A Towering Success? 2 August to Leith Hill

Well, people can't say they weren't warned.  But still they came, for a ride that was a bit different, braving the parched heat even at elevenses to sit outside at the the Tiger Lily Bus Cafe.  No tigers were in evidence, nor, for that matter, any buses.  Just a lot of sunshine, coffee and chat, and not a lot of shade.  Terry set off for home while ten of us headed for the shady lanes and the hills.

Enjoying the shade

Leith Hill is a serious hill, the highest in the south of England, and must be treated with respect.  So we respectfully approached it via Shere, Peaslake, Holmbury Hill and then Pasturewood Road.  Diane decided she'd had enough excitement on her first group ride with us for a while and peeled off around here - it was great to have your company, Diane.  By the time we arrived at the bottom of the track up to the tower, we knew we had climbed a big hill. 

Shere

Pond Lane

Radnor Road

Everyone seemed to manage well on the half a mile of stony track to reach the tower, and we found an idyllic picnic spot, in a glade of large trees within sight of the tower.   Andy and Christina climbed to the top of the tower (at a bargain reduced price of £4.05 during the August VAT holiday) to enjoy the amazing views.  A guide lent Andy his binoculars, through which he could see a wind farm on the Channel.  Andy was planning to take a photo of the rest of the group assembled down below but this didn't go as planned.  For one thing, it was like herding cats trying to rouse the group from their shady position to stand in the heat for a photo, and for another, Andy found that he got vertigo looking down from the tower, so the guide eventually attracted our attention and took a photo of us.

After all the climbing, the descent of the Leith Hill Greenway was even more of a test.  We skipped the first very rough section, instead going round on the road to Coldharbour.   Then we descended a long section of the off-road Wolvens Lane down to Wootton, about three miles but it seemed longer, with a few more sandy stretches than when I recced it a month ago.  At Wootton, Niall opted to take the road home while the rest of us headed for a bit more off-road across the valley and zigzagging up the other side towards Denbies.  Unfortunately I missed a crucial turning half way - or possibly fortunately, because it got us back to the road more quickly near Deepdene station, and we completed the ride along the road.   Most people headed for home and Rykas was packed with long queues for service, so Martina and I had a quick drink in the Stepping Stones pub before heading home.

Thank you everyone for coming on this adventure, for surviving and even perhaps enjoying the heat, the hills and all the off-road, and thanks for all your lovely photos.  It's nice to have some willing friends to try out "new" places and routes, even though as Andy reminded me, the C&M has had lunch at Leith Hill Tower before, under Graham Hill's leadership.

C&M's last visit

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were faced with a medical emergency whilst out on a ride?

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were faced with a medical emergency whilst out on a ride? I know some of you have had to deal with situations whilst on our weekly rides and it can be a pretty scary experience. Knowing basic first aid is an important life skill and can be a life saver if you are faced with a medical emergency in any aspect of your life.

The  trainer is an experienced nurse Jen Craven who runs Wimbledon First Aid. As a cyclist herself she perfectly understands our needs and tailors the learning to situations we may encounter on a ride. The course will run for a morning and you will be awarded a certificate which is valid for 3 years.

We are hoping to get funding from Cycling UK as we did last year, but there may be a small charge if they do not fully cover the cost.

There are up to 10 spaces available - to sign up please contact me juliembuckman@btinternet.com or 07803 005516. Closing date for applications Friday August 7th.

Here are some thoughts from Sue F who attended last year:

'Jen proved to be a great trainer and placed a lot of emphasis on not immediately diving into a situation, but pausing to assess first using the DRABC (Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing and Circulation) mnemonic. We returned to this when discussing almost all medical emergencies. Jen knows our riding territory well and had an excellent idea should an accident occur around a blind corner: place a bike with a bright coloured jacket draped over it to warn any oncoming vehicles or riders that there was a casualty on the road. 

Perfecting our CPR skills occupied a good part of the course. Jen uses dummies that light up when you are using the correct technique. Many of  the group found it surprisingly exhausting giving effective CPR for a prolonged period of time.

She  highlighted the importance of locating a defib quickly and having the locator app What 3 Words and medical info on our phones for a helper to find should we be unable to give this information. I have  now set up the Apple Health app with emergency contact numbers and any medical issues that can be accessed quickly from the locked screen. 

Being faced with a medical emergency can be challenging, especially if it happens in a remote and isolated location. Following the course I think we all felt more confident to deal with a potential situation and give some emergency care. I felt I learned a lot despite having done First aid training in the past. Techniques (particularly CPR) have changed considerably over the years so even if you have done some training this course is great refresher'.

 

Plans for Sunday 2 August - Leith Hill

As advertised, we will be riding to Leith Hill tower on Sunday, which involves a few hills and a short stretch of off road to reach the tower itself.   There is a further, OPTIONAL, longer off-road adventure, to return down part of the Leith Hill Greenway, to tea at Denbies if we're in time.

Leith Hill Tower

You have options, so please read the following carefully.

11s is at the Tiger Lily Bus Cafe, Leith Hill West Horsley Place, best reached via East Horsley and the A246.

Lunch is at the very top of Leith Hill, reached by about half a mile of a stony track.  There is a tiny servery in the tower serving a limited range of good food and drinks, but no toilets.  Or you could bring a picnic.

Food menu at the tower

To return, you have to descend the track back to the road (1/2 mile downhill).  We will then follow the road to Coldharbour, where there's a pub if you're desperate for a toilet.  You have options from here:

1. Continue on-road to Dorking and Denbies (route here but you might have to guide yourself).  This route also has a bit of tame off-road along NCN22 from Westcott to Dorking, often ridden by the Wayfarers groups.
2. Follow the Leith Hill Greenway, described here.  Another five miles of off-road but avoiding the overgrown bit.

I hope you will be able to join us for a ride which will be a bit different to usual.

C&M RIDE TO GUILDFORD, SUNDAY 26 JULY

For this Sunday’s ride we shall meet at and leave The Vineries Garden Centre, Effingham, and ride to Guildford via Ripley, Send and Jacobs Well. Lunch will be at The Rodboro Buildings.

After lunch we shall return, again via Ripley for afternoon tea at Gail’s in Cobham.

All on familiar roads.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday 

Jennie J

Details for Sunday 19th

Details for Sunday 19th

I hope you can join me for a Tour of North London!

More details for elevenses,; Need to use Main Entrance, Cycle parking at park end of Car Park on left.

Routes (linked to Komoot)

Morning Route

Wimbledon Common / Putney Heath / Putney Bridge / Brompton Cemetary / Hyde Park / Regent's Canal / Primrose Hill / Hampstead Heath to Lunch at Kenwood House

Afternoon Route

Alexandra Palace / Parkland Walk North & South / Finsbury Park / St Paul's / Victoria Embankment / Battersea Park for Tea at Pear Tree Cafe

Plans for Sunday 19 July 2026

The change is already on the online rides list, but, in case you haven't picked it up yet, Eric's ride to Cambridge, originally planned for Sunday 19 July, has been swopped with his ride to Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath, originally planned for 9 August.

So, on Sunday 19 July, we'll now be meeting for elevenses at the AELTC Community Tennis Centre Cafe, 170 Grand Drive, Raynes Park, London SW20 9NB.   The Sawbridgeworth elevenses will now be on Sunday 9 August.

Write up for Sunday ride 12th July 2026

 Write up for Sunday ride 12th July 2026 

 Bernard

All of ten minutes, less even, that’s how long it took to plan the route.  It was 4am early in the week.  Sitting in my Woolworth’s deckchair in the back garden listening to Tom next door hosing his lawn and whistling tunefully “summertime and the living is easy”.  It was heatwave season and sleeping normal hours was impossible.  I tapped Garmi, who was snoozing next to me and with a blurp and buzz he opened one eye and showed me the route... “Fantastic” I thought.  I had mastered route planning – pop in the starting place and plug in the ending spot and I had my green line.  No need even to check the details; my new app ‘Genius Router’ had done it all.  As the advertising blurb had proudly (and in my opinion very wisely) announced “why waste time routing when you can be riding”.  Garmi burped and went back to sleep.  I chuckled at how smooth the life of a subbie had become.  All I had to do was make sure Garmi was fully charged for the day’s ride.  I stretched out my arms and folded them behind my head just as a robin landed on the handle of my rusty old shovel which I had left implanted in the lawn a couple of years ago just before wilding (my prayers were answered) came into vogue... an approach to gardening and life for that matter much in keeping with my own ‘laissez faire’ attitude to matters in general.  Robbie chirped, Garmi snoozed, Tom hosed and I hummed along to the easy living tune as I early morning dreamed of the gentle rolling landscapes on our recci in just a few hours’ time. 

 

It was in Fetcham when the thought occurred to me that we hadn’t seen much of the gentle, lolloping hills that Surrey was famous for.  Just up ahead I saw a sign, a big blue one, with an oversized two headed white arrow, one pointed left to the M25 Gatwick and the other right also to the M25 but towards Heathrow.  I then realised that we seemed to have drifted onto some kind of hard shoulder with a long line of fast travelling vehicles, some very large, no more accurately said huge, speeding past us.  Somehow, we found ourselves in Dante’s Inferno... nothing but grey tarmac and a never stream of mad drivers’ intent on killing anything and everything and especially (going by all the honking and swearing in our direction) cyclists... and blue motorway signs all over the place.  I made a decision, one that every subbie makes in times of crisis “Let’s stop and try and figure out where we are and how to get out of here!” 

 

‘Genius Router’ had brought us to a point of no return and was now demanding that I sign up to an exorbitant non-cancellable ten-year plan.  Garmi was also of little help... suffering from obvious stress and at critical anxiety levels, his compass was wobbling in all directions and suffering from chronic repeat blurping “...alert...turn around...alert turn around...” “I don’t think this is a good route for Sunday” Sabina cooly interjected.  I tried to get a grip of my nervous twitching and managed to nod, with a wobble or two, in agreement.  She pointed ahead to a little side lane (the sort of lane where enthusiastic club members take photos in their determined struggle to win the club’s snapshot photo trophy).  And soon we were off that ghastly road and spotted a sign to the promised land, it read “Leatherhead”. 

 

We eventually got to Polesden Lacey.  On our way there I marvelled at how friendly members of the public can be to lost and desperate cyclists and it filled my heart with warmth towards my fellow bipeds except those which I saw getting out of their cars in the car park... for them the best I could do was hiss. 

 

At home I got out my ordnance survey map which had proved its worth and value as a tea and coffee coaster ever since its purchase some good few years ago.  I managed with great skill to peel apart its gelled pages.  With even greater skill I guessed at the names of roads and towns which were hidden under torn bits of map (some parts had gelled and I had to go full rip apart mode resulting in a few bits of the map being torn from one place and stuck on another).  Nevertheless, with what i would describe as the eye of a great explorer I got an idea of the lay of the land as us subbies say and with Sabina pointing to where we needed to go, I put together a route Marco Polo would be proud to call his own. 

 

The new route plugged in... (this is now the obligatory describe the actual route part of this write up... the professional bit if you like); down from Polesden Lacey, right up Chaple Lane, whizz through Westhumble, under the A24 and then along the gentle slopes of the Surrey Hills, via Headley and into Epsom.  It was a hot day but by chance a lot of the ride was in the shade thanks to some very big trees on either side of the roads. 

 

We arrived at the Whetherspoon and met up with some veterans of the club, Ed, Terry and Colin who made me realise there was still a lot for me to learn as a subbie.  Outside I sat on a bench not realising until later that it had a plaque on it which read something akin to “sit here if you want to talk to someone”.  I rested my bike against its side.  To my surprise an elderly gentleman sat next to me, he had a graceful and gentle aura about him, I notice his wedding ring, and he said in a soft voice “we used to cycle ...”, “the Surrey Hills” I asked, “absolutely, the Surrey Hills were Ethel’s favourite....” 

 

My fellow riders were: 

Andy C, David W, Eric, Simon L, Niall, Ruth, Steph and Sabina.  Diane rode as well and met us at elevenses and for lunch in Epsom where we were also joined by Ed, Colin and Terry.  Keith met us at elevenses. 

 

Sunday ride 12 July 2026

 Good afternoon everyone

Here are the links to this Sunday's ride:

Morning; Polesden Lacey to Epsom

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56013217

Afternoon: Epsom to The Pheasantry cafe in Bushy Park 

This is an optional route because the chances are most if not everyone will want to finish the ride in Epsom because this is the traditional Epsom ride where everyone can meet to 'shoot the breeze' with fellow riders and it could be hot and of course there is Wimbledon tennis not to mention the football but just in case someone wants to do a full day's ride we have the option of riding on after lunch to the Pheasantry cafe in bushy park.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/55999507

Taken at Polesden Lacey on our second recci have revamped the whole route to make it more scenic

Have a great Saturday and see you tomorrow

Sunday, 12 July 2026, RIDE

 Good afternoon everyone.  This Sunday's ride is a short gentle roll from the stable yard cafe at Polesden Lacey (National Trust) to Epsom (Whetherspoons) where its a chance for club members to get together and enjoy each other's company.  For those who would appreciate a longer ride I'm happy to head on after lunch to the Pheasantry cafe in Bushy Park.  Have a great rest of the week...Bernard

Taken at Polesden Lacey when we did our recci earlier today, Tuesday.

Ride Report - Sunday 5 July 2026

 

As usual, I had done my best to deter people from joining my ride, in this case by threatening an 'off-road special'.   I was only partially successful - Terry L, Pam J, Dave J and Tony H did arrive at elevenses intending to return straight home, but Andy C, Niall C and Steph W insisted on joining me for the rest of the ride!

We contended with a few miles of crumbly towpath from Coxes Lock as a warm-up' for the intended 'main event', the rickety, creeper-ridden, and previously virtually impassable (as this photo from 2022 demonstrates) footbridge over the Wey

on the Send Church to Sutton Green footpath.

Imagine my surprise and disappointment, to find not only that the overgrown approach to the bridge had been cleared of all stinging nettles, but that the bridge itself, previously too dangerous even for an SAS assault course, had been totally refurbished with new, readily-accessible stairs, and that all traces of creeper had disappeared!

I was flummoxed, and continued the ride somewhat subdued, and my spirits were only slightly lifted by inflicting the tortuous stairs of Woking station public subway on the group!

After lunch at Wetherspoons we took the shady towpath back to West Byfleet, and then the usual route back to Walton Bridge where there was a parting of the ways!    I will not be done down and my spies are already out looking for fresh, hideous obstacles to include in future rides led by me, so if you ever see the words 'off-road special' on the rides list in future, you have been warned!

Many thanks to Andy and Niall for their excellent photos, and to Andy for back-marking.