where Colin joined us from Beddington Park. I noticed two new custom built electric bikes to add to Anna's and it was good to welcome Gillian back after a longish absence. 

  On the subject of electric assisted bikes I was told that it's best to get them custom made, rather than have a battery fitted on the pannier rack as can be done. Apparently the latter method puts strains on the frame that it is not designed to cope with, needing regular repairs. I suspect we will see more of these bikes as time goes on and the technology improves.

On the way up to Banstead and into a strengthening headwind, a flowering daffodil was spotted by the roadside.

  After the tea stop it was all downhill with the following wind. Most peeled off and only three were left by the time we returned to Nonsuch.

  Thanks to Brian for back marking.