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.