Mogador! June 14th

Mogador!   A name to strike terror into the hearts of regular cyclists.  But why?   Perhaps they have heard of the mountains that must be conquered to reach the destination, or the awful bogs that are created by the slightest bit of rain.   Or maybe they are just confusing it with Mordor in the Lord of the Rings?  Other people simply shrug and say "Where?".   To which the answer is near Walton on the Hill.

Despite all these connotations, a goodly number turned up at Henry VIII's favourite Wetherspoons, The Nonsuch Inn at North Cheam. It was good to meet Crystal, a C&M rider from quite a while back, who knew Keith and Andy.  The kitchen was on a go-slow and so there was quite a long delay waiting for breakfasts to turn up.   Eventually we got away in two groups of about six, leaving Colin, Lorraine, Dave V and David J to enjoy unlimited coffee and chat in the pub.

The route I'd chosen was based on some earlier Wayfarers rides led by past members Paul K and Rob M who now mainly rides with the Beginners.   We went up the track from Carshalton to Oaks Park, up a bit more to Woodmansterne, swooped down to Coulsdon and then up again to Chipstead, before the undulations of Mugswell.  Around half past one we arrived at The Sportsman, said to have been one of Henry VIII's hunting lodges.   Pete B, who had been waiting there for nearly an hour, was on his fourth pint and on the point of going home, but we were so pleased to see him that he stayed for an enjoyable chat in the sunny garden while waiting - again - for the arrival of Christina & Dawn's hot meals.

Party atmosphere

Niall and Neil have a serious man chat

Pete offered to lead us across the golf course back to Walton on the Hill - maybe as retribution for our late arrival.  It was off road, as expected, but also had quite a few very large puddles and patches of mud which were difficult to avoid.  Neil, Gina, Keith and Crystal made their own way home, to enjoy some different mud.   We did a bit of a loop via Tattenham Corner to enjoy the views, before rolling down to Epsom and Alexandra Park for tea (no connection to Henry VIII, sorry).

The bogs of Mogador

Tea at Alexandra Park

Thanks to all who came along for the ride or just for the coffee, it was good to have your company, and great to see all your photos.   And thank you to Keith for co-leading, and Jennie for back marking.

Plans for Sunday June 14th

Sunday's ride will be as advertised, from Wetherspoons at North Cheam to Mogador, where we will visit The Sportsman pub.   Tea will NOT be at the Flying Saucer Cafe at Bourne Hall Park, Ewell, because they're closed (another cunning plan is in preparation), and there's some off-road on the return from The Sportsman, as we cross the golf course.   I hope you can join us.

Minutes from Cheam & Morden CTC Member Group AGM 2026

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YvimNAWIIhabPCj_kVa2kflU7c_0QhjQ/view?usp=sharing 

Ride to Flowerland, Iver - Sunday 31 May

'Twas the last day of spring, and fourteen of us gathered outside the cafe at Osterley Park to venture into the unknown with a ride designed by Tony H.   It was good to see Diane with her "grand-dog" and especially pleasing to see David J back on the bike, just joining us for 11s today.

I was leading - I had done a recce last weekend but a lot has happened since then, so I was a bit vague about the route.   Even after doing the ride, we were all still a bit vague about where we had been.   Anyway, we organised in two groups, Jennie leading the second group and with Steph and Bernard back-marking, and set off.   

The organisation seemed to work well, and there were a lot of positive comments about the route, such as "Where are we?", "I've never been here before", and "We're in Datchet?  No!".  We'd start along a familiar road, and then take an unexpected turning and be completely lost for a while in a cycle paths or lanes, taking a few turns here and there, emerging disorientated after a few miles somewhere completely different but recognisable.  For the record, we went to Norwood Green, Heston, Cranford Park, Hayes, Dawley, Colham Green, Pield Heath, Cowley and Iver, which just illustrates how far off the beaten track we were.

Urban jungle

Pesky gates

Hmm, that looks familiar

Ah, we might be in ... where was it?

Several people had never been to Flowerland garden centre in Iver before, and it was more like JungleLand when we went in; packed with tropical vegetation.   As we were having our lunch, we were approached by a lady called Lilian from the Uxbridge Loiterers cycling group, who knew Tony H and asked me to say hello to Tony from her.   Hello Tony!    We were all served quite quickly once we found the cafe, and we set off again for Hampton Court.

JungleLand

We were probably on more familiar ground in the afternoon, but even so Tony managed to find plenty of roads we'd never travelled on before, and an impressive and unexpected view of Windsor Castle as we left Slough on a long straight road heading straight towards the castle.  It's almost as if someone had planned it.  Another interesting route back via Langley, Slough, Datchet, Poyle, Stanwell and Snakey Lane to a riverside tea at Hampton Court lock.

Castle in the distance

It's the job of ride leader to be aware of how the group interacts with traffic for the safety of the group, and to ensure we try to leave a good impression with other road users.  I noticed that a couple of times when we stopped for people to catch up, a few of the group stopped where they were obstructing the traffic, once on quite a busy blind corner in Bangors Road.   This led to a big queue of traffic trying to get past, and could have been avoided if we had all got off the road when we stopped.  I would encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with the Group Riding Guidelines.   Group riding skills are a bit different to individual riding skills and we can sometimes forget their importance.

Many thanks to everyone in the group for your good company on an enjoyable day out, and for your photos.   Special thanks to Tony H for the route, Jennie for leading the second group and to Steph and Bernard for back marking.

Plans for Sunday 31 May

This Sunday's ride is from the Stables Cafe, Osterley Park to Flowerland in Iver, as advertised on the rides list.  Tea will be at Hampton Court.  It was originally going to be led by Tony who's no longer able to lead it, so I will lead, using Tony's planned route.  You can expect all the unexpected treats you get with a Tony ride.  The whole ride is about 27 miles, not too hilly.

If anyone would like to be led to 11s from Bushy Park,  I'm happy to lead from the Teddington gate of Bushy Park, leaving at 9.45.  Please let me know by WhatsApp if you intend to join at Bushy Park.

We will leave Osterley Park at 11.00.  I hope you can join us.

Sunday Ride, Polesden Lacey to New Malden via Redhill

Today was stage 15 in the Giro d'Italia, starting from Voghera in Lombardy and according to official sources finishing in Milan some 919 miles from Polesden Lacey in Colline del Surrey (Surrey Hills); at this juncture we made the break. 

 

We surged with the full force of tension cabled limbs.  The bottom bracket of each bike a vortex of power.  Lungs like burning furnaces powering our thighs.  The soles of our feet pumping levered pedals.  Wheels cutting the dust on the tarmac.  Down the short descent to the first real test of the day, the infamous Vicolo della Cappella (Chapel Lane), under a fireball sun blasting a temperature of 30 C plus, mercilessly whipping our backs on this the hottest day of the year and hotter than any day in May... ever.  

 

Like gladiators staring into the eye of Destiny we tore at our foe.  We held our lead.  And on we pressed in the silence of the blistering heat, louder than the baying crowd of the anfiteatro (amphitheatre).  And out came gladiatore after gladiatore; Vicolo della Grande Coppa da Punch (Punchbowl Lane), Collina Trompe (Trumpets Hill) and Via Doods in the citta di Collina Rossa (Doods road, Redhill).  We were so far ahead.  When I looked back Vingegaard (overall leader in this year’s Giro) and the rest of il gruppo (peleton) were nowhere in sight.   

 

We took a short break at the Taverna del Sole (The Sun, Whetherspoons).  Back on our biciclettes we got.  The gladiatori were waiting, the combined chill boning horrors of Vicolo de la Collina Roccioso (Rocky Lane), la Salita de Markedge (Markedge Lane) and worst of all the hellish Via de la Salita de Cannonica (Rectory Lane).   

 

We had conquered...Rome was a long way but la Citta de Banstead was ours.   It was not over. One final test... the notorious downhill descent from Banstead to Worcester Park. And there it was, the Flamme Rouge, one final kilometre to the end of the dream. 

 

This had been a day where the hills had come alive to the sound of bicycles*, where the Giro had entered the Surrey Hills on a gloriously sunny day; “e bello essere un ciclista!” (it’s good to be a ciclyst”). 

 

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*Thanks to Steph for the clever twist on this line from the Sound of Music. 

 

My fellow Ciclistas were: Christina, Steph, Sabina, Karl, Eric, David W and Andy.  Keith, Carolyn, Diane, David and Audrey joined us for Elevenses at the Court Cafe in Polesden Lacey. 

 

Not knowing how to speak the language my recent new great buddy, AI, provided the Italian dressing to this piece. 

 

There is a real link to this day in May, 24th, in the Giro apart from it being stage 15 of this year’s race.  Back in 1987 Stephen Roche, on this day, won the time trial in stage 3 taking the overall lead and eventually winning the race overall.  That year he also won the Tour and the World Race Championship, Cycling's ‘Triple Crown’.  I looked it up! 

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