Sunday’s ride starts from Whiteley Village Community Cafe KT12 4EG, and travels towards Cobham, Ripley, Leatherhead and finally onto Epsom, approx 23 miles. with a mixture of tarmac and off-road paths.
In Epsom, we shall enjoy a leisurely lunch at our usual venue, The Assembly Rooms, and have the chance to catch up with other club members.
As the weather forecast at present does not look good I propose to end the ride there.
Elevenses at Café Barbera, Stoke D'Abernon.
Fourteen miles to lunch/AGM at Merton Abbey Mills where there are multiple food outlets.
I plan to visit in the coming days to identify a suitable venue.
But it may be an idea to carry sandwiches just in case.
No afternoon tea.
GPX on request.
I hope you can join me!
For something a bit different, we decided to see what life (and cycling) is like north of Watford. We headed to the old Roman city of St Albans, and the verdict was that the cycling is excellent!
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| First toilet stop |
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| Second toilet stop (taken by our Eye in the Sky, Eric) |
Lunch was near Watford so we had 20+ miles to cover in a more or less straight line north, fairly quiet roads except for the occasional traffic queue of people doing whatever they do on Sundays, and also consistently a bit uphill to Northwood Hills. Eventually we arrived in Cassiobury Park, dodging dinosaurs in the undergrowth, to arrive at the cafe, where we were served pretty quickly. The weather was a mix of sun and overcast, good cycling weather, and it was pleasantly warm to sit outside.
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| Cassiobury Park |
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| Gorehambury Park |
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| remains of Gorehambury House |
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| What it used to look like. Drone photo from 1578. |
A few left for the station before tea, a few left for the station after tea, and a few of us did a bonus ride of another 15 miles to Borehamwood, through delightful Hertfordshire countryside in the quiet of the evening sun. That just left Eric still in the pub, as he was meeting friends there.
Many thanks to all who turned out for a journey into the unknown and made it such good fun and a pleasure to lead the ride. Thanks also to Brian G who led the Wayfarers to St Albans in 2019, showing us Gorehambury Park. And special thanks to Andy for co-leading, Alan and Jennie for back marking, and to everyone who took pictures of a special day out.
* From Andy's 2002 rides list: Jul 28 - Watford Sainsburys, St Albans, Batchworth - Andy (09.01 train East Croydon to Mill Hill Broadway)
On Sunday we will visit the historic city of St Albans, about 35 miles, catching the train back. There is some off-road, a section of the Ebury Way and a short stretch of the Grand Union Canal towpath both of which are solid stony surfaces. As a bonus if you wish you can ride with me after tea to Borehamwood station, another 15 beautiful miles to get you to a London Zone 6 station.
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| St Albans Cathedral |
We meet at Twickenham Wetherspoons, the William Webb Ellis, which is on the road out of Twickenham to the station (opposite the police station). Lunch is in Cassiobury Park, near Watford, 21 miles later, so you may wish to bring a snack to sustain you on the ride. The cafe may be popular on a Sunday so we will have to contend with the queues!
Tea is at a very impressive old barn, the Waterend Barn, which is also a Wetherspoons pub.
Thameslink trains run from St Albans through the centre of London to Sutton, Wimbledon and other surprising places, or you can change in London (Farringdon or Blackfriars) for westbound trains on the Elizabeth line or a short ride to Waterloo station. Advance singles to Sutton are about £10 with a railcard and flexible off-peak tickets come out at about £13 so it may be worth going for the flexibility. I cannot guarantee the time we will get to St Albans, so if you commit to an early train back, you might miss your tea, or even your train! You don't need a bike reservation for the train.
I hope you are able to join us.
It was expected to be another lovely day courtesy of high pressure that's been with us for a couple of weeks.
Twelve riders met at Walton-on-the-Hill's village café for an alfresco 11's.
I produced some historic documents from a recent meeting with Colin Q who has kindly passed them to me:
A Sou'wester from December 1979 (10p) where amongst the 'For Sales' at the back was this offer:
One Brooks B18 saddle (plastic, very hard). Suitable for someone with no feeling! - £1.00
Also a rides list from December 1990:
Lorraine headed back home whilst Dave, Simon, Eric, Alan, Steph, Sabina, Bernard, Tim, Keith & Robert joined myself to take the bridleway across Walton Heath Golf Course.
But within minutes of leaving the café, I realised I had forgotten to pay for my white americano. On announcing this, Sabina & Simon also said they hadn't paid either...a triple senior moment!
Simon kindly offered to return & settle the unpaid bill & we waited in the wood.
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| Carved from ancient Surrey oak, the two pieces of the sculpture are placed the same distance apart as the aircraft's wingtips and made to the exact dimensions. Buried inside the sculpture, forming part of it, is metal recovered from the crash site. |
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| Trig point on Pilgrims Lane as part of NDW (image from Eric) |
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| 11 miles |
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| 14 miles |
It is so long since I have used this website that I have completely forgotten what to do. So much for 'tempus'. Please forgive my fumbling. Many will have no idea who the heck I am. For those few that do, my only purpose is to let you know that my younger son, Mark, has recently died in San Francisco. I am still unclear of the circumstances. The Coroner will no doubt soon let me know.
His elder brother Nigel is pringing home his ashes. When I was Editor of the Newslettter. I too often was writing 'In Memoria'
I do hope that I may soon see some of you again.
With best wishes,
Jeff Tollerman.
