Easy Riders - 22nd July

We were a little late leaving Handley's Cafe in Ashtead as the chain on my bike decided to break after a mile and I had to walk back home and get another bike out - who says that we don't need more than one bike? Unfortunately, Bernard Brindley's bike was still at the menders, so he could not make it. As we were a little late and lunch had been booked at The Woodman, Lower Ashtead, the original ride was truncated. Nine of us left Ashtead to take Ottways Lane into Grange Road and across the traffic lights into Ermyn Way. A right took us into Green Lane and across the M25 onto the Leatherhead By-Pass which we followed along to a right turn into Headley Road. We skirted Leatherhead to join Cobham Road and followed that through to a right turn into Woodlands Lane. Unfortunately, I failed to note that Helen Tovey and Ray Wren were not with us and so they gaily carried on along Cobham Road. They were, however, aware of the lunch stop and were able to turn up a little later than the rest of us.

We found ourselves a little early when we arrived into Barnett Wood Lane so took a small diversion to use the pedestrian railway crossing at the end of Green Lane and enjoyed the quietness of Links Road which took us round to Ashtead train station and on to the pub.

After lunch we traversed Ashtead Common to end up at The Old Moat Garden Centre for tea - I wonder where the original moat was - just a thought. On arriving there we had a few brief words with a group from Kingston Cycling Campaign who said that they had said hello to another group of Wayfarers in Cobham.

John B

 

Helen Tovey writes:

One of the Nonsuch Saturday riders, Ken Jones, joined us at North Cheam. Unfortunately the back tyre on his electric bike was in a quite dangerous state, so he wasn't able to come with us. We sent him down to Mark at Cycle Power, our local bike shop in Worcester Park. He spent an hour and a half replacing the back tyre. This was really good service, like all the local cycle repair shops he is very busy and put 8 other jobs on hold to look after Ken.  Ken  then cycled all the way to Box Hill and then home, so had a very nice day (if not quite as social as expected). He hopes to come to Walton with us next week.

This is the second electric bike back tyre issue that has suggested that roadside repairs are too time consuming to be resolved when they occur. Liz had a puncture a few weeks ago and wasn't able to get her back wheel off. She had to call for transport home.  Mark's first comment was "that's a long job" when we phoned him to let him know that Ken was on his way.
 

Still the benefits of electric are absolutely obvious for several of our friends in the group. 😊

Author: Tim C

4 Comments:

Mark G 25 July 2020 at 15:27 BST

For every problem there is a solution ...

'GAADI' inner tubes are designed for Dutch bikes, where the rear wheel is often hard to remove, and are just the job for electric bikes. https://gaadi.de/?lang=en The tube is like a long sausage and can be inserted without removing the wheel.

SJS Cycles (amongst others, I'm sure) have them in stock. https://www.sjscycles.co.uk

Tim C 25 July 2020 at 15:45 BST

That's very interesting Mark. I replied to John and Helen just now and raised the question about the possible efficacy of using a tubeless sealant such as Stan's NoTubes in tubes. Perhaps it is a bad idea but might enable people to keep riding long enough to get them to lunch and home.

Unknown 27 July 2020 at 15:55 BST

Some of our members subscribe to ETA, the Environmental Transport Association, which offers roadside repair/recovery service. Possibly a useful option.

Unknown 27 July 2020 at 15:56 BST

Above comment from Helen Tovey using partner's account! For some reason blogger isn't recognising me today.