Here's this week's news & reports...

===

RIDE REPORT
Yew Tree Way 12/04/09

Today's plan was to follow an East Sussex County Council route leaflet
on a circular High Weald ride. However, if I'd have studied that
leaflet more carefully, I'd have noticed the 3 mile uphill on the
terrain graph in the bottom corner, amongst other brutal climbs.
Instead, I made my way out there midweek and was confronted with some
of the toughest cycling I've ever done. It would not have worked for a
PHC ride so at the 11th hour I switched the route which meant catching
the same train but alighting after only 2 stops at Hurst Green.
Fortunately, all 18 riders had got the message that the ride had
changed via the email list.

We've done the Yew Tree Way a couple of times before. It's a subtlety
signed countryside route along very lightly trafficked lanes but it's
only about 15 miles long. The only option for a morning stop is
Edenbridge leisure centre's cafe but they decided to close for Easter
Sunday. The next best option was to keep moving away from the Yew Tree
route and head to Chiddingstone in Kent, a pretty one street Tudor
village wholly owned by the National Trust, where the village tearoom
was definitely open. The only problem was killing time as tearooms are
a quintessentially English afternoon pursuit and don't tend to be open
much before 11am. A wrong turn took care of a few minutes but even at
a steady pace, we were still in the village 20 minutes early.

Chiddingstone has an excellent castle so we rode up for a look. We
were lucky to find the groundsman preparing for the 11am opening and
he graciously allowed us into the grounds. After learning that the
castle's recreation of a Victorian tearoom was also opening at 11am (a
pattern emerges....), we decided to split into 2 groups to avoid
overwhelming one or other of the tearooms. Burghesh Court tearoom in
the village was opened bang on time and not a minute earlier but the
generous portions of jam and clotted cream with the cream teas meant
the wait was worthwhile. Good reports came back from the castle too.

We regrouped and walked up a short footpath to see the Chiding Stone,
which allegedly gives the village its name. It's a large sandstone
boulder and legend has it that nagging wives or wrong-doers were
brought to the stone to be scolded or 'chided' by assembled villagers.
As we'd not had any punctures, there were no obvious candidates for
the Chiding Stone so we took some photos and walked back to our bikes.

The later morning stop meant we were going to have a later lunch stop.
I had no idea if country pubs would be busy on Easter Sunday so a
large majority had packed some food into their panniers. We needn't
have worried as the Hare & Hounds at Lingfield was fairly quiet
although meals are quite expensive. They looked good though. The
self-caterers sat outside by the road but it took a while before
someone realised that there was a proper country beer garden at the
rear. Too late to be bothered to move at that point.

We followed the Yew Tree Way for the rest of the ride, stopping off at
Crowhurst churchyard to visit the tree that gives the ride its name.
It's a huge Yew, hollowed inside and reputed to be between 2000 to
10,000 years old. The literature in the church plumps for 4000 years
old but whatever its age, the Tree Council have deemed it one of their
Top 50 British Trees. The remainder of the lanes were just as lightly
trafficked as the rest of the ride, passing some beautiful country
cottages residing in the middle of nowhere. We were back at the
station a bit too early for the hourly train but it was double the
length of the outgoing train so we all got on very easily. Instant
feedback was very good so I'll tinker with the route and we'll explore
this excellent cycling country again in the near future.

30 miles, out for 6.5hrs plus travelling time. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157616671696706
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc038

Georgios took some brilliant pix which are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64123743@N00/sets/72157616582396085

===

SATURDAY RIDES

We had a drizzly but pleasant ride up the Wandle Trail on Saturday
although our destination, Cake Boy, was closed for Easter. Instead,
the 6 of us sat out the worst of the drizzle inside Tootsies at Putney
Bridge. The new Wandle Trail signage is in place but despite a 4 year
wait, don't get too excited because it's rubbish and there's no way
you'd ever be able to follow the route from the signs without the
companion map.

We used to do regular half day rides so I'm going to resurrect them
for the summer, providing an opportunity for those who don't know if
they can manage a full day ride. They'll also be ideal for those who
can't spare all day or have other Sunday commitments. We'll start them
all at Pollards Hill and visit a cafe or tearoom at the halfway mark.
We'll be riding at exactly the same pace as our Sunday rides but we'll
limit the amount of hills to the bare minimum and try to keep to
traffic-free or lightly trafficked London routes. They'll be on the
first Saturday of the month from May to September, will start at 9:30
and we'll attempt to be back by 1:30pm. They'll be an excellent chance
to discover great local cycle routes from leaders with comprehensive
local knowledge.

So, stick May 2nd in your diary and come and give them a go. Or better
still, coerce a friend who needs to get out on their bike a bit more
to come and join us.

===

NEXT WEEK

This ride is completely untested! If I get a chance to go out in the
week, I will post an update but I don't think I'll have time. We're
going to Watership Down (yes, the same one as the book / film about
rabbits) so naturally, you should expect some hills. The ride is
predominately off road and those trails could be soft after the rain.
Obviously, if a track is really bad, we'll find a road alternative.
The ride could be as low as 20 miles but if it goes well, there are
options to extend. Flimsy road bikes won't be a good idea but tourers
and hybrids should cope as well as any mountain bike. There's a pub
halfway around but as it's unknown to us, you might want to stash some
sandwiches in case we get caught short. But don't be put off - anyone
is welcome to come and if that means walking up the hills, then that's
what we'll do. The views should be amazing. It'll be another PHC
mini-adventure!

Meet outside the main ticket office at Clapham Jct station at 9:00 to
partake in the Group Save ticket buy. Alternatively, catch the 8:40
from the (unmanned?) Mitcham Eastfields station armed with a Permit to
Travel and upgrade this at Clapham Junction for a Group Save ticket to
Overton. We're catching the 9:28 from Clapham Jct to Overton which
arrives at 10:49. Fares could be as low as £10 using Group Save.

Could anyone with a mobile phone planning to be at Clapham let me know
so I can tell you how many are on the train from Mitcham? That will
help the Group Save.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk