Our route to lunch will take us from Cobham over Whitedown to Holmbury St Mary and then via Ockley, Capel and Newdigate to The Plough at Leigh for lunch. 24 miles. No preorder required.
The return is a straightforward 13 miles to Ashtead via Punchbowl Lane and Leatherhead (no Little Switzerland climb! 😊) . Tea will be at LJs Brew & Bites in Barnett Wood Lane.
Please email me by 5pm on Monday to book your place.
You are cordially invited to join our ride from Cobham to Ashtead where we will dine at The Woodman in Barnett Wood Lane.
This pub is a very popular and hectic place so they have asked us to pre-order our lunches. Please make your selection from their vast menu and let me know what you've chosen.
For those of you who are fearing that a ride from Cobham to Ashtead must be a very brief and flat affair, devoid of any undulations I need to inform you that this route was planned by Paul James. There will therefore be two mountains before lunch which will include some steep and technically challenging sections in High Barn Lane, one of those hills we all love. And our brakes will need to be in sound working order, especially for the Ranmore Road descent into Dorking where there is some risk of becoming airborne if we go too fast.
This is Paul's route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53791975
Your highly experienced leaders will be John A and Tim G, and I will lead a third team. Start times are expected to be 10:30, 10:40 and 10:50.
For parking ride towards the rear car park then lock your bikes at the back of the pub in a courtyard between the pub and the garden dining area. Take care not to block access to the rear door from the car park.
We are going to be sitting at tables in a large room allocated to us so that the staff will be able to find us.
Please confirm that you will be coming and advise me what you'd like for lunch. I need this by lunchtime on Monday please.
~ Tim C
Thank goodness the sun was shining after the recent wet weather, for our ride from Banstead Community Centre to the Surrey Oaks pub in Newdigate. 17 riders signed up for an interesting ride with a few hills thrown in! There were 3 groups - reports from Tim G and Pete B below.
Steph was my back marker, and we were joined by Paul J, Martina, Fixie Dave, and Alan C. I had always wondered what was down Hogspudding Lane so we rode an interesting 4 mile loop around there (lovely and quiet but lots of pot holes). The food and service in the pub was excellent! Great to have Diane and Terry join us there for lunch.
~ Julie
Tim G writes:
The weather forecast over the last few days had been so dreary we were all so thankful for the promise of a dry, fine and sunny day. The facilities at the Banstead Community Center are proving to be increasingly popular and a welcome 11’s venue despite the inevitable climb to get there.
Our initial group of five set out on time and made our way over to Tattenham Corner to pick up our sixth member and then carry on for the rest of the morning ride. Some were feeling a little sedentary, perhaps after a spell of inactivity, but the ‘up and down’ nature of the route soon re-energised their spirits. Encouraged by some welcome winter sunshine we passed through Walton-on-the-Hill, Headley, down Pebblehill Road, Betchworth then on along familiar country lanes to Parkgate. An interesting off-road loop around Chidworth was new to most of us with a surface that was surprisingly good for a winter ride.
Our afternoon ride included another interesting section through Strood Green. Another new diversion for most of us. With a final climb up Punchbowl Lane we were soon on our way along the cycle path towards Leatherhead. The river Mole was in full flow and we were taken by surprise by a flooded section of the path. Cautiously we sailed through without getting our feet wet. Most of the group peeled off at Leatherhead but the remaining ‘old retainers’ (gasping for refreshment) headed up to ‘Lucio’s Cafe’ where we were soon joined by other A and B group cyclists seeking similar teatime sanctuary and refuge.
Thanks to everyone who made today’s ride a success. To Julie for planning the route and TimC for his ever dutiful back marking. A good day had by all !
~ Tim G
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| Team Tim G, minus Brenda |
Pete writes:
I was down to take 5 riders out, but that changed to 6 after Karen a ‘C’ group rider requested to join me. How could I resist I thought !! I followed the route as far as Tadworth (my home) and that’s where my Garmin went horribly wrong and we ended up going up a couple of lovely quiet roads where we viewed an old WW2 air raid shelter and an old water tower. Then it was on to Headley and down Pebble Hill Road which was exceptionally quiet. From then on my Garmin behaved itself and we arrived at The Surrey Oaks for a lovely lunch. Thank you all for your company and well done Karen for joining us.
~ Pete B
We were very fortunate with the weather. This Wednesday was
the only day in the forecast which was dry and sunny. It was surrounded by days
and days of wet, grey overcast. So, 13 A Groupers turned up at Banstead for the
ride, plus Dave B who joined us for elevenses.
We split up into two groups, one led by Brian and the other by me. Brian’s group set off first.
We started off by rolling down the hill from Banstead towards Chipstead, then along the road to Coulsden heading for Farthing Down.
As we approached the summit of Farthing Down, we could see Brian’s group stopped ahead of us at the top. I don’t know why they had stopped, but they gave us a good bit of applause and Allez! Allez! Allez! as we went past.
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| Brian's Group |
 |
| My Group |
 |
| How many cyclists needed to power up a Garmin? |
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CTC South West London Annual Lunch and Prizegiving
We are delighted to tell you that Jennie has booked the Ristorante Sorrento (379 Ewell Road, Tolworth, KT6 7DE) for our annual lunch.
This
has proved to be a most popular venue for the occasion since our first
visit in 2018 and we are pleased to be able to hold the event there
again.
The set price for our three-course lunch will be £25.25. This includes a 10% service charge, but does not include any drinks, coffee or tea. This is our menu:
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| Click on menu to enlarge |
We expect the occasion will be attended by over 60 members, as it has been in recent years.
Please send an email message
to Tim Court with your order for (i) a starter and (ii) a main meal.
The waiters will take your orders for dessert after the main course on
the day.
The
preferred method of payment (£25.25) is a direct transfer via your
online banking facility, but we can also accept cash or a cheque. For
online payment please ask Tim C for our bank details if you don’t
already
have them. For a cash or cheque payment please check with Tim or your
section representative. For anyone who has yet to pay their 2026 club
subscription please consider adding your £3 when you pay for your lunch.
Attendance for all groups was high in 2025 and many have been off on other adventures too. So we hope that you have been busy with your cameras and phones and are keen to review your photos and send the best ones in for the competition and for the exhibition to be held at the Annual Lunch.
Please submit your photos before the end of January using this method:
Visit this website: '2025 Competition Dropbox' and follow instructions to select and deliver your photos. This is what you should see:
N.B.
When using this website to post photos to the Dropbox it is not
necessary to sign up to, or log into Dropbox even if you are invited to
do so.
Click on 'Add files' to select the source of your
photos then select your photos (or folders), or if you already have your
file list open just drag and drop photos from the list into the white
box.
Once you have selected one or several photos fill in your name and email address then click 'Upload'.
Send an email to me, Tim, to provide this important information about each photo:
The
rules and categories are simple. The full 'Competition Rules' document
is available under the 'Information Hub' heading on our website.
Competition Period: Photos taken during the 2025 calendar year.
Your
photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a
bicycle or cyclist for example, or some obvious cycling association.
You may submit two photos in each category:
6.1. Male one or more male cyclists
6.2. Female one or more female cyclists
6.3. Action cyclist(s) in action
6.4. Scenery scenery or landscape
6.5. Building buildings, architecture
6.6. Humorous funny or amusing
6.7. Group any mix of male and female cyclists
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(s).
This
method for submitting photos should work with any device (PC, Apple,
iPad, iPhone, Tablet or Android phone) but if it doesn't work for you,
please let me know so that we can address the problem. It does depend
on you being able to locate the folder in your phone, tablet or PC where you store your photos. It
does not require you to install the DropBox software.
This is the
best way of sending photos. Please note that other methods of
transmitting photos, such as WhatsApp, shrink the photo before sending,
diminishing the quality of the original photo as it is in your camera or
phone.
We're looking forward to seeing your photos.
~ Tim
January, 2026This
is a request to submit your mileage totals for the last twelve months
(1st Jan. 2025 to 31st Dec. 2025) for consideration towards the annual
awards for the greatest distances cycled. Your scores will be entered
into the Big Spreadsheet where, since the dawn of the 21st century, the precious
records of your accomplishments in the club have been maturing.
There
are two shiny trophies, one for the woman who has cycled more miles
than any other woman and one for the man with the highest mileage amongst
the men.
And
we have a special award, the Mark Roy Trophy, for the person recording
the largest increase in mileage over the previous year. So anyone who
has posted their mileage for both 2025 and 2024 is eligible.
To
summarise the rules, your miles must have been clocked up whilst riding
your bicycle, tricycle, tandem or eBike on or off road. Mileages
achieved on turbo trainers, Watt bikes or any other static contraption
don't count. We know that this is something of a blow to members who have been riding
through virtual alpine landscapes with Zwift or Rouvy but we only consider miles actually, rather than virtually, travelled.
For
the competition, contenders for the prizes must be regular riders in
the club though we are happy to collect mileage data for everyone who is
a paid up member of CTC South West London. And we wish to continue
recording mileages for our several members who ride eBikes.
If you are curious at all about how many miles you
ride in the course of a year please start recording your distances for 2026 in a diary or spreadsheet.
Just one word of warning;
several riders who use a GPS enabled device such as a Garmin, or
smartphones running apps like Strava or RideWithGPS have experienced
rides when their devices stop communicating with the satellites,
sometimes for quite a while, and this can lead to totally unreliable data.
So please verify the accuracy of your data. The evidence of this known
problem is a long straight bee-line between two points on your ride
where you know the road really had many twists and turns.
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| Fixie Dave's Garmin nodded off for a while with this result! |
In
my opinion this is not a problem which is specific to Strava or other
phone app but is to do with the phone and its own software, memory
resources perhaps. This erroneous data can also accumulate if you have
hopped on a train with your bike but forgotten to stop recording 😏. Fancy doing that!
Please write to me with your total mileage:
Tim Court (Associate Bean Counter*)
We
hope to be able to present the prizes in our traditional awards
ceremony at the Annual Lunch, this year on Wednesday 4th March.
A very Happy New Year to you all and if you haven't been collecting your mileage scores please start now, from January 1st, 2026.
The Bean Counters need your numbers!
~ Tim C
*Nota Bene: The Bean Counting committee comprises Mick Arber and myself. Mick's primary source of fun is collecting the weekly attendance scores for Wayfarers and crunching the figures for all groups to identify the winners of the attendance trophies.
We've received news from Colin's daughter Katie:
"Surgery seems to have been about 8 hours on Thursday but no complications. He is still in ICU but is making good progress - just understandably quite weak at the moment. Hoping to be transferred to High Dependency Unit on Monday or Tuesday and then back to the ward in due course. He'll be chuffed to know people were wanting to know ☺️"
Next week’s A Group ride is from the Banstead Community Centre.
Lunch will be at the recently refurbished Jack Fairman in Horley and tea in Leatherhead.
It’s about 19 miles to lunch and 16 miles to tea. According to Garmin, the total ascent is 1,500 feet.
I hope you will be able to join me and the weather will be kind.
If you want to come along please let me know (clive.janes@gmail.com) by Monday evening.
Thanks, Clive
The weather forecast for Wednesday was dire - sustained rain all day. When dawn broke, any hope that the forecasters were wrong was dashed, with rain clearly settling in. Very sensibly, most of the B group who had originally planned to ride decided this wasn't a good idea.
Remarkably, however, 13 hardy (or deluded?) souls set forth through the rain - sometimes drizzle, sometimes relatively serious, but annoyingly persistent - to coffee at the Walton Marina Boathouse. And all but one agreed that, despite the wet already working around, and through, their so-called 'waterproof' (ha!) gear, a ride was just the thing for a sodden January day. So 3 groups of 4, lead by Francis, Stephen and Steph, gritted their teeth, pulled on their damp gloves and jackets, and set forth.
Francis reports: It couldn't have been more different.....I had had a smooth recce in glorious blue skies and sunshine only a few days before Wednesday's ride. Well I shouldn't be surprised: it is the UK and January after all!
You are warmly invited to join me on a ride starting at Banstead Community Centre.
The morning ride is 21 miles going through Epsom Downs, Headley, and Betchworth - finishing at the Surrey Oaks pub in Newdigate. The afternoon ride finishes in Leatherhead (10.6 miles) My sub-leaders are Tim G and Pete B. I will publish the final route later, after a final recce.
Surrey Oaks would prefer pre-orders to make the service more efficient - menu can be viewed here https://www.thesurreyoaks.com/food-wine
Please can you let me know if you’d like to come on the ride by 5pm on Monday - with your food choices:
email juliembuckman@btinternet.com
WhatsApp 07803 005516
~ Julie
The weather was the main feature of this ride. Unfortunately the forecast of heavy rain led to many riders cancelling, probably sensibly, especially since some were recovering from flu or illness. Nevertheless I expected 4 riders for coffee at The Riverhouse Barn. I arrived at 10 am and the staff had set out Daffodils on each table which brightened the whole day up.
Then Andy C, Gillian H, Dave V and Patrick arrived in quick succession. Andy came up with a plan B to ride to Weatherspoons in Staines. I cancelled the Waterman's Arms and we set off in the rain on a modified route over Walton Bridge and then bypassing Shepperton on Church Road and then going along Thames Side from Chertsey Bridge. The Thames was very swollen and even the swans were huddling in alcoves next to the boats to escape the current. The roads had some large puddles as you would expect, but mercifully little traffic. We came back onto the A376 Shepperton Road and then joined the Staines Road at Laleham. Instead of the towpath we followed this road to The George, locked our bikes outside and went in for lunch. It was 11.45 am, the earliest lunch I have had for some time.
Despite the rain we weren't too wet. It was not the driving hard stuff that permeated all your clothing. I had wet feet, but that was it. The others seemed to be the same. We took our time over lunch and left at 1.30 pm.
Was I bonkers to lead a ride in the rain? Oh totally! Then again I had company. We followed the same route back to the River House Barn where Andy and I stopped for tea at 2 pm and the others decided to ride home while still wet. At least the temperature was mild and we got some exercise. My new Goretex shake dry jacket came in handy and was the first time I had tried it. An excellent jacket! I was completely dry underneath apart from water seeping into my gloves and overshoes.
Maximum respect for the riders who came out with me! Particular thanks to Andy for using his vast knowledge to formulate plan B and offer to lead a group. Look forward to the next challenge.
I look forward to seeing you for the B Group ride on 21 Jan. It will start from the Boathouse café at Walton Marina. Note: not the Wilde Brunch cafe. There are 3 subgroups:
Group 1 - 10.30am start
Francis
Arwyn M
Dave C
Gill F
Geoff G (may join at Bushy Park entrance)
Dawn M
Martina S
Ray Y
Group 2 - 10.45am start
Stephen
Bernard
Sabina
Chris H
Tim C
Maggs Mck
Liz B
Anne W
Chris McC
John A
Group 3 - 11.00am start
Steph
Paul J
Maggie J
Mick A
Ian W
Caroline B
Nigel A
Tim G
Any problems, or anyone been missed, let me know.
We shall start from The Riverhouse Barn Cafe in Walton and cycle 16 miles and 300 ft of ascent to The Waterman's Arms Eton. The return is 14 miles and 11 ft of ascent to The Sunbury Emroidery Centre and Garden Cafe.
After a recent spell of bleak and wintery weather a window of opportunity presented itself with the prospect of a bright, fine and sunny day. Having done an early reshuffle twelve cyclists in two groups left the Christian Centre in Dorking having indulged themselves with copious amounts of mid-morning refreshment to set out on today’s ride.
A quick climb up and over Cotmandene took us out of Dorking and headed south vis North Holmwood, Henfold, Newdigate to The Jordans where we turned and headed back up to Parkgate, Leigh and over to Brockham. So refreshing to cycle along country lanes in fine sunny conditions. A great bonus for a ride in mid January.
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| A sunny team MA |
The path across Betchworth golf course proved a bit gloopy after the previous day’s rain but we nevertheless promptly arrived at ‘The Stepping Stones’ after a brisk morning ride. Service was prompt, efficient and welcoming. A tried and tested lunchtime venue. We were soon joined by the second group and Peter B and his daughter Victoria who kindly took a group photo of us all.
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| Lunch at 'The Stepping Stones'. |
Our afternoon ride took us via Leatherhead, Epsom and Ashtead Common to emerge close to the Horton Estate. Everyone at this stage was keen to carry on home via Epsom so I seized upon the opportunity to enjoy a bit of solitary ‘quality time’ over a pot of tea at the ‘Old Moat’ Garden centre. Peace and quiet was soon short lived once the second group arrived as we then compared notes on the day’s events and had a lively and buoyant debrief.
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| Team JA outside the pub. |
Thanks to everyone who turned out today and to our two subbies, John A and Mick A who dutifully led our two groups in typically expert style. Our efforts were duly rewarded with a day of dry, bright and fine weather. A good day had by all !
TimG.
You are invited to join the B ride from Walton on Wednesday Jan 21, starting from 'The Boathouse' café (at the Marina, near Walton Bridge) and ending in Kingston. The ride will include sections of Thames paths (which seem good, even in wet conditions). Routes from Walton to Kew and from Kew to Kingston below.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53705267
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53703365
Lunch will be at the Express Tavern, near Kew Bridge (or near Brentford's Gtech, if your geography is based more on football stadium locations). There's no obligation to order food in advance, but it would help the catering if we can give them some advance notice of what is likely be in demand. So if you can, please let me know what you are likely to order. There are 2 menus: a Bar Menu (below) and a full menu (poor photo or QR code below).
Tea (for those who don't want to rush home) at the café in All Saints Church in central Kingston. They close at 4pm (last orders 3.50pm), but there are alternatives locally if anyone needs a later cup.
Let me know (email shfhickey@gmail.com or 0798 344 5252) if you'd like to ride, by Monday mid-day please.
Looking forward to riding with you!
Stephen
I awoke to a bright, sunny & crisp morning & set off on my usual route to Dorking's St Martins.
At the top of Lodgebottom Road, I did spot a frozen puddle but I continued downhill on what looked like a dry road to the junction of Old London Road & Headley Lane.
As I turned left, at low speed, down I went...ouch!
Black ice clearly had me fooled, & after composing myself, I gingerly carried on to meet the Wayfarers for coffee.
The complexity of the hot drinks machine had the lovely ladies behind the counter scratching their heads as it initially failed to produce any hot beverage, I opted for a good old fashioned instant!
Fifteen plus myself had signed up but by the 'off' we were down to two groups & mine was off first.
Comprising Sue, Brian, Karl, Simon & Dave B who following his injury, was attempting to regain fitness.
Heading due south, the bright low sun bathed the surrounding countryside & the quiet familiar lanes took us in a circle back to Dorking, where shortly after, Dave left us avoiding the climb to The Cock Inn at Headley.
With four layers, I was toastie by the time I got to the pub & we all joined Steve's group who were already ensconsed in area set aside for our groups.
Gina had made the trip from Tadworth too & was enjoying her butternut squash soup.
After ordering, we waited........and waited..........and waited.
One by one food orders appeared, but it was painfully slow to watch.
But the food appeared of good quality (in particular the fish goujons) & quantity & with a 20% discount January promotion applied, all in all I think folk were satisfied.
Thankfully, it was a mere 9 miles to tea at the Flying Saucer café, Bourne Hall, Ewell which I think we all agreed was out of this world!
Thank you to Simon for backmarking my group.
Thanks to Steve for leading the other group & here's his report:
On a cold but bright morning, members of the 11’s group gathered at the Pheasantry in Bushy Park for the Nor’Westers Ride. Despite the chilly weather, there was an excellent turnout, with Tony, Pete, Liz, Gill, Geoff, Jane, Paula, Ray, Martina, Dawn, Bob, John C., Ann C., and Lillian all taking part.
The riders were divided into two groups for the day’s journey. Tony led Group 1, while Ray took charge of Group 2. As heavy rain had fallen the previous day, much of the off-road riding was removed to keep the route safer and more enjoyable. Even so, the ride provided a varied and scenic journey through some of Southwest London’s best cycling areas.
The ride began with Cobblers Walk to Hampton Wick, then continued along Broome Road into Teddington, crossing over the lock. From there the groups turned left onto Riverside Drive, followed by the narrow Cut Throat Alley. The route then went along Ham Avenue off-road, around Ham Common, into Church Road and into Richmond Park at Ham Gete.
A longer loop through the park took the riders from Richmond Gate to Sheen Gate before descending into Sheen and Mortlake. The group then used the cycle path across Chiswick Bridge, turned into Hartington Road, and followed the riverside through Strand-on-the-Green. This brought us to the north side of Kew Bridge, where they joined the C9 cycleway to Syon Park and finally reached their lunch stop at the Town Wharf pub.
The warmth of the pub was very welcome after the cold ride, especially with the landlord lighting the artificial coal fire. The menu offered a good choice and the food arrived promptly, allowing everyone to relax and enjoy a well-earned break. Although it was hard to leave the warmth behind, the group eventually set off on a straightforward return route back to Bushy Park.
After crossing the bridge, six riders stopped for tea and lingered happily at Dish before heading home. It had been a lovely ride, despite the chilly conditions.
Special thanks were given to Geoff for bringing up the rear of Tony’s group and to Ray for leading Group 2, helping to make the day both safe and enjoyable for everyone.
Tony..
Our ride from Dorking will take us south towards Rusper via Henfold and Newdigate then back to Westhumble via Parkgate and Brockham. Lunch is at ‘The Stepping Stones’.
The shorter afternoon ride will take us back for tea at ‘The Old Moat’ g/c at Horton.
Please reply by Monday evening to be included on the ride list.
Email - timgibbons1@virginmedia.com
WhatsApp - 07756961505
Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday.
TimG.
Fortunately, disaster was narrowly averted! But I jump ahead of myself. It would be completely wide of the mark to call it a kamikaze mission. For a start, none of us was flying a plane! Admittedly, there was a yellow weather warning for ice in force for the start of the ride, but five of us were determined to keep the flag flying (or at very least, to avoid going stir-crazy)! Midweek Wayfarers' elevenses at Cobham had been cancelled, so a small 'coalition of the willing' arranged our own alternative at Squires, Long Ditton, any onward ride from there to depend on conditions we had met on the way.
I think we had all expected trouble on the way to the meet-up. I know I cautiously pushed my bike to the end of my rather slippery road before actually starting my ride, and then studiously avoided any other road or path I thought might not have been gritted. It was a bit of an anti-climax, really, as, in the event, none of us had any trouble getting to the rendezvous. There was the odd bit of ice here and there in the side of the road, but otherwise, conditions were fine for cycling providing you were sensible, and it was a lovely, sunny morning.
Patrick, Hans and I therefore had no hesitation in setting off from elevenses on an (ahem) carefully-planned route towards Twickenham, our chosen lunch spot. It was a cooperative effort - I led as far as Richmond Park, when common sense, in the form of Hans, took over the lead. At that point our pace was seen to rise markedly, and we managed to take in the two worst climbs in the park, both of which I usually dodge! I can honestly say that we did not encounter any icy roads at all, and, by the time we reached our lunch stop, The Sussex Arms, the temperature was a balmy seven degrees centigrade according to my Garmin!
At lunch, we were joined by Simon and Paula. The pub, a new one to me, had a friendly clientele, and an excellent bargain lunch deal. I would go there again, although the service was a little slow! The main attraction for me was the cat cosily perched on the crisp boxes behind the bar! Even though it was, by now, so balmy outside, it was very hard to drag ourselves away from the cosy wood fire, but we eventually (once Paula had found my lost keys for me!) went our separate ways home.
Oh, the disaster we narrowly avoided - well, think of the consequences if there had been no club rides at all that day! Our dear editor desperately needs copy to feed the beast, and it has to come from somewhere! Thanks all for your company, and for braving the elements! And roll on spring!
