This week's reports & updates....

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RIDE REPORT
Godstone Village Green 04/01/09

After nearly 4 years of starting rides outside Pollards Hill library,
we began the 2009 series with a ride from one of our new starting
points, the Westcroft Leisure Centre in Carshalton. The actual leisure
centre is open on Sunday mornings which gives access to the toilet and
a couple of vending machines. There is also a large free car park and
the railway station is just round the corner. 12 riders braved the
freezing morning to try today's ride.

Setting off along a well ridden route to Woodmansterne, it was
surprising how quickly we were in open countryside. Care was taken on
descents for fear of black ice and the extreme cold meant the safest
way to the top of the Chipstead ridge was the long long drag uphill on
How Lane.

Fanny's Farm is a reliable morning stop, still dressed up for
Christmas with a Christmas Pudding Walk signposted through the garden.
The resident pig was hiding in his sty whilst we all piled into the
tiny tea room to try and warm up over a cup of tea. This quirky rural
enterprise, remarkably still within the bounds of the M25, is always
worth a stop.

There's a nice series of lanes running across the bottom of the North
Downs from Fanny's that take you all the way to Bletchingley. The
scenic views were straight out of Narnia, all lightly dusted with a
white frost. Keeping an eye on the time because of the cold, we
skipped Tilburstow Hill and opted for a more direct route, using a
couple of quiet lanes to take us right into the heart of Godstone
village, arriving at the Hare and Hounds bang on midday. The daily
menu was still being finalised but we were soon ordering and food came
out fairly swift. We managed to secure an entire corner of the pub for
ourselves. Nice place, overlooking the village green.

There's a lovely tarmac path out of Godstone village past the Bay Pond
which was frozen over. We ducked under the M25 on a series of bike
paths around the motorway roundabout and then set to climbing back up
the North Downs, starting with a steep dirt road that leads to a
bridleway bridge over A22. The ride had been advertised as just having
this one stretch of offroad but the frozen ground meant no mud so we
had an option to avoid the worst of another climb by trying a
bridleway through the trees. A couple stuck to the road whilst the
remainder advertured into the forest and found a great path that
eventually becomes the North Downs Way and pops you out at the
Caterham viewpoint.

Using the same reasoning, we carried on along the North Downs Way
through a patch of frozen mud that normally renders the track
impassable and past Tolworth Manor, an old farmhouse. Ignoring the
historic church with it's 11th century wall painting at Chaldon, we
pressed on past the clay pigeon shooters and onto the top of Farthing
Downs. The planned afternoon stop at the park at the bottom was
scuppered by the cafe being inexplicably closed. But it was cold and
getting dark so we decided to forego an afternoon stop and rode
straight back into Carshalton.

Out for 6hrs, 28 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157612110820347
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc026

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CTC RIDE REPORT
Christmas Pie Off The Hogs Back 03/01/09

4 PHC riders joined 2 Central London CTC riders at Guildford for a 2
star ride (moderate pace) on a freezing cold, crisp winter's day. The
massive climb up the Hogs Back warmed us a bit but the sun wasn't
having much effect. The proposed morning stop at the Watts Gallery tea
room was still closed for Christmas so we rode direct to the pub for
an early lunch.

A spot of black ice took nearly everybody down and forced a rethink.
We backtracked carefully to the pub, the Barley Mow on the village
green at Tilford. The ice had cleared after lunch but it was still
cold. We popped into the tea room at Seale's Manor Farm Craft Centre
and then picked up the Christmas Pie trail, a mix of tarmac, farm
tracks and singletrack through a forest that leads from Farnham right
into Guildford.

Good pace and no mechanicals meant we were out of the forest before
nightfall. About 34 miles in 5.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157612154605886
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc025

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WHAT TO DO IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT

One rider emailed to say she had been knocked off her bike by a 4x4
coming out of a side road but was unable to take the registration
details as she didn't have a pen and wanted me to pass on the message
that you should be prepared for such an eventuality. You can also use
your mobile to text yourself, leave yourself a voice message or use
it's camera to take a picture of the vehicle and the crash scene.

Whilst we all hope that it doesn't happen to us, being well versed in
what to do is essential. LCC has useful advice here:

http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=401

You can also take steps to minimise the possibility of an accident by
riding in accordance with National Standards as outlined in Cyclecraft
by John Franklin. For about a tenner, this book contains enough
information to save your life. I can't imagine why anyone would be
without a copy. Cheapskates can even find 2nd hand ones on Amazon!

If you do have a spill, make sure you inform LCC or CTC if you are a
member as you're entitled to legal cover and advice as part of your
membership.

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EXTREME DOWNHILL RIDING

Crashes don't seem to bother these guys:

http://redbullrampage.com/videos/2008/10/red-bull-rampage-the-evolution-1.php

Anyone up for having a go at this at the Penshurst Off Road Centre?
I'm waiting to hear if you can rent bikes there. Let me know if you're
interested.

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NEED RIDE LEADERS

Who wants to lead a ride on one of the following dates: 22nd Feb, 1st,
8th & 15th March? Usual deal - I can suggest a route or you can do
your own. pick from one of the 3 starting points (Pollards Hill,
Carshalton or Wimbledon) or suggest a train-assist. Email me to let me
know. New leaders always welcome. No experience necessary, we can help
you out with plenty of advice.

The new rides will be going up on the website during the week.

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THE NEW STARTING POINTS

I just wanted to respond to the light-hearted criticism that one of
the new starting points is right outside my new house. Many of our
rides already go through Carshalton and we just do one of the endless
variations along the Wandle Trail to get there. It adds 8 miles in
total as that's the most obvious way to go if we're heading south. By
starting at Carshalton, we can skip those 8 miles and add them onto
the other end, meaning we can get to new destinations and stick to the
30 mile daily limit.

We also have a lot of rides that come back through Carshalton that
disintegrate as everyone heads home. Those extra miles back to
Pollards Hill then become a very simple return-to-base exercise, with
the main ride essentially over. By aiming to finish at Carshalton, we
can make more use of the final miles.

As with all our policy changes, if they don't work, we'll go back to
the old ways. And if you want the rides to start outside your own
house, you'll need to set up a breakaway group!

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NEXT WEEK

A flat urban ride to view a series of murals in South London,
including the famous graffiti haunt of Leake St and lunch underneath a
giant Banksy. There's no guarantee of what you'll see, especially as
the Banksy is under threat from Westminster council. However, many of
the Brixton murals have been there since the 80s so they'll still be
around. We're starting at Pollards Hill library car park and the
morning stop will be Clapham Common bandstand cafe. 9:30am departure
from the library or be at the cafe by 10:30am. Bring lights and a
decent lock. Lots of stopping and starting so wrap up warm!

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (still broke - hopefully fixed
by next week)