Here's this week's report & more....

THE YEW TREE WAY 06/01/08

22 riders converged on Oxted station for the first PHC ride of the
year. We'd offered it out to Central London CTC for a joint ride but
ran it as our own due to changes in CTC rules which means you can only
join 3 of their rides before you are required to take out annual
membership. That doesn't fit with our open house policy so in future,
CTC will simply be inviting people to join our rides.

A slight delay in departing due to one rider leaving items on the
train helped to kill the time as it's not very far to the pub. I
wasn't sure if we ought to go to Edenbridge for a morning coffee but
it would have spoilt the rural feel of the ride. As it turned out, a
second factor caused us even further delays - black ice. Obviously you
can't see it, so the first we knew was 2 riders slapping down hard on
the ground on the climb to the lanes. A third had their bicycle
disappear from under them so most people got off and walked. The sun
had got to most of the subsequent lanes but several riders were
understandably nervous for a few miles.

Once you leave Hurst Green, Surrey County Council's Yew Tree Way cycle
route offers 15 miles of signposted, quiet, rural lanes. We barely saw
any cars for most of the journey. We also didn't see the signposts
because for some inexplicable reason, the council chose to waymark it
anti-clockwise only, even though it makes far more sense to go round
the way that we did.

The best part is the really narrow lane that goes through the National
Centre For Young People With Epilepsy site. You could barely get a car
down there so we had it all to ourselves. At the end, we left the
route to go to the Old House At Home pub in Dormansland. They were
expecting us and had set a room aside. They have snacks as well as
full meals and although some are pricey, there are some good cheap
options too and everything is home-cooked. The steaks in a bap went
down well, as did the homemade beef burgers.

A short incline after lunch leads to a big downhill sweep, past Frith
Manor Farm with their fabulous Highland cattle herd. Another short
incline by Lingfield racecourse leads up to the village and back to
the Yew Tree route. Although the ride was advertised as having no
major hills, a few were surprised to find that it undulated gently.
The church with the famous yew was also at the top of a short incline
and we all pulled up for a look.

Thought to be over 2000 years old (some say 4000), the yew was already
well established when the church was built in the 12th century. It's
now hollow and a small door has been fitted. About a hundred years
ago, there used to be a table and chairs inside. Many of the outer
limbs are now dead and are supported on wooden props but the main
trunk is very much alive. It's an amazing tree and one of the Tree
Council's Top 50 trees.

We cut a planned bit of the ride out on the return to Oxted to make
sure we got the 15:09 train. Oxted station has refreshments so it also
served as the afternoon stop. Not a long ride at just over 18 miles,
out for 5 hours including a 90 minute lunch. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157603652583421
or
http://tinyurl.com/27x6wk

The Yew Tree Way: http://tinyurl.com/yonw7c
The Highland Cattle: http://www.frith.co.uk

===

FREE TRAIN TICKETS

If you don't mind randomly signing up for stuff on the web, there's a
free return ticket up for grabs on the C2C line. Grab a ticket (note
that the correct station to start your 'journey' from is Fenchurch
St!) and mail me when it turns up. We'll then fix up an Essex ride for
those that bagged the free tickets.

http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/we_ve_only_got_one_wish_on_our_list

===

POLLARDS HILL FUN DAY

On Saturday 12th January, Commonside / New Horizons are organising
their own mini-version of Love Yr Bike. They'll have the Pilates, the
bike powered smoothie guy, Dr Bike, free food, a cycle agility course
and ramps for BMX riders. It kicks off at 11am and lasts until 4pm.
I'll go along and do a PHC table for a few hours so do drop by if you
fancy a natter. I'll be hopefully explaining to locals why they
constantly see scores of cyclists outside the library on Sunday
mornings and maybe getting a few interested in coming out with us.

New Horizons is the new name for Commonside, the building that isn't
the library at the place where we meet. Hopefully bikes will be parked
in their courtyard but beware of local oiks removing lights etc.

===

CAPITAL TO COAST

Whilst out on a trike ride last year, we bumped into the Capital to
Coast cycle ride. This year they start in Thames Ditton and follow
what looks like a great route to Hove. I could have sworn they started
in Epsom last year but they come down that way anyway.

If people are up for it, I think it would be fun to join. The correct
thing to do would be to register and try and raise the £200 they'd
like each rider to get in sponsorship. However, if you didn't use
their facilities, the roads are open so in theory, anyone can join in.

Official riders can get a coach back otherwise the trains will be
taking bikes as they're not smart enough to ban bikes for this event,
unlike the bigger London to Brighton ride. Email if you think you'd be
interested and we'll add it as the recommended ride for that week.

http://www.capitaltocoast.org.uk

PS: I get asked to plug lots of charity rides each year and I
generally don't like to do so as there's virtually one every weekend.
This one uses a good route which is the main reason for doing it.

===

Next week is the first PHC+ ride. It's a longer and faster ride,
similar to a CTC 2 star ride. We won't be racing but we won't be
dawdling either. It'll enable us to cover an extra 15 miles and get a
bit further afield. This one's hilly and although we won't be racing
up them, it's not a ride for those that like to walk up. If you
generally think that we go a bit slow for the majority of a ride then
this will be a good one to try. 9:30 at the library, fine for road
bikes as it's all on tarmac.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189