Sunday 10th August 2025

 This brilliant summer weather continues resulting in respectable numbers at both 11's & lunch.

Today was no exception despite the climb to Polesden Lacey with just Caroline & John turning for home (something about packing).

Geoff left us at Westhumble on his new ebike & Terry also left us to be reunited later whilst we continued to Brockham, Bunce Common Road turning left at the Seven Stars.

Here, Fixie Dave was spotted going in the other direction, destination unknown.

Doubling back towards Brockham Keith left us after which we stopped for a pic.

Andy C, Dave J, Alan C, Gina C, Dave W, Dave E, Niall C, Jennie J

Jennie kept us guessing up to the last minute with a lovely off-road section across Ashtead & Epsom Commons where Colin G was spotted sans bike.

Colin Q, Diane & Terry were waiting for us at Spoons in Epsom & we all stopped for a natter.

Thanks to Jennie for leading, Dave for backmarking & everyone else for their support.

Plans for Sunday 10 August 2025

Sunday’s ride from Polesden Lacey will be via Brockham and Leigh then on to Epsom for lunch at Weatherspoons, about 25 miles. If anyone wants to ride after lunch, then we can take them Bushy Park.

Mainly on road but some off road on tracks and paths.

See you on Sunday 

Jennie J

Punctures, Lights and Level Crossings

 Sunday the 3rd August 2025

What a day, got to Staines fine, left 11’s, flat rear tyre, repaired and off we go, level 

crossing barrier down, off we set again. Egham, level crossing barrier down. Through

 Egham and a short stretch of the A30 heading up to Englefield Green, road works 

and traffic lights, I think we encountered another 3 road works with lights during the

 day. 

 

 

Leaving 11's

Eventually we entered Windsor Great park(WGP) and left to take the edge of the 

Peanut round about, through Crambourne and then Maidends Green and Nuptown, 

hen Wellers Lane took us to lunch at Moss End and on;ly about 1.20. At this point 

Dave W headed for home to do allotment duties.

 

 

 

Just arriving at lunch

There were delays with food as they were a tad busy, we elected to sit outside for 

about 15 minutes until the rain started, and then quickly changed our minds, luckily 

there was seating enough for us all. The food was good and we were soon ready 

for our photo session. Time to do the road again. Heading South and Warfield, 

then along Forest road to  the gated Coach road, and into Ascot race course. We 

avoided the jumps and came out on the A330 before turning into New Mile road 

down to Cheapside, it looked expensive to me!

 

 

Kids on the naughty seat

We were soon at Blacknest Gate of WGP, but as we had already been in the park, 

we turned onto the A329 to Virginia Water, tea was planned for Walton Mariana, but 

we decided on the Ferry cafe instead, it was a straight run from there to tea apart

 from a loo stop at Chertsey Bridge Hotel. Only 4 stopped for tea, Andy, Pam, Karl 

and I, Liz, Niall and Martin headed directly home. It was nice to see Graham and

 David Vine at 11’s. Thank you all for joining the ride today, luckily the rain was very 

short lived. Thanks to Dave W and Andy C for back Marking.

 Photos courtesy of Dave & Andy

Tony.. 

PLEASE NOTE RIDE CHANGE

Sunday the 3^rd August

11's is now at The George Staines

Lunch wi be at Moss End Garden Village

Tea at Walton Marina

34 miles total with a few hills.

Tony..

Four Years In The Making

 It didn't start well with no trains running through Worcester Park for 45+ minutes (engineering overrun). But the first service in any direction was for Dorking. I’d arrived early but now I was running late (10-15 minutes). To my surprise they've cut back the A25 verges. I had to investigate -  only as far as the golf course.

At Brockham Dave and Chris were eager for the off. Overfamiliar ways saw us through Newdigate to Rusper. Down from Langhurst (Schroders!) we rode walking over the A264 into Horsham where Wetherspoons was suffering from a temporary lack of clean mugs.

Three were now seven (Alan, Andy, Simon, and Patrick). After a leisurely departure Christ's Hospital was followed by Pear Tree Farm and a brief lecture on Frank Patterson. Here Dave headed for home.

This is Low Weald country so unless you know what's coming up the last 100+ yards into West Chiltington may be a surprise. Thereafter choices are limited. Sometimes single track, sometimes No overtaking (Stream Lane-Wiggonholt-Rackham). Amberley is well worth a short detour if only to admire scaffolding on the Castle!

Alan and I headed up the steep Mill Lane for an unfettered view of the Downs. The rest rode the B2139 (but not the footpath which is sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left and sometimes on both sides!)

At the Riverside Tearooms we discussed where next. Five of six were for going over the Downs and were last seen heading for North Stoke. The lone rider had done that ride early in the month and was yards from a station with no steps to climb.

The back home was not without incidence: Signalling problems (Amberley), Uncoupling (Ford/Barnham), Speed Restrictions, Recoupling (Woking). Four trains but I was home before six. About 40 miles.

a small part of the 1972 South Downs Way  guide

"Nearly" ride 2025 aka 27/07/25 mk 2

Filling in some of the missing details.

Twenty years ago the ride was North Cheam to Amberley and back (90-95 miles) hence the "nearly" tag. A ride to the coast would have been 115-120 miles. FNRTTC rides finished in Bognor (Felpham) rather than Climping.

Sunday will include the missing Amberley to the coast. Each section terminates near a railway station. Whether you ride, train, go only part way or whatever is your choice.

Rough mileage

1 Start (Brockham) ?
2 11s Horsham (Wetherspoons Lynd Cross) - 15 miles
From station S/O rbt into Hurst Road, at end turn L onto B2237,
at fork bear R to cyclists' traffic lights, S/O dual carriageway. Spoons is R.
3 Lunch Amberley (Riverside) - 18 miles
4 Off-road options to Arundel including "catching the train" (0.5 miles) and "over the Downs" (7 miles). The motorists' route (B2139/A284) is no fun (5 miles, 500 feet)!
5 Arundel to the coast and back to Ford - 8 miles
6 Home ?

Train services

leaving the choice of intermediate stations to you! Don't believe all you read

Out

Waterloo - Dorking (probably from Wimbledon or Worcester Park as Raynes Park has no lift)
0802 - 0853

London Victoria - Horsham (probably from Clapham Junction, Croydon East)
0902 - 1006
0935 - 1032 direct
1002 - 1106
1035 - 1132 direct

London Bridge - Horsham (probably from Croydon East)
0939 - 1032
0955 - 1106 (direct but all stations)
1009 - 1106
1039 - 1132

Back 

Ford - East Croydon
xx07 - via Horsham
xx35 - via Worthing
xx48 - via Worthing

Ford - via Havant!
xx06
xx16
xx46

If you wish to browse more of this useful(?) info try

 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Je6L4V9y0nankIAUDb-mswoxudmO3PTj 

"Nearly" ride 2025 aka 27/07/25

In the early noughties there were C&M all day rides to Amberley in West Sussex. Terry led the last in 2012 (see blog). The same roads were travelled by the all-night FNRTTC rides. These started at Hyde Park Corner and ended at the coast with return by train. 

It's time for a revival! An all day ride could be too far for some so I'm proposing: ride to Amberley, train back. I assume most will travel via Clapham Junction and return from any of the following: Horsham, Amberley, Arundel, Ford, Barham, less likely Bognor, Littlehampton (for "Brighton"). 

It's 15+ miles from home to Dorking (18+ to the start). Thanks to my Freedom Pass/Senior Railcard, I need only pay for Ewell East to Dorking and Coulsdon South to Ford.  I'll buy returns for both journeys.

Trains (hopefully accurate)

For Dorking the only direct service is : 08.11 arriving Dorking 08.53.
No Sunday service south of Dorking.

Elsewhere
(1) the only Southern direct service is hourly from Victoria to Bognor (via Gatwick etc).  A second service terminates in Horsham (unless heading to/from Spoons you might be waiting 30+ minutes. Shunting?
(2) From Ford services run west to "Portmouth" and east to "Brighton".
(3) Redhill to Betchworth might be fun (Surrey's least used station)! but arrival time is 0915.
(4) Thameslink has services (mostly direct sometimes nonstop)
      from East Croydon to Horsham at xx53 and xx23
      from Horsham to East Croydon at xx20 and xx50

Possible Route

        Plenty of alternatives except south of West Chiltington

Start: Brockham Reading Room (open 0900)

ride 15 miles to Horsham(11s) Wetherspoons (1100)
        from station to Spoons:
        S/O station rbt into Hurst Road,  at end turn L onto LB2237,
       at fork bear R to cyclists' traffic lights, S/O dual carriageway. Spoons is R.

ride 18 miles to Amberley Riverside(Lunch) 1300)
        Has 2 or 3 pubs, 2 or 3 tearooms, Museum, Castle,  Store/PO
        Traffic lively on B2139. Tarmac footpath from village to station verges sometimes trimmed!

        miles to coast: 0(train home, not step free), 5 (train to Arundel then ride), or 15 (over Downs)
        To whet your appetite:

        Over the South Downs https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/21792
        Gurkha Bridge https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4936877
        other routes (walks and kissing gates guaranteed)

Arundel 

        full of tourists and shops catering to their needs
        long step-free footpath beside A27 connects platforms (not signposted).
        Cycle path (with subway) from/to town centre.
        A27/A259 traffic often nose to tail and overflows onto side roads.
        No more hills max: 25 feet

ride 2 miles to Ford

        level crossing, prison

ride 3 miles to Climping Beach (cycle path beside A259)

        Clear view of the sea thanks to Environment Agency's
        new embankments, extra concrete blocks
        No touristic attractions (café or loos)

The End

       Return from Ford - step free

Miscellaneous Notes

No lifts except Horsham but plenty of steps. 

Getting back other ways (not investigated)
(1)Thameslink(from Horsham) see above
(2)ride from other station eg Christ's Hospital(Downslink) to Dorking and home.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sJ1ucwdtXpTH1mMFmGcahwVhdMebh83b/view?usp=sharing
this link should allow you to copy a GPX file of seven "routes".
The smallest is Horsham Railway Station to Horsham Wetherspoons.
The largest is Dorking to Amberley.

Sunday 20th July 2025 - The ride with 4 tea stops (sort of)

 It was wet, but ok wet, summer wet, warmish wet.

Just four at the Vineries, Effingham for an extended 11's courtesy of the lad on the coffee machine.

May need "counselling" as my old employer used to call it........speed up or on yer bike!

Into the hills we went, for the first hour we were either climbing or descending, Beech Avenue, Critten Lane, Abinger Lane, Leith Hill Road, but after Forest Green we were on a gentle plateau making our way south to the lunch stop at Rudgwick & the Milk Churn.

Famous for posh cheese toasties, Martina & Simon didn't waste anytime munching away whilst waving away wasps huddled under a parasol from a passing shower.

The route home via a lovely new surface on Weare Street, albeit mainly on the less populated lower part, was a joy to ride on.

But after many days of furnace like temperatures & zero wind, I was suprised to find a tree blocking our way!

It's customary to stop & observe life at the pond.

Today, we saw a male & female mallard, a large white duck (maybe an Aylesbury) & a runner duck - pointed out by Simon.

Apparently they run instead of waddle!

We arrived at Capel at three for church teas.....but I had other ideas.

After a quick call to Terry to make sure he wasn't en route, we deserted Capel in search of a new location at Mickleham that were also serving teas this summer.

With a following warm wind & sunny skies, we arrived at the church to find, contary to information I had.....no teas.

So off we go to 51 Degrees North which of course were shut too......I mean who in their right mind would want tea & cakes at 4' o'clock in the afternoon on a sunny summer Sunday? 

Collective rolling of eyes.

Costa in Leatherhead saved the day.

Thanks to Simon for providing a couple of pics, Dave/Simon for backmarking & Martina for coming in what turned out to be an 82 mile ride for her.

A modest 51 for me.

Data from plotaroute:

Uphill - 28%

Downhill - 20%

Flat - 52%

Ride Report for Sunday 13 July - A Bridge Too Far....?

 

I write this from my sick bed as I'm suffering from a bad case of gravel fever!  I think I must have caught it from Pete B or Andy C, and extreme heat and the lack of mud anywhere probably doesn't help!

Anyway, Tony H, Graham H, Andy C, Jennie and Dave J, Keith R, and I were at the Golden Cafe, Addlestone, and I had one of my funny turns and, from my delirium, arose visions of a few local tracks I hadn't ridden in some while!   Graham knows the tell-tale signs and beat a hasty retreat in the opposite direction, and Tony also cannily caught on after a few miles, and turned for home.    

We headed first for the New Haw to Seven Arches footpath.   It's a bit bumpy, but there is also a railway foot crossing.  No big deal, you think, but the problem is that you do have to climb up some rather steep steps to the top of the embankment before you get to the railway.   And then climb down the other side.

To my surprise, nobody seemed to have used this path before (I wonder why? - Ed), and there was one of those 'ah hah' moments when they realised it emerged at 'Concorde corner', Brooklands.   After that, it was plain sailing for a bit.   Muddy Lane was like one of those seven wonders of the Isle of Wight (Cowes you cannot milk etc), because it was dry as a bone and the nettles weren't even much of a problem.

Then we came to the main event of the day, the Send church to Sutton Green footpath.   With fingers crossed I had warned the group that it might not be passable as the footpath has been officially closed for over two years owing to 'erosion', but, unfortunately, the approach path was clear and looked used, and there was no alternative but to carry on!

I don't know who designed this bridge.   They must have been very tall and thin with extremely long legs.   And likely had had a military career designing assault courses!   The fact that it is overgrown with creeper doesn't help either!   It looks innocuous enough in this picture (from an earlier C & M manifestation) but it hardly does it justice!

Anyway, you can imagine everyone's surprise and delight when confronted with this little number!   But we all made it across, dear reader, and after a rather bumpy passage across a field swerving to avoid cow pats there just remained the small matters of the stile across the barbed wire fence, and the climb up the rather steep hump-backed bridge over the canal!

It was getting quite hot by now, and Elm Nursery cafe presented itself very conveniently after a short distance.  The temptation to stop was too great, and plans to continue to Guildford were abandoned.   That meant we missed some more trails on the way back, but perhaps we'd already had more than enough fun for one day!

Thanks all for putting up with it, and thanks to Andy for back-marking and for most of the photos.

One more for the road....(or should that be off-road)?

Sunday 13 July looks like being very hot, just for a change, and the thought of riding some more shady paths and tracks is very appealing, especially as they are so dry at the moment!

So we'll still be meeting at Golden Cafe, Addlestone (NB - cash only), but we'll postpone Langley Park for now and head instead for Guildford (either the Kings Head, or the Rodboro' Buildings depending on time).

Ride Report - Sunday 6 July

 

Pete Beyer had very kindly offered to lead today's ride from Walton-on-the-Hill to Leigh, so a genuine 'bike adventure' was guaranteed!

As a first step, Pete introduced us to new elevenses venue, 'Pedals and Paws Coffee Pod', intriguingly tucked away down a windy lane round the back of Walton pond.  The service was very friendly and the coffee excellent and very reasonably priced!  Chris H joined Pete, Andy, Keith and me for elevenses, then went his own way home.   Perhaps he had inside information!

Pete had said there would be 'a few tracks', and lulled us into a false sense of security by appearing on his road bike.   Imagine our surprise and delight then when he led us down a vertiginous, chalky track leading from Colley Hill to Reigate!   The ruts would have made it fairly difficult to ride anyway, but overnight rain had added an extra frisson to the hard-packed chalk surface, adding to our delight!    But the views were spectacular, and it was well worth the effort!

 

At Dungates Lane, Buckland, we paused at a very pretty corner to entertain some very friendly Labradors and buy some eggs (as you do)!

We had already passed one unusual windmill (the windmill church at Reigate Heath), but the next one followed in quick succession, and was even more quirky - a fully-working, miniature windmill, built on top of someone's house, which powers a sawmill!   'Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel', as my old granny used to say!   Oh, the windmills of you mind!

After that, it was back to normal roads for the last part of the ride to Leigh, and a good lunch at the ever-excellent Plough at Leigh.    Heavy, thundery rain punctuated the ride home, but that was the only disappointment on this excellent ride!   Many thanks, Pete!

Plans for Sunday 6 July

Pete Beyer, who knows the lanes and byways of his part of Surrey better than anyone, has very kindly offered to lead Sunday's ride from Walton-on-the-Hill to Leigh for lunch, then back to Leatherhead for tea.   With Pete's rides you can always expect a few surprises, and some off-road tracks are promised!

One slight change is that our elevenses stop will now be at new venue Pedals and Paws Coffee Pod in the garden of The Bell PH, Walton-on-the-Hill.    To get Pedals and Paws, see https://www.thebell-therat.co.uk/map.html, but Pete will be on hand at Walton Pond at about 10.30 to meet anyone unsure of their way.

Midsummer Madness! 29 June to Ruislip Lido

It was a crazy idea to go so far north.  An urban ride on one of the hottest days of the year.   But somehow nobody realised what a daft idea it was, and it worked out pretty well.   A staggering nineteen people arrived in the northerly reaches of Osterley Park for elevenses in the cool surrounds of the Stables Cafe.  We were very pleased to welcome Fiona and Andrew to (I think) their first C&M ride, and also to welcome Chris (he of the mountain bike, not Chris H) back after a long absence.

The throng of riders

The route to Ruislip meandered through a lot of parks, quite a few annoying bike gates and across the canal several times.  It was partly cloudy and we stayed fairly cool for the first part of the ride.   Out of the blue, we arrived at the secret WW2 bunker at Uxbridge, which a few hadn't visited before.   Then a hop and a skip later we arrived at the Lido.  The wrong Lido.  Hillingdon's beautiful Art Deco lido, with swimming pools.  We stood and gazed longingly for a bit, and then continued on a lovely shaded cycle path that took us over the M40 and most of the way to Ruislip.

Wood-carved wildlife and C&M entomologists

 

Ahhh!   Hillingdon Lido

Ruislip Lido was heaving.   The car park was full.   The beach was full.   People had ignored the many warnings and were entering the water.  Who would have thought it, on a sunny Sunday?  But we stopped by the cafe and the train, and by a miracle the cafe served decent food without too much of a delay.   About half had bought their own food and found a shady spot to eat it.

Oo-err!  Ruislip Lido

The way back was more direct but we had to go further south to tea.  We passed Rayners Lane, Northolt Park and Greenford, where my group had to wait several sweltering minutes in the full sun at lights.  A short stretch on the cool canal, and then over to tea at the riverside Flying Cloud Cafe at Teddington Lock, which was shady with a breeze, and open till late.

Many thanks to all those who came on the ride for cheerfully putting up with another adventure, those who contributed photos, and especially to Andy who led a second group from GPS, and Alan and David W who back-marked.

Plans for Ruislip Lido ride, 29 June

Lovely beach, but no swimming.

With the longer days we have time to do the complete ride to Ruislip Lido, which had to be shortened at the last attempt.  I can promise a nice cafe, a miniature train, and a surprisingly green route, almost all tarmac (with a bit of canal towpath on the way back - avoidable if necessary).

11s is at the Stables Cafe, Osterley Park (as advertised) - and if anyone's worried about finding it, I'll lead a feeder ride from Bushy Park leaving at 9.45am on request.   We'll meet  for the feeder ride outside the Teddington gate at the north end of Chestnut Avenue.

Tea at the Flying Cloud Cafe, next to Teddington Lock footbridge.  33 miles from 11s to tea and less than 1,000 feet of climbing.   I hope you can join us.

PS.  It's going to be hot.   Please bring water and sun lotion.

Tourists For An Afternoon

 From the late 70s my sister lived near Basingstoke. This version of the visits dates from the middle of 2024. 

At Surbiton I joined a trio of Alan, Andy, and Simon. There was another party (Woking bound). So seven bikes filled the two vestibules with the toilet sign reading "Out Of Order" and "Occupied". 

From Winchfield it's a modest 4 miles to 11s (Redfields Garden Centre), possibly the largest garden centre I've ever visited. We arrived minutes after the 1030 opening and it was already crowded. It has everything (drinks, food, cakes etc)  lacking only air conditioning.

In these parts suburbia is on a relentless southwest march. So far it (and its cycle path!) is only halfway to the nippy A287. From Crondall the road climbs rises gently through Well to Lord Wandsworth College (google Johnny Wilkinson) in Long Sutton and scene of two mysteries: 

To the casual eye the 4 Horseshoes looks derelict but today it sported two blackboards offering food and cars in the carpark! Too early to investigate further.

So we took the next turning on the left. It was headed in the right direction but something was wrong. At the first junction signs on the unnamed right turn read "Private" "No Access" "Hedge Trimmer". Retreat  no chance - right it was.  The friendly trimmer waved us through as did an electronic barrier. Bingo! back on the route again. Why? There are two roads: Hyde Road and  Wingate Lane roughly 150 yards apart. I thought I was on Wingate Lane when in fact I was on Hyde Road (which wasn't on my 250K OS map).

We now tackled the down-up of the day to Sutton Common. The five miles to Lasham Airfield are flattish (up and down 300 ft) and straighter so traffic is more frequent and faster. The roads pass Golden Pot (being redeveloped?) and Avenue Garden Centre (an alternative lunch stop).

The Airfield is cyclist friendly. It has a new café with views of gliders taking off and landing. The bar was closed. The 94 Tour de France used the nearby A339 and I was there. The five miles to Greywell were downhill (420 down; 130 up half of which is the centre of Upton Grey). Both here and the earlier Weston Patrick are being suburbanised.

In Greywell we became tourists for an afternoon taking in the tunnel entrance (1794 but largely obscured by greenery) and King John's (Odiham) Castle (1215). We left the canal at the lift bridge into Mill Lane followed by the gentle rise into Odiham. Over tea (Bel and Dragon) there was much discussion over train tables: Winchfield has an hourly service whereas Fleet is half-hourly on Sunday afternoons.

At the critical T-junction it was left to Winchfield (1 mile; 57 or  -3 minutes), or right to Fleet(4 miles;42 minutes). We turned right .The A323 through Fleet is busy so we used the "hidden" cycle path which runs alongside the A323 between M3 and railway line.

Finally cyclists were everywhere. About 32 miles.

Way Out West From Winchfield

 At very short notice Sunday's ride will be train assisted to/from Winchfield railway station. It's around 27 miles with two bumps.

Please bring "emergency" rations and sun cream as there's few pubs/shops along the way. Co-ops near Redfields, Crondall and Odiham and that's about it!

Trains are hourly so you must catch the 0907 Waterloo 0930 Surbiton. Some trains split at Woking; you want the front portion for Basingstoke. The cheapest ticket is a Sunday Out Return - £13.70 (£9.10 for those with travel cards).

On Sunday afternoons there's half hourly (xx.02 and xx.32) services from Fleet (about 4 miles) the second leaves Winchfield at xx.27).

11s (Redfields Garden Centre) is around 3 miles from the start and opens at 1030. With a 0930 train we might get there around 1029 ! (09:30 + 0.39 + 0:20)

Lunch (Lasham Airfield with alternative, Avenue GC).

Tea (Odiham several pubs, cafes, shops 

Oxford Adventure 15 June

It was an ambitious plan, to get a dodgy bunch of C&M riders to Oxford, a longer than usual ride, with rather dodgy eating arrangements, and some extremely dodgy return-by-train options.

The weather co-operated.  Starting from the safe territory of Wetherspoons in Staines, the band of fourteen waved goodbye to Graham and left along familiar roads through Eton and Dorney to Cookham Dean and the first hill of the day, Winter Hill.  "Lunch" was not scheduled until mid-afternoon, so we had a strict 30 mins pit stop in the park at Marlow.    Andy had very kindly offered to lead a ride home from Marlow, but I had lured everyone else into a false sense of security with a gentle ride to Marlow, and they all decided to carry on.

Dorney Common

Miraculously, the 30 minute pit stop worked, despite it being a busy Sunday and people going to various cafes - all reappeared on time (1.15 by now) to tackle the big hills and beautiful Chilterns countryside on the way to Christmas Common.   At 240 metres high, it's about as big as Leith Hill, approached along woodland lanes with occasional pretty villages and sweeping views across the valley to divert you.

Turville (with windmill)

Approach to Fingest

Once on top, we had a double treat of a view ahead across endless (flat!) plains leading to Oxford, and a gorgeous descent to our lunch stop, the Spire and Spoke at Watlington, which serves excellent pizzas.   We had to brake as we entered the 20 mph limit at Watlington - very satisfying.   It was less satisfying to find that there was an hour's wait for hot food at the pub, due to it being Father's day.   As it was now 3pm we couldn't really wait an hour, so we settled for a variety of cakes.  It was sunny and everyone seemed in good spirits as we set off along the flat and quiet roads for the last 20 miles.   Maddie left us here to visit friends in nearby Benson, so we were now twelve.

Delicious pizza ...

... but not for us

Nearly there - looking back over the flatlands

I had previously led a similar ride for the Wayfarers A group in 2017, and the entry to Oxford through Cowley was a nightmare with miles of traffic queues.   This time we arrived at Oxford's ring road a little further north, and found a lovely quiet route to within a mile of the centre.   There was a short bit of jammed-up road works, just to prove we were in a city, but soon we were in the centre, surrounded by the golden stone of the colleges, spires gleaming in the evening sun, just as it says on the tin.   We sort of toured several colleges, well, we passed their entrances, but they were largely closed to the public as it's exam season, and anyway my team was more interested in the pub and the train home.

Education is on the menu

Bikes on the bus from Oxford

A celebratory pint of Education at Oxford for some of us, and we rode the final mile to the station, returning home in quite surprising ways.   Brian went back to his car at Staines, Lilian and Steph went via Basingstoke(!), several of us went via Reading and the Elizabeth Line, and Ruth and Jan stayed for a pizza and put their bikes on the coach back to London!

It all seemed to go well despite the risks and the no-lunch lunch stop, thanks to a great bunch of riders who were up for an adventure, to Andy for offering the shorter route option, and especially to Brian for leading a second group at short notice, and Jan for back marking.   Of course the weather and lovely countryside helped too.   Thank you all for your company, your lovely photos, and for making it such an enjoyable day out on the bike.