Ride report for B Group - 11th February

Unfortunately Sue had to miss today’s ride so she did not experience the mild, almost pleasant and occasionally sunny weather we had today. Ray kindly stepped into her shoes to the lead the third group, and I believe added his own few tweaks to the route! 

Karl led the first group

We were the first group out of Teddington. Seven of us out and seven of us back, under a mostly leaden sky. Fortunately the rain held off and, as we approached Cobham, we even spied patches of blue and had a tailwind ! "What more could we ask for?", I asked our group. "Free beer", was the response. Well, we didn't have any of that. Honestly, there is no pleasing some people, but overall it was a good ride. I certainly enjoyed it, and judging by some of the post ride Whats-app comments, others in my group did too.

It just leaves me to say thank you to the group for your good company, thank you to Geoff for back marking, Sue for the route and Dave F for taking the lead into Cobham avoiding the floods on Plough Lane. Until next time..

~ Karl

from Gill, leader of the second Group

Stephen had a difficult puncture and was not expecting to join us but happily managed to make it to Bushy Park as his group came through, so with Grant replacing Steph, who couldn’t make it, the second group had a full house including Tony Hp, Paula, Julie, Martina and Gill H. 

Despite the potholes trying to catch us out we had a pleasant, uneventful route to lunch. A comfort break at the Longacres garden centre was welcome but Stephen’s yearning to stop for that missed morning coffee had to be thwarted as we set our sights on lunch in Cobham. The last few miles past Wisley and the back lanes of Cobham, where the sun joined us, were particularly pleasant. 

The Fairmile were very prompt with our meals and very friendly. Lovely to see Terry and Ian who joined us for lunch. Most enjoyed their food though my cheese toastie did not live up to its promise! 

Karl offered an informal group route to the Old Moat for tea, the rest headed home. 

A good route and lunch venue, thank you Sue. Sorry you were unable to enjoy the results of all your organisation. And thanks to Tony for back marking and to everyone in the team for your good company.

~ Gill

from Ray, leader of the third group:

We were the last group away and left Elleray Centre in Teddington via Middle Road, on our way to Bushy Park. The group consisted of Tim C, Tim G, Mags, Ian, Gill F, me and Liz who said her goodbyes to the group for the last time before she moves house. The weather was good with the occasional glimpse of the sun making it all worthwhile. We left Bushy behind, via the gate along Hampton Court Road and proceeded through Sunbury and Shepperton until we arrived at Chertsey Bridge, where my local knowledge was used to turn left after the bridge and cycle through the Meads before briefly rejoining the route at the fire station, just before the underpass under St Peter’s Way. After crossing the rail bridge, we then continued, along Prairie Road, turned right on to Green Lane and left along School Lane before rejoining the official route, just before the roundabout on Church Road.

Then on to New Haw, West Byfleet, Pyrford before turning left into Lock Lane. At the lock, it was noticeable how much rain had recently come down with the overflow channel working overtime and the canal looking much more like a river than a canal. After crossing Wisley Bridge we then entered an area that resembled a building site, with several potential routes to choose from, all going in the same direction as we wanted? After talking to a group of workmen and negotiating a small digger that was blocking our route we were quickly back on our way along Elm Lane and Old Lane where there was a large quantity of water running off adjacent fields on to the road making cycling unpleasant but, with motorists being considerate, quite doable.

At the entrance to Plough Lane, we were greeted to the normal road closure signs, so a quick deviation along Chilbrook Road and Downside Road and we then entered Cobham. With under a mile to go before lunch we quickly made our way along Hogshill Lane and Ickenham Road to arrive at Portsmouth Road where a quick right and a left took us to The Fairmile pub which turned out to be a real find. Service was quick and friendly and there was more than enough space for all of us to sit down and reflect on the ride we had just done.

 

A big thank you to my group who were good company along the way and a special thank you to Tim C who back marked for us and to Tim G who took anyone who wanted to go to the Old Moat for tea.

~ Ray

Ray's route with Team 3 showing his improvisations