Unexpectedly, I led today's ride because David W was indisposed. He had done all the hard work: planned the route, arranged for warm, almost spring-like weather, and mustered a good crowd of people at North Cheam, including Colin Q who was just joining us for elevenses. So I offered to lead a group of twelve, and Colin and DW set off for home.
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At the Hamptons |
In the event, it went quite well, although I didn't know where I was most of the time, recognising odd bits. We stopped when we saw something interesting and quite often one of the group was able to fill us in on the details: the Hamptons, built on an old sewage works and now a picturesque New England style estate with a big park; past The Rutlish School, previously the home of John Innes of compost fame. (I didn't see the house number but surely it would have been No. 1, 2 or 3?).
Then followed an extensive tour of Wimbledon where we had plenty of time to admire many lovely houses, several little alleyways, and a bonus 'berg - a rather steep hill up to Wimbledon Common - followed by a beautiful descent with great views of London, before we almost did a circuit of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis club, home of the championships. Soon we smoothly arrived at our second Wetherspoons of the day, the Rocket at Putney.
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Putney Bridge in the background |
We've had mixed experiences of the service at The Rocket, but this time I think everyone was served reasonably quickly and soon we were back out on the road, minus Dave V and Niall who made their separate ways home. I got a bit lost around Barnes - I suspect I missed an easy route across the railway line - but the peloton was very forgiving, and we were soon crossing Richmond Park, into an increasingly strong headwind. Most people headed for home from Ham but four of us continued to Hampton Court. Andy wanted to see if we could get into The Tiltyard cafe at Hampton Court Palace, and we were told that we needed to buy tickets to the palace to visit the cafe, so that was a no. Instead, Dish did us proud. As we left, we felt the first spots of rain. I hope everyone got home safely and not too damp.
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Just three dishy blokes at Dish |
Many thanks to David for such an interesting route: get well soon! Thank you to all who joined us for all or part of the day for your company, to Jennie for back-marking - essential for quite a large group, and also to Andy for the photo.
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