Annual Lunch: In case you've forgotten what you ordered ...

If you are coming to the Annual Lunch and Prize Giving please check this list to verify that you are in the list and that I have recorded your orders from the menu correctly.

Please only notify me if I have omitted your name or made a mistake with your menu choice:

 

This is the menu:

Click to enlarge

Thank you

Tim C

Report for B Group - 25th February

The pecking order having been confirmed on Tuesday, three flocks of assorted free-range poultry assembled at the Fairfield Centre for a good old cackle, then at their prescribed times they flew the coop and into the leafy lanes of Surrey.

We were sorry to find out that Ray had fallen off on the way to Leatherhead and hurt himself and damaged his bike, including broken spokes we understand. And although Brenda made it to Elevenses she decided that the funny noises emanating from her drive train were a sign that she should go to a bike shop rather than risk riding with us. And Carolyn had to attend to some urgent repair to her house and so miss the ride. Nobody else chickened out and we were overjoyed that Sue F came to join our ride with Stephen’s flock, The Old Crafty Hens. 

 

The first flock out were The Old Crafty Hens (“Oak-Aged”)

Flight departure: 10:45

Leader: Stephen

"We assembled at Leatherhead in warm weather with the sun shining and blue skies - a glorious contrast to the weeks of rain which have characterised so much of this year.  Not surprisingly, the turn-out was good.

Stephen led the first group of 8 (’the Old Crafty Hens’), consisting of Sue F, Steph, Lilian, Chris McC, Arwyn, Martin and Tim G who very kindly backmarked.

The scenic route - much enhanced by the Spring sunshine - took us up to Effingham, down to Effingham Junction, past Ockham and over the A3 on the new bridge to Wisley.  Here we got tied up with an amazing queue of cars. In answer to the question ‘What’s going on?’, the Wisley traffic managers explained that ‘the sun has come out’:  the queue was simply people trying to get to the Wisley car-park.  We were able to weave our way carefully past most of the traffic (helped some of the way by the new, partially completed, cycle lane), but it was a relief to get back onto clear roads again. 

From there to lunch at the ‘Saddlers Arms’ at Send was a straightforward loop near Pyrford.  At the pub we sat outside, somewhat amazed to be basking in sunshine.  Food was simple but good -  the home-made soup was a particular stand-out.

The Old Crafty Hens

Afterwards we headed to Ripley, Ockham - again! - Stoke D’Abernon, up Leigh Hill Road, down Sandy Lane and then an interesting route (Stokesheath Road) to Fairoak Lane (where Steph and Lilian left for home) before taking a wooded path, the footpath over the A3 and down to Claygate where 5 of us stopped for some well-earned tea.  Althogether a very enjoyable day out on a lovely Spring day!

~ Stephen

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The second flock were The Old Golden Hens (“Refreshing”)
Flight departure: 10:55
Leader: Bernard

"The body ages but the heart is forever young.  The early morning sun rays poked me awake.  I jumped out of bed with excited anticipation of a glorious day’s ride.  Cycling shorts season had arrived with just two top layers instead of the winter’s half dozen or more.

A little kid was dragging me by the hand and urging me to get on my bike, “come on, hurry, let’s go... the sun’s out!”  Like flying swallows making their way from Africa to our northern summer the kid in me spread his arms and felt the sweet breeze head on.  Sabina and I joined our fellow cyclists for elevenses at the Fairfield centre in Leatherhead; a throng of kids dropped off for a day’s cycle riding on the first sunny day of the year.

As we rode the sun spread its arms wide across the horizon.  The greys of yesterday were gone.  Only one or two sheepish small vaporous clouds made an appearance. Young hearts coasted through fields of green, blues and whites.  A blackbird perched and then darted into a hedge.  A fox flashed into the road, u turned and disappeared.  Sparrows all along chirped and chatted.  And us, kids, in our youth, pedalled to the rhythm of joy.  At Wisley we met a convoy of cars, sunseekers, escaping winter’s enforced hibernation.  We arrived for lunch at the Saddlers Arms in Send Marsh, equidistant between Send and Ripley.  Lunches pre-ordered for young souls.

Our bellies filled, our hearts happy, on our bikes we got.  The sun and the blue sky were taking good care of us and on we pedalled.  A sheep stood in a field watching us, the rest had their backs to us chumping on grass.  Hills came and pinched our muscles.  Down we glided.

We arrived at the café in Claygate where some kids were tucking into cake.

Thanks to Tim C for the route.

The Old Golden Hens

My fellow riders, ‘The Old Golden Hens’, were Sabina, Julie, Karen, (Brenda), Chris, Geoff and Tony H.

Thanks to Mick for backmarking.

~ Bernard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The last flock to depart were The Old Speckled Hens (“Distinctive”) 

Flight departure: 11:05ish 

Leader: Tim C 

The original weather forecast for this ride wasn’t very promising but as we drew closer to the day it became apparent that we could expect very agreeable temperatures and sunny skies.

We crossed the Nature Reserve by the Mill Pond and up the Lower Road towards Bookham and Effingham. At nine miles in we arrived at the Wisley roundabout and although only a week had passed since our recce I managed to lead our group a bit too far (anticlockwise) around the roundabout before I wised up to my mistake. Although the area is still a mess of major construction and we were rather confused about where we should be riding it was also exciting to imagine how it will be for cyclists once the project is complete. What really astounded us was learning that the huge buildup of traffic on the new Wisley Lane and bridge was all due to the sun shining and the multitudes deciding to visit the Wisley Gardens.

We looped through Wisley Village and Pyrford, stopping for a team photo by the lock, then around through Old Woking to Cartbridge, ultimately relieved to get away from the  fairly persistent traffic and into Send Marsh Lane for our lunch at The Saddlers Arms.

The Old Speckled Hens by Pyrford Lock

We used to visit this small pub quite frequently several years ago. As agreed with Yvonne we would just have a limited menu, mostly a lovely leek and potato Soup of the Day and several species of panini with side salads and optional chips. Still February but twenty four of us sat in the sun in front of the pub for lunch. Yvonne and the pub staff ensured that we were very well looked after and it was a shame we had to leave. We should look forward to visiting them again.

After lunch we headed towards Cobham and took the obligatory Chilbrook Road diversion then River Lane to the Cemetery, the Tilt Road and Leigh Hill Road for a nicely flowing route through to Sandy Lane and ultimately up New Road to Claygate. Anne’s chain had come off somewhere in Miles Lane but our trusty backmarker Mr Betts brought her back to us before Sandy Lane. Thank you Peter. 

Parade and Albany is a good choice of Tea stop for anyone arriving before they close at 4:30. Their Tea, Coffee and Cake is excellent. Terry, Grant and Alan had peeled off towards their homes before we got there but the rest of us enjoyed our visit to the café.

Thanks to my cheerful team, Anne, Gill F, Mags, Peter, Grant, Alan I and Terry for our lovely day out. And a huge thank you to Stephen and Bernard for leading their teams. 

~ Tim C

Invitation to join A Group ride to Annual Lunch

Unfortunately my plan to visit the new cycling infrastructure betwwen Cobham and Wisley won't happen because the end February target date for opening has been missed.

If you would like to see a little of what we're missing you can watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1MgK9xnZok 

It shows the route from Ockham Bites over the new Cockrow bridge. The turning to the right at the top of the ramp will lead across the M25 to Pointers Road and Painshill roundabout. 

Instead there will be an 18 mile ride to lunch with one hill to improve your appetite. Janice and I will lead two moderately paced groups. The published route is all on road or tarmac paths but if conditions are suitable my group may detour slightly from the published route to go across Epsom/Ashtead Commons from Christchurch Road to The Wells. This is a well compacted path but please let me know if you are only interested in the road version - no comment needed if you are happy with either option.

Please email me by 6pm on Monday for a place.

 

Invitation to join the B Ride from Cobham to lunch in Tolworth on Wednesday 4th March

We have a straightforward 18 mile ride from our usual British Legion venue to our annual lunch location in Tolworth. Please let me know if you would like to join the ride by Monday evening. No need to send me lunch orders!!

johnaustin04@yahoo.co.uk

Hope to see you on Wednesday,

John A.  

A Group Ride Report 25 February 2026

Finally, we had some great weather on a Wednesday ride. It was long overdue. The sunshine prompted me to dig out my shorts as it did others; some were even seen riding in short sleeves later in the day.

My group at the Jack Phillips Memorial Cloister

The ride from Leatherhead included a Jack Phillips themed tour of Godalming.

Here is Brian’s report

What a contrast with last week! Having dug out some summer cycling gear, the start proved a bit cooler that I'd expected but it soon warmed up. Apparently, we were treated to the warmest February day since 2019.

My group was reduced to 5 (Sue C, Gill, Gina and Simon) with a message from Dave E that he might join us at lunch. We had a good run to Godalming and enjoyed a leisurely lunch where Dave joined us for the return. Then off to see the memorials to Jack Philips.

Brian’s Group in the Memorial Cloister

Off road cycling is meant to be relaxing but the sun has brought the crowds out to the park. Navigating multiple pushchairs, dogs and children made me happy to return to the relative sanity of the tarmac.

We closely followed Steve's group all the way back to Tithebarn Lane where some real off road along the verge was required to bypass the road closure. 

Steve punctured here and we pushed on to Cobham where we found Clive's group having tea al fresco at Gail's.

My thanks to Clive for the route and my group for a lovely ride and Simon for back marking.

…and here is Steve’s report

I set off with Dave V, Dave W, Dave B, who offered to back mark, and Janice and Neil C. The weather started overcast, but warm at 9 degrees, but as we made our way along Lower Road the sunshine appeared. The roads were dry, but with some puddles from water that hadn't drained. So it was an uneventful, pleasant ride down Combe Lane and along the A25 to Albury and then on to Chilworth. At Shalford we caught up with Brian's first group and we joined the new cycle route through Peasmarsh to Godalming, which avoided the roadworks traffic.

After some solid Wetherspoons fare we visited the memorial garden and stone memorial to 25 year old 'Jack' Philips, the wireless operator who carried on transmitting a distress signal 3 minutes before the Titanic sank, taking him with it. Such bravery and commitment is a wonder in today's world.

Jack Phillips Memorial headstone

Dave W left us to make his own way home and so we made our way up Guildford High Street and out to the A246 Epsom Road and then left towards Send on the A247 Clandon Road through West Clandon. Tithebarns Lane had roadworks where we had to dismount. 

As soon as we remounted I ran over something that punctured my front tyre. No problem, but even with the help of the others, we couldn't find a nail or object in the tyre. So new inner tube and Co2 and off we go. 100 metres onwards and front tyre is flat. Off with the wheel and same deal, but I repaired the inner tube. More Co2 and off we go. After 200 metres I noticed the inner tube has bulged out of a split in the left sidewall of the tyre, which is why we couldn't find a nail. Pretty soon the inner tube blew. This time I put some toothpaste tubing over the split and put in a new inner tube. This held nicely although I had used 2 canisters of Co2 and had to borrow one from Dave B. Not good to get a puncture, but very grateful for the assistance of Neil and Dave's B and V for help. Thank goodness it was dry and sunny as well.

The moral of the tale? Always carry 2 spare inner tubes, pump, Co2 canisters and puncture repair kit with tyre levers. We arrived at Cobham for tea and Dave V and I stopped for a drink before heading home. Thanks to Clive for organising the route and to Dave B for back marking. It was such a relief to have some dry sunny weather to help us all back into fitness after all the rain in the winter.

al fresco at Gails

Thanks to Peter S for back marking my group and the others (Mike, Hans, Patrick, Simon W and Guy) for the company.

Link to route here.

Invitation to ride with B Group on 25th February

We are meeting in the Fairfield Centre in Leatherhead for a gently undulating ride of just 17.5 miles to The Saddlers Arms in Send. That's right, some gentle climbing in places but none of the big Surrey Mountains.

This is our route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53736903

We don't need to pre-order. Their menu is relatively basic but includes a lot of the usual lunchtime essentials like pizza, soup of the day, baked spuds, and toasted paninis with fresh salad and other ingredients. Their chips are very good too.

After lunch we will ride another 13 miles to our Tea and Coffee stop at Parade and Albany in Claygate.

The weather should be at least 10°C warmer than it was for John's ride but some showers are possible. Please tell me by 5 p.m. on Monday if you're intending to join us.

Your leaders will be Bernard and Stephen and myself.

Look forward to seeing you all

~ Tim C

Ride Invitation - A Group 25th February

Next week's A Group ride is from the Leatherhead Fairfield Centre.

Lunch will be in Godalming and tea in Cobham.

It's about 18 miles to lunch and a little less than that back to tea. There is only one hill of note.

I have put in a request for good weather, so I hope you will be able to come along.

Please let me (clive.janes@gmail.com) know by Monday evening.

Thanks, Clive.