Here's this week's news and reports including the missing report from
last week where the group found a very interesting new cafe. Every
ride really is a mini-adventure!

===

RIDE REPORT
The Mad Ride Pt2 22/11/09

There were 7 brave souls with their bikes at the leisure centre this
morning, almost all of whom had withstood a light shower on their way
to Carshalton. It wasn't raining as we set off but we were wary of the
fact that it would get dark (whatever the weather) by just after 4pm.
We initially detoured via the Barclays cashpoint in Carshalton. Once
we'd got back onto the planned route, we followed it all the way to
Orchard Hill. The path around Stanley Park Rec Ground has 3 zig-zag
barriers where one rider, trying to get the hang of some new clipless
pedals, shrieked and she fell off! No damage done so we kept going.

The Orchard Hill site has 24/7 security, but I told the guy at the
little hut at the entrance that we were going to the Banstead Mobility
Centre which he seemed to think was ok (Banstead Mobility Centre is
about the only part of the site which is still operating [so a bit of
local knowledge helps ?!], but even that is closed on Sundays!). We
pedalled around the mostly flattened site, passing the mobility centre
on the way out. We'd just stopped at the top of the site when a
security guard in a van came past but he also seemed pacified by the
Mobility Centre excuse! It's being cleared to make way for the new
£38m Stanley Park high school.

We followed the planned route as far as Fairlawn Road by Banstead
prisons whose buildings formerly housed the local asylum. I gave the
rider some details about the Banstead asylums, mainly dates of
operation, plus the tale of Vincent Crane from the the early 70s band
Atomic Rooster who wrote a song about it after being forcibly admitted
by the band's manager. It was starting to rain so we didn't bother
with the short muddy path between Fairlawn Rd and Highdown Lane to
look at the prison entrance and just headed down Downs Rd, past the
Royal Marsden hospital on our way to Belmont.

There's not much to see at the site of the Belmont Asylum, but the
drizzle had stopped again, so we paused for some history about Belmont
(which was a school, asylum, workhouse, POW camp and psychiatric
hospital in its 130 year life). The housing on the Belmont site seems
to have been built by a Kentish house-building firm(?), as there is a
Kent theme to the road names (Sevenoaks, Cudham, Westerham, Riverhead,
Chiddingstone and Brasted)!?! This is followed by a royal palaces
housing development, in Buckingham Court, Sandringham Court and
Balmoral Way.

We rolled down the hills on the planned route to Cheam and, forced
along the A232 by the roadworks, we went onto the A232 for about 150m
before turning right into Nonsuch Park. We got to the cafe there in
good time for elevenses. Unfortunately, the rain didn't seem to be
stopping after our break or even easing up, so we decided not to head
further from home and try to get to ANY of the Epsom cluster of former
asylum sites and abandon the ride. About one minute after the first
couple of riders headed out for Cheam station to catch a train home,
the rain became torrential for 2-3 mins. When the it had almost
stopped again and the remaining riders were getting cold so we set off
too.

See some pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622731403247
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc086

Report by Jim

===

RIDE REPORT
Jubilee Greenway 15/11/09

After 'The Worst Two Days of Rain Since Records Began' - From The Sun,
the day began with clear blue skies and three riders met at Mitcham
Eastfields station for the short journey to Victoria. The trains were
already backed up due to a broken down train but we got into Victoria
only a few minutes late. We were joined at the Victoria station
concourse by 7 other riders for a total of 10.

Leaving Victoria station we headed towards the Thames via Horseferry
Road and crossed the river at Lambeth Bridge heading past Lambeth
Palace and St.Thomas' Hospital using Sustrans' Route NCN4. Tucking
behind County Hall and past the London Eye at Jubilee Gardens. We had
to briefly dismount to circumnavigate roadworks on Upper Ground before
Blackfriars bridge. Crossing Blackfriars Rd, we go down the strange
mid-road fenced cycle lane before a short stretch on a busy Southwark
St then around the back of Tate Modern and the Globe before passing
The Clink and Golden Hinde. Past Southwark Cathedral and under London
Bridge towards the river. Here the leader realises he has a soggy back
tyre and we decamp on the Thames Path to fix the first of five (5)
punctures. A new inner tube is applied and we soon head off. We head
through Rotherhithe towards our first scheduled sustenance stop at
Surrey Docks Farm.

Unfortunately the farm was closed 'due to unforeseen circumstances' -
(It's unfortunately lack of trade - Mark). A suggestion that we go to
the Wetherrspoon's in Greenwich was approved and we quickly head off
over Greenland Dock and towards Greenwich past Deptford Wharf.
Arriving at The Clock Gate Weatherspoon's we sat outside in the Autumn
sunshine whilst puncture number two was mended (same wheel). After a
short stop for teas, coffees, a few beers and a sausage sandwich were
consumed we headed out through historic Greenwich past the Naval
College.

At Greenwich NCN4 joins with NCN1 and we carry on this hugging the
Thames. We avoid the narrow Thameside path around the O2 and go
through the Millennium park alongside The David Beckham Football
Academy. Past the impressive Thames barrier and then onto the Woolwich
Ferry. First time crossing for a few people and slightly unnerving as
we are packed up against a juggernaut. Third puncture (same wheel!!)
is noticed but we are not far off the lunchtime pub stop so just pump
up the tyre and on the North Bank we trundle along the wilds of
Factory Rd in Silvertown. Over the docks towards The Fox at Connaught
for food and drinks where we sit outside in the glorious sunshine. The
puncture is given much more attention this time and a small shard of
glass is found which seems to have caused the slow punctures.

After lunch which seemed to be universally approved and at it's usual
breakneck speedy delivery we head off along Royal Albert Dock. The
leader forgets the turn off and we come to a complete dead-end luckily
only a few hundred yards further on than the bridge over the road and
into Beckton Park. One rider slips off his bike unbelievably in
exactly the same spot where a PHC rider took a tumble last year.
Fortunately the rider is okay and we proceed to Beckton. Here another
puncture is detected and and we stop to deal with it before
negotiating the convoluted cycle path around the former ski slope and
under the Newham Way. Here we join the Greenway (or Northern Outfall
Sewer path) and from here on we negotiate a series of pointless
barriers each time the path meets a road.

One of the highlights of the Greenway - apart from being traffic free
- is the view of the 2012 Olympics site. Of course we hadn't realised
that due to this massive construction that part of the Greenway is
closed and we followed the alternative route rejoining the path at a
new cafe at the View Tube
(http://www.ltgdc.org.uk/news/news_releases/a_constantly_changing_view.aspx)
overlooking the massive construction site. This cafe had only been
open for six days and was a great find with real coffee and handmade
cakes. Due to the clear blue skies it was still light when we left the
cafe and we followed the Greenway into Victoria Park in Hackney. We
take the Canal Path and shortly afterwards our fifth and final
puncture is called. Lights are on by this time but due to expert
bikemanship the tyre is refitted quickly. The intention was to come
off the Canal at Kingsland Rd and head through the City. Due to the
fading light this was missed and we carried on to Angel and over City
Rd through Barbican and on to Smithfield market area.

Here it was a quick ride down Fleet Street and The Strand, round
Trafalgar Square and down the Mall. A few riders left to go to
Waterloo and another few at Charing Cross.  We arrived at Victoria
soon after and the day's ride was done.

Out for 8 and a half hours - 32.5 miles. There are a couple of pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622849180706
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc085

Report by Jezzer

Thanks to Jezzer for leading this ride. Jezzer is doing a charity bike
ride in aid of MAG (The Mines Advisory Group) in February through
Vietnam and Cambodia - it is a very worthy cause and if you wish to
donate or find out more please go to
http://www.justgiving.com/jezzer-cambodia.

===

NEXT WEEK

There are still folks who haven't ridden the Waterlink Way. On Sunday,
you'll have another opportunity to try this mostly flat, mostly
traffic free, mostly tarmac, clever route through parks and alongside
rivers from South Norwood Country Park to Greenwich. We'll carry on
towards the Dome and lunch at the isolated Pilot Inn. We could have
lunched at the Dome but they're notoriously anti-cycling and won't
allow bikes anywhere near the place. 9:30am departure from outside
Pollards Hill library.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Whilst we're waiting on news on last weekend's ride, here's some info
on what's happening next weekend:

===

SATURDAY - BEDDINGTON PARK CYCLE RIDES

It's the 3rd Saturday of the month so why not join the CTC's steadily
paced afternoon ride leaving the cafe in Beddington Park (near
Hackbridge station) at 2pm? It's always an intricate maze of clever,
lightly trafficked local routes to a cafe and back. Bring lights.

===

SUNDAY - THE MAD RIDE Pt2

Before I tell you about this ride, please note it starts in
CARSHALTON!!! Hopefully that will stop people going to the wrong
starting point.

Today's ride continues the theme of visiting the impressive Victorian
asylums, described by Enoch Powell in his famous "Water Tower" speech
as "isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic
water-tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out
of the countryside" They're not all there, some are now converted to
other uses such as housing or jails or being demolished to create new
schools. These rides are a great way to see these historic sites
before they disappear from the landscape.

On the way, we'll visit the familiar territories of Oaks Park and
Nonsuch Park cafes and have lunch at the picturesque Cricketers pun on
Epsom Common.

Be outside the Westcroft Leisure Centre in Carshalton for a 9:30am
start. Bring lights. Led by Jim.

===

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

Hi Folks,

I've been reminded that the Victoria station ticket office is now
outside. We will meet inside under the clock where the main ticket
office used to be.

Cheers
Mark

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Farnham Loop 08/11/09

10 riders set off from Farnham station at 10.20am, 5 mins after the
train arrived and followed Sustrans NCN22 route all the way to
Puttenham. After the tarmac of Moor Park Lane ended, we rattled along
a wet but firm farm road and had to open a gate to take the right turn
by the farmhouse (as the gap for walkers next to the gate was too
narrow). The last section of this Greenway on Rock House Lane was back
on tarmac again. We got to Seale at approx 10.55am, just in time to be
silent as the church chimed 11am and a bugler played the Last Post for
Remembrance Sunday.

The lanes through Shackleford and Gatwick are nice and quiet, taking
us to Charleshill. We diverted slightly just to have a look at The
Tarn (see photo), one of umpteen bodies of water we saw today. At
Charleshill, we paused at the junction by The Donkey pub, weighing up
its slightly downhill tarmac access road bridleway vs continuing on
the main road which went UPhill. We decided to try the bridleway
route, and as we could have guessed, the tarmac finished just after
the pub and its car park, and the wide vehicle track got progressively
muddier until it actually improved a little when the vehicle tracks
stopped. Then it went up and over a small hill on a narrower muddy
path. A few quite enjoyed it, but others were less keen! After using
some serviettes liberated from the Seale tearooms to clean our wheel
rims, we went down the hill into Tilford to the lunch pub, arriving
just before 1pm after 14 miles (but just BEFORE a bit of a rush at the
pub !). We put the bikes in the deserted beer garden, saw a (garden)
hose there and asked at the bar if we could use it to hose down bikes.
The bar staff/manager/landlord said yes, so most of us used the hose
to clean the mud off our wheels and tyres before/over/after lunch.

The pub was quite pricey (my pint of beer cost £3.30 and meals were
£10 to £11 each!). But those who had food said the food was good,
portions large, and even the vegetables were quite crisp and not mushy
(cooked to "within an inch of their lives", as they normally are!).
There was a choice of three roast lunches, a fish dish, an
unprecendented 3 vegetarian menu options and a vegetarian soup
(Curried Pumpkin soup).

We left the pub just after 2pm (the only rain we felt all day was when
it was spitting slightly as we left the Barley Mow, but even that soon
stopped, although it was cold in the morning and even colder in the
afternoon [as it often seems to be in winter?!]!) and followed the
route down onto Surrey map 6, passing Frensham Little Pond (which was
quite big - see photos) and then Frensham Great Pond (which was even
bigger - see photos). I then tried to look at the much smaller
Wishanger Lake, but although the road seemed to pass the end of this
tiny lake, I didn't even see it at all. After several miles, we took
the left turn into Alice Holt Forest, confirmed with someone getting
back into a car there that the cafe was open (but not WHERE the cafe
was!) and headed into the forest.....

We followed the route past the first crossroads, but then we came to a
T-junction, turned right and went up a hill, saw a couple of muddy
routes on the left before coming across an adventure playground in the
trees, so one rider asked some people there and we followed some
walking paths around the large adventure playground until we
eventually found the visitor centre. When we were lost, we'd agreed
that what we really needed were the toilets at the cafe, and we
couldn't stop for long as it was already after 3pm. We found the cafe
at 3.20pm after 23 miles and only stopped for about 10 mins.

I had picked up a couple of Holt Forest leaflets at the Visitor Centre
so we could actually follow the forest's cycle trail on their map
round to the road we entered on and soon found our way out of the
place. We turned left onto Boundary Way again, had to climb another
hill to Rowledge and a complicated 5 way junction. We went straight-on
on Cherry Tree Rd, until we got to Fullers Rd, which seems to be where
the Surrey NCN22 signs start/end. A map error took us onto the busy
A325, "taking the lane" to deter the motor vehicles overtaking us
(which didn't seem to bother them much as the traffic ahead was
queueing back from the A31 roundabout!) and we turned right about
10secs later into Weydon Lane. We got to the station at 4.10pm, just
before today's sunset (at 16.22) and in plenty of time for the 4.30pm
train. Only one rider had switched her cycle lights on by that stage.

The whole route was nearly 29 miles long and took nearly 6 hours. See
the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622643941469
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc084

Report by Jim

===

RIDE REPORT
First Saturday Of The Month

6 riders on this fine day for the monthly half day ride out to a cafe
along the best local cycle routes.

Some of you may have seen Sustrans talk about their GOAL project. It
stands for Greenway For The Olympics and London. A Greenway is a
traffic free route. They've bandied around their consultation
documents but you can't work out where the actual routes are. I asked
for a map but they don't have one(!). Instead, the Area Manager drew
the routes in highlighter pen on a TfL paper map and sent it to me in
the post. Disappointingly, all they do is link up Greenways which
already exist such as the Wandle Trail, Richmond Park and Wimbledon
Common. We already use these routes all the time. However, there's a
flurry of new activity on the Merton / Sutton border so we decided to
go and check them out.

We rode across Three Kings Piece (the large expanse of grass just
after Mitcham town centre) on the way to Church Rd via Cold Blows.
Then we nipped into Morden Hall Park from the Phipps Bridge estate and
rode out to the Surrey Arms entrance and over into Ravensbury Park
where the nice new but possibly pointless bridge over the river sits.
We assumed the pavement must be shared-use and made our way up to
Peterborough Rd.

The Greenways really start here. There's an existing tarmac path with
a poor surface that is due to be upgraded heading towards St Helier.
There are cycle paths behind the hospital and we chose the one to Rose
Hill and used the short new path over to the A217 which has a bike
path alongside it. The new path through the park parallel to
Glastonbury Road is nice but it's accessed via steps through a gate
with a strong self closing spring.

The next section looked utterly pointless on the map so I found a
better route past the allotments on Holne Chase to Morden Park where
the cycle route is part of the main road sign but there's no dropped
kerb to get you off the road and into the park. We got a bit confused
in the park as the where the path will eventually end up but finally
found ourselves needing the services of a cafe at the door of the
Lower Morden Garden Centre.

We tried to find the rest of the route after morning coffee and cake
but it seemed to disappear behind residential garages. I knew where it
was heading so we made our own way to Green Lane, a cart track that
comes out by the Hampton's development of pseudo New English colonial
houses. The route between the fields here has a very rural feel. It
ends in the Joseph Hood Memorial Park where we found a better route
out if the barriers could be removed.

The return leg was all familiar territory past the football pitches
and through the John Innes Conservation Area to Merton Abbey Mills and
along the Myrna Close Nature Reserve back to Pollards Hill. It's got
the makings of a really good ride but I'm not entirely sure which
Olympic venue Sustrans think is out that way. Still, if it gives us a
great local traffic free route, perhaps we should grumble about the
odd design fault.

===

RIDE REPORT
Muddy Hell on Halloween at Herne Hill

Only three riders turned up at Pollards Hill for the easy ride over to
the Velodrome. There were stands for various bike bits ans clothing
and BBQ hot-dogs being served in the beer-tent. We bumped into another
couple of PHC members who'd walked to the track and we stood together
to watch the cyclo-cross riders kitting up and practicing. The cider
was cheap and tasty as were the hot-dogs.

The practice period for the cyclo-cross lasted for about an hour after
which the more 'junior' grades of competitors did their run. The
barrier of two logs suitably placed created quite a novelty since all
the competitors had to jump off their bikes to skip over the logs and
then hop back on again the other side - some were doing it very
smoothly. The other barrier was in the beer tent section of the course
and also had to be negotiated on foot due to it's height. The
cyclo-cross continuous-route made creative use of the central grassed
over part of the velodrome by putting the route-barrier tapes in a
zig-zag format and then leading to the far side of what would normally
be  the spectator path to come back round to the grassed area, through
the beer tent and thence onto another lap. It was fun to watch, but
there didn't seem to be a great deal of other activities so the three
of us who'd pedalled to the track came home at about 8 pm.

Report by Mike

===

INSPIRED RIDING

As Danny MacAskill's amazing freeriding video approaches 12 million
views on YouTube, an ad has just been released featuring some new
stunts. Bizarrely, he's advertising a car....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4fs8gS7ANA

===

LORRIES & OTHER WELL MEANING EVENTS

No one on a bike in their right mind should ever pass a lorry on the
left. If you're unsure why and want to live to tell the tale, there's
a chance to sit in a stationary lorry and see exactly how bad the
sightlines are from the drivers seat. The demonstration is at Carphone
Warehouse Car Park, Unit 7 Priory Road, SW19 2PP. Times: 7.30am -
9.30am & 3.30pm - 6.30pm on Saturday 21 November 2009. For those who
don't navigate by postcodes, it's near the retail park at Colliers
Wood by the ugly big brown building. Carphone Warehouse is actually
right under the ugly tower block. You know the one - the blot on the
landscape by the tube station!!

Merton Council are also running some extremely vague event called,
"Safer cycling initiatives with cycling clubs and enthusiasts" which
is at York Close Car Park, London Road, Morden, SM4 5HW. Time: 10am -
2pm, presumably on the same day as the lorry event. They'll no doubt
wonder why no one shows up for it....

===

NEXT WEEK

We're riding the Jubilee Greenway again. As it's not summer, we might
stand a better chance of getting around it, especially as we're doing
it in reverse and skipping the ridiculously busy bit by Camden and
Regents Park. It's a great, mainly traffic free, flat route that
passes the Olympic Park where you'll have a clear view of the stadium.

The ride leaves Victoria station near the main ticket office at
9:35am.The train from Mitcham Eastfields leaves at 9:11 but it's
impossible to Group Save unless you do it at Excess Fares at the other
end. The 9:11 from East Croydon will also get you there on time but
arrange your own Group Saves. Don't be late and expect the person in
the queue to add you to the ticket buy. Be on time or buy a full price
ticket. It's not fair on those who make the effort to arrive on time.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Ashstead Common - A PHC Classic 01/11/09

As far as the weather-watchers were concerned, today was D-Day. The
Indian Summer was to unceremoniously end with a torrential downpour.
At 9am, it looked as though they were right as the rain started to
take hold. 4 PHC riders decided that they would test the waterproof
qualities of their clothing whilst enjoying the second in the series
of PHC Classics, rides we've perfected and that everyone should know.
What's a bit of rain when you've got waterproof gloves?

Whilst this route may well be one of the best local rides, it's also
potentially as jinxed as more often than not, we have dreadful weather
whenever we attempt it. Most were drenched on the way to the start but
the route out to Nonsuch Park ensured that any remaining dry bits had
a good opportunity to get wet. Unbelievably, when we arrived at the
park, it was packed with runners doing a 10km race. Clearly we're not
the only mad ones out there!!

After Nonsuch, there's miles of off-road which could have been messy
in this weather. However, the ground is still quite dry and the carpet
of leaves meant that we were spared the mud. The first off-road
section was the start of the Hogsmill River path at Upper Mill in
Ewell. It's tricky to follow when you can't see the path and many of
the small bridges don't have handrails so you need your wits about
you. Nobody fell in but two riders didn't duck enough under the large
metal pipe at the end of the boardwalk and banged their heads. Clearly
that's what your cycle helmet is for!

We left the Hogsmill at the athletics track and after crossing a
couple of B roads masquerading as urban motorways, entered Horton
Country Park where several miles of off-road awaited us. You need your
compass if it's your first time in the park as it's easy to get lost
but we knew exactly where we were going with a big loop around the
perimeter. We'd normally admire the carved totem pole on the way out
but not in this weather!

A couple of quiet residential streets and cycle paths link the Country
Park with Epsom Common. All the surfaces had been great although there
were one or two puddles forming. The Stew Pond even had a lone
fisherman but we pressed on to the border with Ashstead Common and
along the cycle route to the exit near the railway station at
Ashstead, where it's a short pedal to the pub.

You can't really fault the Woodman. Even with us dripping gallons of
water on the floor to the extent that they needed to erect those
yellow 'wet floor' signs by our table(!), sending an off pint back and
changing a meal because it was a bit too chewy, they never bat an
eyelid. We're turned up unannounced with 30 riders in the past and
they've never said anything. That's the sort of pub we like! And
especially when it has an open fire although 90 minutes isn't long
enough to dry clothes so wet that you might as well have been swimming
in them.

Miraculously, the rain blew over whilst we were drying off. It seemed
prudent to alter the route at this point and keep us on as much tarmac
as possible. After a pleasant amble through Ashstead Park by the City
Of London Freeman's school, we turned left instead of taking a right
up to Epsom Downs. That gave us a nice little descent into Epsom where
we picked up the urban bridleway that led us back to Nonsuch where the
runners had been replaced with dog walkers. We rested in the cafe and
then took the most direct route back.

25 miles, out for 6.5hrs. Not many pix because of the weather:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622711380722
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc083

===

PHC IN THE NATIONAL PRESS!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2009/oct/26/bike-train

We're in The Guardian! Except, they don't actually mention us by name.
However, the train referred to in this article that had more bikes
than passengers was us a few weeks ago. We record the data and send it
to CTC. They are using it to force a change in policy to allow more
bikes onto trains by showing office-bound staff who make the rules
that it already happens without any major issues.

===

WANT MORE RIDES? NEED MORE LEADERS

It would be so much easier if we were like all the other rides groups
who constantly repeat their routes. It takes quite a while to dream up
new rides, even if they're just variations on a theme. And that's why
the rides list is empty again!!! I've got one offer to lead a ride
when I'm away but I need more. We might even end up with a device that
tells you where to go so there'll be no excuse from those who can't
read maps!! Electronic hands up please.....

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the first Saturday of the month so we'll be riding out from
Pollards Hill library at 9:30am for a ride around some of the best
local routes en-route to a cafe. Come and join us! We ride at the
usual pace but we're back by 1pm. If you haven't tried a full Sunday,
this will give you an idea of whether it's for you or not.

Sunday's ride is a train-assist from Wimbledon to Farnham for a lovely
countryside loop. We'll be making an early stop at the quaint tearooms
at Seale before some quiet lanes to Tilford for lunch. There's a
couple of little stretches of off-road but nothing that will trouble
anyone's bike. In the afternoon, we'll be making a PHC first when we
visit Alice Holt forest for cakes at the cafe. Meet at the main
entrance of Wimbledon train station at 9am for the Group Save ticket
buy. We're getting the 9:22 to Farnham which arrives at 10:15. If
you're late, you'll have to buy your own full price ticket. Those
getting Group Saves could pay as low as a fiver.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (use it or lose it!)

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

===

RIDE REPORT
William Willett Memorial Ride 25/10/09

We ran a version of this ride last year. William Willett is the man
responsible for the clocks altering twice during the year. His "Waste
Of Daylight" pamphlet outlined his proposals for Daylight Savings and
these became law in 1916, unfortunately, just after he had died. 13
riders turned up at the library but only 12 made the journey out to
Petts Wood, Willett's home town.

The morning route followed our popular route out to South Norwood
Country Park and up to Beckenham Place Park for a morning stop
overlooking the golf course. Originally we were going to ride through
the forest paths on the way out of the park but recent rain could have
made them uncomfortably muddy. Instead, we followed the main tarmac
route out of the park, knowing we were going to have to risk some
tracks later in the ride.

There are 5 Willett related things on the ride, all of which we saw on
the last few miles before lunch. First up is Camden Park Road which
features some very solid houses that Willett built in his day job as a
property developer. Such was his reputation as a house builder that
his properties were often referred to as "Willett built" to indicate
their quality.

At the top of the road, we regrouped at Willett's own house, marked
with a blue plaque. Then it's down the road to the churchyard where he
is buried before we took a leap of faith and joined the bridleway
network in Petts Wood itself. A recent recce meant we were able to
locate the sundial memorial straight away, unlike last year when we
spent forever searching in amongst the trees. It's not signposted so
it must rank as one of the most obscure memorials in the country. The
sundial permanently reads British Summer Time so although we were
there at midday, it of course said 1pm. Perhaps we ought to do this
ride at the other end of the BST period?

We emerged out of the woods and rode the short journey to the Daylight
Inn, attraction number 5 as it is, of course, named in Willett's
honour. The pub is often quiet so we filled 2 picnic tables outside to
enjoy the last strains of summer weather. Beer and food is good and
cheap so there's rarely complaints. I wonder if they've started to
notice that cyclists descend when the clocks change? As it's in the
town by the station, it's probably not normally a popular cycling
destination.

The afternoon was fairly urban but broken up with the greenery of
Whitehall Pleasure Ground and Norman Park on the way to Kelsey Park.
The park cafe burnt down a few years ago and has been lazily replaced
with a snack wagon. The park houses a championship standard mini golf
course (not 'crazy' golf!!!) but isn't very cycle friendly. We
cheekily rode out of the park but a couple of riders were collared by
the miserable park keeper. I'm never sure what threat a responsible
adult riding with consideration is causing but there are those out
there who just don't like to see people cycling.

The rest of the route home went via South Norwood Country Park. 30
miles, out for 6hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622667048152
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc081

Thanks to Jim for doing this ride at short notice.

===

RIDERS AT THE WRONG STARTING POINTS

I'm regularly hearing of riders who are at the wrong starting points.
There were 2 today who hadn't seen the update that the rides had been
switched. There were reports of folks at the wrong place last week
too, I'm not sure what to do? I think we're right to have the
different starting points and we've always had train-assists that
start at a station so there's never been a time when you can 'guess'
where we might be. The website has new code inserted in it to stop
that freaky thing where everyone's computer stored an old version of
the rides. What else could we do? Any thoughts on this gratefully
received.....

===

WANT TO BE A CYCLE INSTRUCTOR?

The BBC reports that another 1000 people are to be trained up as cycle
instructors. It can make a useful second income so it's well worth
investigating:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8320036.stm

===

NEXT WEEK

There's an opportunity for a social evening at Herne Hill Velodrome on
Saturday. Mike is leading a ride from Pollards Hill for the Halloween
cyclocross event. There are a variety of races ranging from complete
novices to top racers. It's quirky, with the course going through the
middle of the bar tent and lots of new obstacles being built in the
middle of the track. Cyclocross is the oddest sport - off road racing
on adapted road bikes with sections that force you to dismount and
carry the bike. You can feel the pain without having to experience it!
Free entry. More details here: http://www.rollapaluza.com/?page_id=326
Ride leaves at 4:30pm. Make your own way home.

On Sunday, we're going to do a PHC Classic, using lots of well
surfaced traffic-free sections. The morning is fairly flat but there's
a climb in the afternoon. It's a route that everyone should know and
ranks as one of my favourite local rides. Do come along so that you
can ride it yourself at any time. 9:30 from Westcroft Leisure Centre
in Carshalton

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Dragons & Windmills 18/10/09

21 riders at Horsham station for this brand new ride. It's always a
risk when the ride has been planned from studying a map but we got
really lucky with this one, leaving Horsham on a quiet road that
became a paved bridleway and then a nicely surfaced track. We got a
bit stuck at Sedgwick Park where I'd hoped to ride past the castle but
the sign was very clear that there was no right of way. However, the
alternative lane had a lovely long gentle downhill freewheel!

We rode a short section of the Downs Link, a 36 mile former railway
line that links Guildford with Shoreham, to Southwater Country Park
which turned out to be a great cafe stop. There's plenty of space for
bikes and the local model boat club were sailing yachts on the lake.
Then it was lovely lanes down to the bizarrely named hamlet of
Dragon's Green and on to the Kings Windmill at Shipley, home to BBC's
fictional Jonathan Creek.

The bridleway after the windmill wasn't such a good idea so we'd
probably use the road next time. We were on target for a 1pm
(unannounced!) arrival at the pub when one rider took a tumble onto
the grass verge when a loose D-lock stuck in the wheel. It didn't need
20 people to help so I took the majority to the pub whilst an
ambulance was called. Redhill hospital confirmed slight fracture.

The pub was cheap and cheerful with good priced food considering the
location. I think we'd doubled the amount of customers for the
lunchtime trade. We waited until the good samaritans had seen our
injured rider off to hospital and taken the bike to a nearby pub but
left them to catch us up after they'd eaten.

We rode more nice lanes to Barns Green where we picked up a bridleway
behind the Muntham House school, that came out at Itchingfield. A
second bridleway started quite promisingly but then went through the
garden of a house and became a narrow track. We spoke to the owner of
the house and should have listened to his advice to take the footpath
option to the Tesco store as it was wider with a better surface. We'll
do that next time. Our track dumped us unceremoniously on the grass
verge of a fast A road which took a while to cross over.

Once through the housing estate at Broadbridge Heath, we picked up
another lane and eventually crossed the A24 to the afternoon stop at
Warnham Nature Reserve's cafe. This was another good find with some
nice food on offer. Although it had been fairly rural up until this
point, we were actually on the outskirts of Horsham so it was just a
short ride back to the station.

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

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622613459036
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc080

Update: Hospitalised rider back at home late afternoon and in good spirits.

===

BEDDINGTON PARK

We had about 12 riders out on this gentle afternoon explore. It's
always a good local route with a relaxed cafe stop. This month we took
a convoluted route to Nonsuch Park for cakes and coffee. The rides
take place on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Details here:
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark Stick it in your
diary for November!!

===

THE NEW RIDES

Are you having trouble seeing new rides on the website? It's because
your computer has "cached" an old copy and won't refresh. You need to
try a various key combination such as F5 and CTRL at the same time.
Google for "force refresh" and add the name of your browser such as
IE5 or Firefox to see how to do this on your own computer. There's
nothing I can do to help but we've added a piece of code so that once
you are clear, it won't happen again.

Now you're seeing the correct page, you'll notice that two of the
rides have switched dates. That's because I got the date wrong for the
end of British Summertime so now we're going to Pett's Wood on 25th
October and doing the Ashstead ride on the 1st Nov.

===

SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLING

The last course wasn't sold out but the first two were. I can do
another one at 10am on Saturday 31st October if anyone is interested?
Talk to those who've been and you'll see that it's well worth a
tenner. You get tons of useful information jammed into a 2.5hr session
that includes some discussion and some riding on the bike. You'll get
some advanced tips on bike skills as well as a detailed insight into
highly skilled roadcraft. Think Condensed Works of Shakespeare and
you'll get some idea of what we're trying to do.

Email me and if there's enough interest, I'll confirm it by next weekend.

===

NEXT WEEK

If you read the paragraph above, you'll know that we're off to Pett's
Wood on the William Willett memorial ride on Sunday. He's the person
responsible for us altering the clocks on this day. With that in mind,
make sure you turn up at the correct time! It's a 9:30am departure
from outside the library at Pollards Hill

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk
(We lost a few messages on the forum due to a technical glitch. Do log
on and join in!)

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Blue Plaques - Polar Connections Ride 11/10/09

Today’s expedition took a route that would link blue plaques and
statues of famous polar explorers. The ride started at Wimbledon where
16 riders met on a grey morning. We set off down Alexandra Road and
continued skirting the railway towards Wimbledon Park, carefully
avoiding the ice floes of the Wandle Glacier Valley. By the time we
reached the far side of Putney Heath, we looked like we were on course
for the all-time Pollards Hill puncture/breakdowns record having
experienced 2 punctures and one gear problem.  (Fortunately, these
turned out to be the only mechanical problems of the day). Undeterred,
our band of plucky explorers carried on through the exclusive
backstreets of Putney, down to the Upper Richmond Road where the first
blue plaque was located. This plaque was on a house where Captain
Oates, of Scott’s Last Expedition fame, grew up. Oates was the one
who, being gravely ill, left the tent occupied by Scott and his
companions in the hope that they would reach safety without being
hampered by him.

We then zigzagged through Putney and down to the riverside in
Wandsworth Park where we had our somewhat delayed morning stop at the
Culture Café where we were joined by another rider.

We then followed the river to the Wandle Delta, under the York Road
roundabout and back to the river, via smart riverside apartments and
past the heliport. A short stretch of road was necessary before
rejoining the river after the railway bridge. Just beyond this we
stopped to look at the next blue plaque which was dedicated to Edward
Wilson, another of Scott’s companions who died with Scott and Bowers
in the tent. They had died of starvation only ten miles from a large
depot of food. Wilson was a Doctor who when working at St George’s at
Hyde Park Corner, lived at this house in Battersea.

We continued by the river, through Battersea Park and across Chelsea
Bridge. We followed one of the LCN routes through Pimlico, round the
back of the Tate, through Smith Square and eventually into Dean’s Yard
behind Westminster Abbey. Our next stop was at Admiralty Arch where we
paid tribute to Captain James Cook and then climbed the stairs to
Waterloo Place where the statues of James Franklin and Robert Falcon
Scott can both be found. Franklin’s expedition was to find the North
West Passage but he and all his crew perished in the Arctic. It’s now
believed that they died from lead poisoning, the lead having leaked
into the tins of food which they ate.

The weather was by now quite warm and we sallied along the
traffic-free Mall, up Constitution Hill and into Hyde Park for lunch.
Some of the group went to a food fair that was taking place while the
rest had lunch at the lido café. During lunch we were entertained by a
trolley race taking place between various hotels of the area. By the
time we re-grouped after lunch, it was chilly and overcast. We stopped
briefly to pay tribute to the statue of Ernest Shackleton which stands
on Exhibition Road outside the Royal Geographical Society and then
wound our way back through the backstreets of Chelsea, crossing
Battersea Bridge and then re-tracing our steps along the river to
Lombard Road. We cut through York Gardens and up Plough Road, making
our way to Wandsworth Common which we skirted. By now, a fine misty
rain was penetrating, with little sign of easing off. We passed by
Wandsworth Prison, down Magdalen Road and came out at Earlsfield
Station where some riders set off home, while the rest went to
Wimbledon Park for afternoon tea. After tea we set off back to
Wimbledon with riders leaving at various points. We reached Wimbledon
at 3 30 having done about 25 miles.

See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157622437220191


Thanks to Will & Mags for the report and putting together a great ride!

===

THE CYCLE SHOW

4 of us rode up on Saturday but others had been on different days. The
indoor valet bike parking has finally come of age with matching bands
attached to your wrist and to your bike and both parts closely checked
when you take your bike out of the compound. Shame it was up some
stairs without any thought to installing temporary wheel ramps.

I've never been a fan of the show before. It always felt like a giant
corporate shopfront where you can look but you can't buy. I enjoyed it
more this year. We tried out the rental bikes for the forthcoming
Cycle Hire scheme in Central London (uncomfortable and too-small front
rack with no rear rack) and had a 30 minute mountain bike lesson in
leaping over obstacles. CTC were interested to hear about PHC but
LCC's stall was simply staffed by volunteers with absolutely no
information about their borough groups, many of whom have an excellent
rides programme. However, the LCC magazine has improved tenfold since
I last saw a copy.

There was a heavy emphasis on electric bikes. We were all impressed by
Go Cycle's bike (http://www.gocycle.com) but the rest are ugly, heavy
and poorly designed. There was also a groundswell of technical
clothing disguised as fashionable, wearable items although they're a
bit too fashionista to grab the mass market appeal at the moment. It's
the way to go though. Cycling won't be accepted as a normal activity
if you have to wear lurid clothes to participate.

For those interested, our route to Earls Court was along the Wandle
Trail, over Wandsworth bridge and through Imperial Wharf to Brompton
Cemetery, a big hit for those who had never been through before.

===

MAURICE BURTON EVENING

There were several PHC folks in the packed audience at Streatham
library for the evening with Maurice Burton, former UK cycle racing
champion and owner of De Ver cycles at Streatham Common. The start of
the evening was marred by schoolboy errors on the sound but the host,
Lincoln from Brixton Cycles soon got into his stride with his gentle
prompting to get stories out of Maurice.

The underlying story was one with a faint air of racism, with Maurice
not given the respect he was due from the British Cycling Federation.
For one major race, they gave him 4 new tyres and sent him on his way!
He certainly deserves to have his name known far more widely as he has
some fantastic achievements. He's still a force to be reckoned with on
rides and his son is coming through the ranks and showing a lot of
potential. The best story was the one where the legendary Eddie Merckx
asks Maurice to let him win the next race!!!!

One lucky winner won £200 in a prize draw to spend at De Ver. I swear
it wasn't a fix. I won! :-)

===

GOOD BBC ARTICLE

The BBC news website has just run a very good article in its magazine
section asking if women cyclists are in more danger than men. Whilst
significantly more men cycle than women, 7 out of the 8 fatalities in
London this year from left turning lorries are female. There is recent
research to suggest that women falsely believe hugging the kerb is the
safest option because it places you nearer to the pavement. However,
the reality is that cyclists are safer when they are part of the
traffic and not trying to ride outside of it.

It's a good, balanced article and there are some well chosen comments
to follow the story. Do read it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8296971.stm

===

ADVANCED CYCLING TIPS

Once you've read the article above, you may want to investigate how
the mechanics of staying safe actually work. Fortunately, there are
still some places on Saturday's forthcoming session of the South
London Institute of Advanced Cyclists. It's going to take place in
Carshalton at 10am and will last 2.5hrs. A bargain at £10 so email me
to reserve your place.

===

LCC's CHIEF EXECUTIVE TALKS ABOUT CYCLING IN LONDON

http://bit.ly/3cf5ak

The BBC are fulfilling their cycle quota this week with a lengthy
interview with Koy Thompson from LCC. I'm never convinced that LCC
have the balls to be effective. Judge for yourself by clicking the
link above.

===

NEXT WEEK

Firstly, there is a full complement of rides on the website, a bit
later than promised. However, it was worth the wait as there's some
great rides coming up.

Saturday will be the 3rd Saturday of the month so that means it's the
easy peasy social ride suitable for all from Beddington Park cafe at
2pm. Look on the website for more details. You don't have to be an
easy peasy rider though - lots of familiar faces go on these rides.

Sunday's ride is a brand new Explorer around Horsham. It's untested
but is based on a selection of routes in VP Guidebooks' Cycling In
Sussex routes book. It might be lacking an afternoon stop so stuff a
banana in your bag (why weren't the banana guards at the Cycle Show?)
Meet outside the CEX shop at East Croydon station at 9am for the Group
Save ticket buy. Don't turn up late expecting to get added to the
ticket buy. It gets complicated so better to be on time. The 9:24
arrives Horsham at 10:04 but please don't travel direct without first
saying that you want to meet us there. Take my mobile number in case
of train problems.

Cheers
Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (very readable including a
calculation of how long it would take one person to steal all the new
TfL hire bikes!!!)

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

===

RIDE REPORT
The Great Surrey Cycle Ride 04/10/09

The vast majority of PHC rides are suitable for any cyclist of average
fitness. However, we're sitting on the edge of the beautiful Surrey
Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (that's its official
designation), so occasionally we'll throw in a ride that we need to
describe as challenging or not really suitable for novices so that we
an get out that way. On today's ride, we were mostly thinking of the
big hill that goes up Ranmore Common. And it's a big hill!

21 of us had met up at Boxhill and Westhumble station and in a novel
twist, promptly rode 500m to Rykas for a morning stop. We needed to do
this because there's nowhere else suitable during the morning so
stockpiled provisions were stuffed in panniers before we tackled the
monster hill from a standing start. The road rises quite gently as you
pass the ruins of Westhumble chapel but begins a tougher ascent once
you've turned the corner by the Old Dean Cottages. The real killer is
the hairpin bend. Most of us were walking at that point.

After a regroup at the top (whilst several different groups of club
cyclists flew down the hill in steady succession), we had the much
easier gently undulating picturesque ride along the top of Ranmore
Common before the rapid descent of White Down, complete with its own
hairpin bend being ascended by yet more club cyclists. This is
obviously the place to be on a Sunday morning!

We had a morning stop in the grounds of the not-yet-open Abinger Hatch
pub to refuel with our goodies from Rykas and refresh before setting
off in the newly arrived morning sun. This entire route follows a loop
of the the signposted Surrey Cycleway, a 100m network of carefully
chosen Surrey lanes for leisure cyclists. We passed the archetypal
English village green at Forest Green and looped down to the Punchbowl
Inn at Oakwood Hill for lunch.

Unfortunately, at this point, we realised we'd lost a rider. The long
lanes with several miles between turnings meant that we had naturally
strung out and at each turn, somebody patiently waited for everybody
to pass. We must have just miscalculated the numbers at one of the
junctions and although we weren't far from lunch, we didn't our
missing rider again all day. An absolute must for slower riders is to
always start at the front of the group. It doesn't matter if you drop
back because everybody will note that they've overtaken you and will
wait. Slower riders who stay at the back do unfortunately run the risk
of being overlooked and for the first time ever, that's what has
happened here.

Lunch was nice, well priced and in very pleasant surroundings. The pub
had been expecting us and had reserved some outside tables. Like fussy
old fools, we decided to sit on completely different tables but it's
always nice to have our custom welcomed and not fear an earful from
the landlord for daring to turn up with so many potential paying
customers.

As good as lunch was, the best bit of the ride was still to come. A
fantastic 3 mile ride along Weare Lane was completely car-free. The
handful of houses along there are set in the most stunning scenery.
Crossing the busy A24 dual carriageway at the end shattered the idyll
but Capel soon restored it as we passed the village church offering
afternoon teas. Still on the Surrey Cycleway, we passed through
Newdigate and Parkgate before stopping off at our exclusive afternoon
stop.

Not only had our leader taken us on a fantastic route, she had also
baked some cakes and invited us round for tea! You don't get that if
you hang out with other cycle clubs! We enjoyed a nice relaxing half
hour in the garden and then trundled into Brockham where preparations
for the famous bonfire are well underway, having skipped a big lump of
the Cycleway. We opted for another shortcut over the Betchworth Park
golf course on the old coach road before the final mile back to
Boxhill station where we caught the homeward bound train with about 30
seconds to spare!

Out for 7hrs. 30 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622515427384
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc079

===

RIDE REPORT
First Saturday Of The Month 03/10/09

Our monthly half day ride only had 5 riders out but it completely
filled its aim by demonstrating some new routes and new destinations
for those who came. We started off with a different route over the
southern half of Mitcham Common which was in very good shape after the
recent dry spell and then checked out the new Banksy graffiti near
Ikea in Croydon. The forthcoming Sustrans Connect2 path is still
impossible to follow and the brand new second phase of the Addiscombe
Railway Park has been re-locked because the far end isn't officially
completed. We ended up at the busy and recommended Coach House tearoom
in Coombe Wood, one of the area's few Green Flag gardens.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/3980651511

===

NEW RIDES

The rides for the next 5 weeks will hopefully be posted onto the
website by the middle of the week. I've going to try and amalgamate
some rides from the new Cycling in Sussex book and there'll be another
in the series of PHC Classics. If there's a particular ride you have
enjoyed that you'd like to see repeated, let me know. I also need
volunteers for leaders for late November and early December.

===

SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLISTS

The 2nd event was also sold out so this project has really started off
well. Currently, it's only available to people on this list and we'll
keep it that way for a little bit longer. Next one will be in
Carshalton at 10am on Saturday 17th October. Email me if you want to
come as I have to limit the spaces. It's 2.5hrs so that leaves time
for lunch if you're planning on going to the Beddington Park afternoon
ride.

What is it? Highly advanced cycle techniques and roadcraft tips for
use on London roads tightly packed into an intense 2.5hr session with
some talking and some riding. Learn to control the traffic to your
advantage and enjoy every section of your ride, whether it be the
Elephant and Castle, a residential street with masses of parked cars
or the Tesco roundabout at Purley. A complete bargain at £10.

===

CYCLE SHOW

It's the annual Cycle Show next week:

http://www.cycleshow.co.uk

It's back at handy Earls Court after a couple of years in the ExCeL
wilderness. Those who advance volunteered help on the SkyRide all got
free tickets. CTC and LCC members can get discounts. Self employed
cycle instructors or mechanics can get in for free if you have a
business card but you have to go on the Thursday. Whatever you do,
don't pay full price on the door! If anyone is really stuck, I have a
spare up for grabs.

I'm cycling up on the Saturday and will organise a ride if enough folk
email me to say they'd like to come. I'd be looking to leave
Carshalton at 9:15 and Pollards Hill at 9:45. Coming back when we're
bored. Take a lock.

===

ORPINGTON TO WHITSTABLE

Full details for this 60 mile ride mentioned last week are now here:

http://www.bromleycyclists.org/orp-whit.html

It's also on the South London Cyclists forum. Do look on there.
There's some good stuff posted.


===

NEW ONLINE MAGAZINE

I'm unsure whether this will catch on:

http://www.imbikemag.com/issue1

Page 103 usefully describes fore and aft saddle positions and there's
an interactive piece on the Surrey Hills MTB trails including a GPX
file so you can easily find them yourself.

===

NEXT WEEK

Mags and Will have devised a fantastic sounding ride for next Sunday
based around blue plaques. There's a brand new morning stop for PHC
and we'll be passing the central London sights.25 miles. The ride
leaves from the main entrance of Wimbledon train station at 9:30am.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Some of you may be interested in this, an evening with racing legend
Maurice Burton from De Ver Cycles at Streatham Common:

===

Hello All, hope you are well.

This year for Black History Month we have the pleasure of introducing
to you cycling Legend Maurice Burton.

Maurice made cycling History in 1974 by becoming Britains first ever
black senior champion.

After winning three British Titles and racing at the Commonwealth
Games he moved to Belgium where he raced professionally on the six day
circuit before moving back to Lambeth to take over De Ver Cycles in
Streatham in 1987.

Maurice will be talking about his experiences of professional cycling
in the 1970s and 80s and will be interviewed by Lincoln Romain from
Brixton cycles before opening questions up to the floor.

To book a seat you must call 020 77926 1075 or email
blackhistorymonth@...

Once you have registered you will be able to come to the event where
you will be in with a chance of winning a £200 voucher for De Ver
Cycles.

Wine, soft drinks and nibbles will be supplied on the night.

The event will take place at The Streatham Library, 63 Streatham High
rd, SW16 1PL on the evening of Tuesday the 6th October.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions and if
you would like a poster size file please email me to request one.

Hope to see you there,
Best regards,
The Sustainable Transport Team

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

===

RIDE REPORT
New Route To Chislehurst 27/09/09

Whilst some central London groups were reporting low numbers on their
first post-SkyRide outing, we had a healthy 25 out on this beautifully
warm Autumn day. It's a very urban route to Chislehurst, whichever way
you go but we tempered that by mostly using the old London Cycle
Network routes along quiet backstreets.

Our first port of call was Peckham Rye Common's cafe. A direct route
would involve going over a big hill so we circumnavigated by crossing
Streatham High Road near the Odeon cinema, slipped through Tulse Hill
without having to use the gyratory and cut through Dulwich Park.

We LCN'ed to Catford Bridge and then headed to Excalibur, the largest
prefab estate in Europe and currently under threat from Lewisham
council who want to tear it down. As we bypassed Bromley, I decided to
cut the route short a little and head straight down to the pub before
it got too busy for lunch.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) the pub
has gone very upmarket since our last visit with no main meals below a
tenner. A few braved it but a large contingency decamped to the caves
next door where a slap up meal comes with change from a fiver at the
basic cafe in the entrance lobby. A couple took the guided tour of
part of the 22 mile caves system which have a great story, housing up
to 15,000 in the Blitz and hosting concerts by the likes of Jimi
Hendrix.

One of Bromley's defining features is it's lack of tarmacked roads. Up
to 200 remain as cart tracks, including Kinnaird Road which we used on
the way so it was good to see that Crab Hill has now been surfaced,
giving us a clear run into the woods at Beckenham Place Park which are
also sporting upgraded paths. A broken chain just outside the park on
a junction of two stony tracks gave us an extra break whilst it was
fixed.

We dipped under the railway at New Beckenham and carried on to an
afternoon ice cream break at Cystal Palace Park before the long
freewheel back to the library.

28 miles. Out for 7.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622470963754
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc078

===

HERNE HILL VELODROME

Despite a higher level of interest, only 5 of us made the early
morning trip to London's last remaining 1948 Olympic venue. A mix up
at Eastfields with riders waiting invisibly behind a hedge and not at
the station entrance meant they had to make their own way up. We
gathered with about 20 others for the induction session.

It's gone up a pound but at £4, it's still one of the best bargains in
London as it includes the hire of a track bike. The major difference
between track bikes and road bikes is that they don't have brakes.
Instead, you used the fixed wheel to slow and stop. You'd imagine that
the trainers might school you in this but instead they simply send you
on your way to see how everybody copes.

After they've established that you can all start and stop the bike,
you get a quick lesson in track riding before you do a few laps in a
group with a trainer, taking it in turns to ride at the front and then
swooping up the banked corners to drop back in at the rear. The pace
is kept fairly sensible and it's certainly not a race. We were all
judged to be good enough to stay on for the training session (just
another £2) but after about 10 laps, we'd all pretty much had enough.

It was good to see the track so busy with about 20 juniors on mini
track bikes, more kids riding around cones off the track and about 50
taking part in the training session on top of the 25 or so who did the
induction. You don't need to book and the track will stay open until
the weather turns as it can't be used in the wet. I recommend
everybody gives it a go. And, if you go next week, they also have a
cycle jumble!

http://www.hernehillvelodrome.com

===

SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLISTS

The first session was a sell-out although we did end up with a couple
of no-shows for various reasons. I think the format was judged to be a
success, with roadcraft as the most popular subject.

The next session will be next Saturday 3rd October at 2pm. If you want
to come, please email me (before Weds if poss) by hitting return to
this email. We'll concentrate almost exclusively on roadcraft. Once
you have the correct skills, you'll be able to control the majority of
the traffic around you, making your journey far more pleasant and
ensuring you stay safe. It's knowledge well worth knowing!

What is it? A 2.5hrs social event with an intense exchange of
information designed to increase your ability on the bike. There's no
classrooms, no hi-viz tabards, no rules on helmets but an awful lot of
information which comes at you thick and fast. Then we'll go out on
the bikes for a bit and have a go. Cost = £10.

===

SKYRIDE

Here's some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/GoSkyride

See if you can spot yourself in the time lapse!!

===

MORE LIDL BARGAINS

I think it's about time Lidl sponsored us! From Thursday, most stores
will have cycling shoes at the lower price of a tenner (stiffer soles
make for more efficient pedalling) and there will also be winter long
sleeved tops and jackets, both of which are real bargains compared to
the price you'd pay in a bike shop.

===

CYCLING HOLIDAYS IN ITALY

Anne would like to recommend the company she used on a recent cycling
holiday in Italy:

http://www.italycycle.com

===

NON PHC RIDES

There are 3 rides coming up that I've been asked to publicise. All are
longer and slightly quicker than our regular Sunday rides so you may
want to try them as a bit of a challenge or perhaps you just want to
stretch your legs a bit. Note that two of them are on the same day and
none of them will be replacing our regular Sunday 30 mile rides.

First up is from our friends at Bromley Cyclists, led by Steve:

---

Sunday 1st November: Orpington to Whitstable (with possible extension
to Canterbury). Details: Steve.Watkin1@... or 07748 655201

---

Then, on the same day, we're also invited to a Lewisham Cyclists ride
alongside the London to Brighton veteran car rally:

Sunday 1st November: Mixing It With The Cars. Roll up roll up for the
third - and even better - Lewisham Cyclists trip to Brighton with the
veteran cars - an event you may be aware of from that old favourite
wet Sunday afternoon film Genevieve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgiv_I2TkNc&feature=related

None of the cars were made after 1905. An early start to ensure that
you'll be in the thick of this rather mad but very British event.

Meet the Lewisham feeder rides outside East Croydon railway station at
8:15am where they split into a faster and a slower group and then,
wahay, it's off on the increasingly open road with the cars. Brief
stops are planned in Crawley and Ansty for both rides.

IMPORTANT: BRING YOUR OWN FOOD - there will be no stopping for lunch.
The groups may well meet up in Brighton for a drink and bite to eat in
Brighton - the last two years, in glorious weather, we've even sat on
the beach. Here's hoping. Total distance a mere 55 miles - it's a very
direct route to Brighton. No climbing over Ditchling and you'll hardly
notice the North Downs. Official site of the event: for more details,
including the 500 plus cars you'll be sharing the road with:

http://www.lbvcr.com

---

Finally, it's back to our Bromley friends for this one:

Sunday 15th November: Folkstone to Dungeness and return a round trip,
train there and back. 48 miles. Leader Charles Potter but details from
Steve Watkin as above.

===

CYCLE PARKING AT RAILWAY STATIONS

Hot off the presses is this story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6851682.ece

Waterloo, Victoria and St Pancras stations are to become cycle parking
hubs with European style services such as mechanics, bike hire and
secure storage. Note that this is a government initiative and not
Boris who is busy backtracking on his SuperHighways scheme.

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the First Saturday Of The Month ride. Meet outside Pollards Hill
library for a 9:30am depart. We never really pre-plan the routes so
we'll make our minds up based on the weather, who turns up etc. What
we DO know is that we'll be utilising some great routes, showcasing
the best places to ride quietly or away from traffic. As such, these
are the best rides to try as a taster for a full day Sunday ride. Back
by 1pm

Susie's Sunday ride is the challenging Great Surrey Cycle Ride. It
starts with a hellish climb that some may walk as they near the top.
No morning stop so after we get off the train, we'll call into nearby
Rykas to use the facilities and stuff our pockets. Then it's out into
the beautiful open undulating countryside to lunch at the Punchbowl
pub. Afternoon tea at Surrey's most exclusive tearoom!

We're catching the 8:53am from Mitcham Eastfields to Boxhill and
Westhumble, arriving 9:29am. The station isn't manned and the machine
doesn't dispense Group Saves so get tickets at the other end.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Does anyone fancy going to Herne Hill velodrome on Saturday morning
for a go on the track? For £3, you get to borrow a fixed wheel track
bike (no brakes!) and get taught to ride it. Then they jump straight
in the deep end and show you some racing techniques and let you ride
up the bank. You don't have to be very speedy and it's the best £3 you
can spend in London. You'll need to take a helmet.

The session starts at 9am so we'll leave Carshalton at 8am and pick up
at Eastfields station at 8:20am. Drop me a line if you're interested.
Don't turn up without saying anything in case I change the timings!!

Tonight's inaugural meeting of the South London Institute of Advanced
Cyclists went well. Keep your eyes peeled for notice of the next one -
coming soon!

Cheers
Mark
07711 688189

Here's this week's reports and updates....

===

RIDE REPORT
SkyRide 20/09/09

London's annual mass participation cycle ride is into it's 3rd year.
We've led an official ride up to each one and this year was no
exception. We started with around 25 riders, none of whom had come to
us via the official website but instead all members of this list,
probably because the organisers insist on putting the start down as
Pollards Hill instead of Mitcham. In all honesty, unless you live
there, nobody knows where Pollards Hill is! ;-)

We gained a few more at the Clapham Common morning stop where our
arrival was swiftly followed by the Croydon ride whilst the Lambeth
ride assembled itself, despite the Common not being an official "hub"
this year. I bet the bandstand cafe has never had it so good! We
followed the quiet backstreets London Cycle Network Route 3 all the
way to Lambeth Palace, with all junctions brilliantly held by our
volunteer marshals until it all fell apart at the trickiest roundabout
on the approach to Lambeth Bridge, when two ambulances with sirens
screaming split the group up and left the marshal's stranded on the
wrong side. Fortunately, there are traffic lights so everybody made it
over eventually.

I'd asked for experienced riders planning on coming on this ride to
make themselves known in advance as I didn't want any poorly trained
GLA marshals interfering with our progress. Those that made the effort
to let me know were rewarded with what can only be described as a
backstage pass. There was a small marshal's tent at the top of the
Mall with secure bike parking, free food, drink and goodies and
upmarket toilets in the outside patio area. We also got a free ticket
to the Cycle show at Earl's Court. It also proved to be a great focal
point for group leaders to catch up with other groups.

The tiny 6 mile central circuit of closed streets was packed with
bikes. At least double the official capacity of 50,000 had turned up
which hampered progress around the Mall where all the activities and
food stalls were based. The various vacuous announcers blasted their
banal comments through loud PA systems at strategic points around the
circuit although one did point out TV personality Kelly Brook riding
her stylish city bike with a wicker basket on the front. Drummers and
loud music filled the Embankment underpass and a town crier o'yea'd as
we passed.

We allocated 3hrs for everyone to grab food and do a lap but it was a
slightly reduced group that met up at the back of Downing Street to
return via a quicker route over Chelsea Bridge and through Battersea
Park back to Clapham Common where we tried the rarely open hippy-ish
cafe on Rookery Rd for a change. It's a bit Clapham-expensive and
they'd run out of cakes with the exception of brownies but coffee was
reported to be good. As with most rides, numbers dwindled further
after we'd left until just two headed back to the library.

About 30 miles. Out for 7hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622294441989
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc077

Here's a bad phone photo of Boris:

http://twitpic.com/ifogs

===

THOUGHTS ON SKYRIDE

I'm passionate about the idea behind Skyride - the mass participation
cycle ride. It's not a London idea. Paris closes a busy road in the
summer to create a beach and has rolling roadblocks for the 15,000
strong Friday night skaters. New York has 3 Summer Street events which
aren't cycle-specific and cater for all forms of non-motorised
transport including those on two feet. Portland's Sunday Parkways
follows on from similar events in San Francisco. Chile has a Ciclovia,
Melbourne has a tiny one - they're everywhere.

However, they're all based on the daddy of them all, the weekly
Ciclovia in Bogota in Columbia. Started way back in 1976, these really
began to take hold when Mayor Enrique Peñalosa started to chip away at
the car culture in the 1990s, starting with the removal of 10,000
on-street car park spaces. It's now regarded as the most advanced city
in the world for public transport, with an amazing 2 million people
taking to the streets for the Ciclovia each week (that's 30% of the
population!)

I can't see a single reason why London cannot follow Bogota's lead.
The entirety of Zone 1 should be shut to motor traffic every summer
Sunday. Why does anyone need a vehicle in that area on Sundays? Need a
delivery? Get a bike to bring it in. Need a taxi? Use a pedicab or a
rickshaw. No bike? The 'velib' hire scheme starts soon with bikes free
for the first 30 minutes. I defy anyone to come up with a decent
reason why you'd need motorised transport outside of the emergency
services. A larger area would decrease the cycle congestion we saw
today AND allow more people to take part. It's the most civilised
event any city could ever hope to have. London needs it.

I've asked Boris twice, once though Mayor's Question Time and once at
at State Of London debate. The answer was the same both times - the
mechanism is there but there needs to be a good reason to do it. That
translates as a big fat No. I've plagued his Twitter account today to
make sure the message isn't forgotten. From next year, these events
should be weekly.

Check out the following info:

Great 10min film about Ciclovia
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia

NYC's Summer Streets
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets/html/home/home.shtml

Mexico City's Cicloton
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/26/world/fg-mexbike26

If anybody fancies the £450 flight, I'm keen to go to Bogota to
experience Ciclovia firsthand. Let me know if you're interested.

===

SKYRIDES

Some were confused as to Sky's involvement in today, preferring the
old Hovis days when free sandwiches were the order of the day. It's
the Rupert Murdoch Sky of Sky TV fame and they have clearly offered a
bottomless pit of cash to Boris to pay for the infrastructure and
advertising. Those who picked up a goodie bag will have noticed a
flier for the Sky Led-Rides programme which offers a variety of
recreational rides over the summer, some of which are expertly led by
myself and Steve Watkin. Sky are also in the process of putting
together a professional cycle racing team with the aim of winning next
year's Tour de France. Somebody has to pay for it all!

http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/skyride/local/events

===

THE SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLISTS

The first meeting on Tuesday night is now sold out with enough
interest to hold a second meeting very soon. We'll probably try the
next one on a Saturday morning. Email me if you're interested

What is it? A paid-for social event where experienced qualified riders
try to pass on as much information as possible in 2.5hrs. Think the
Reduced Works Of Shakespeare with an hour on a bike! There's no
classroom, no silly compulsory hi-viz tabards, no helmet rules, no
patronising patter and two lifetimes worth of knowledge to tap in to.
There's nothing like it and at the moment, it's an experiment. If it
works (and there's no reason why it won't), we'll look at introducing
themed events and running more evenings. No website yet but hopefully
there will be when it launches to the wider world.

===

BALHAM CYCLIST SETS WORLD RECORD

Congratulations to James Bowthorpe from Balham who arrived back at
Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon, 18,000 miles and 150 days after he
left, smashing Mark Beaumont's recently set Round The World cycle
record by an astonishing 20 days. Maybe he'll fancy a 30 mile
'warm-down' ride next Sunday!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/cycling/article6840678.ece

http://www.globecycle.org

===

THE ULTIMATE FOLDING BIKE

http://www.toxel.com/tech/2009/09/20/cool-portable-bicycle-concept

Note the comment about getting off it when it stops!!

===

NEXT WEEK

Sunday's ride starts at the newly re-opened Pollards Hill library (new
cafe disappointingly not open on Sundays...) and follows a new route
out to Chislehurst, via Peckham Rye Common. We'll aim to lunch at the
pub near the station but if anyone is interested, the caves are around
the corner and depending on our arrival time, you might have time for
the recommended guided tour. It takes about 40 minutes so if you're
hoping to do this, please bring sandwiches as you won't have time to
do that and get a pub lunch. The route isn't flat but there aren't any
mountains.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (use it or lose it!!)

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

===

RIDE REPORT
The Mint - A PHC Classic 13/09/09

13 riders on the 13th. I'll use that unlucky combination to excuse a glitch!

This was our first in a series of Classic Rides. After 4 years of
trying to do a different route each weekend, even if it's only a
slight variation, we've settled on some pretty good combinations of
river paths, parks, quiet roads, scenery, views and good cafes and
pubs. The Classic rides will be as good as we can make them. However,
it was bad map plotting when passing the route onto today's leader
that meant we still went through the ridiculous swirly barrier on the
Wandle Trail. I'd intended to bypass this. It'll be a true classic
next time!

We detoured into BedZED which is the UK's largest eco village. Most
people notice the colourful wind cowls as they pass by but it's always
worth having a quick look at the unique houses. An unscheduled
cashpoint stop in Carshalton was only slightly off route so we
backtracked to cross historic Beddington Park, formerly a deer park
for the Carew family. The morning stop was at the garden centre cafe
on the site of the old Purley lido. The diving platform still exists
and has recently been refurbished.

We then heading back towards Carshalton using a different route before
picking up a cycling version of the Wandle-Oaks link that weaves
through backstreets and passes allotments and parks before popping out
on the rural Little Woodcote Estate, perched high enough to have a
clear view back to London and famous for its black weatherboarded
houses that Surrey County Council built to turn WW1's returning
soldiers into market gardeners.

An uphill climb ended at the carved Woodmansterne village sign for a
regroup before trundling along country lanes to lunch at The Mint.
We've often been conscious of getting here early because you can't
book so we were lucky to get two tables after arriving at 12:45. Food
is always good but takes a bit longer when they're busy.

The afternoon features the amazing vista of Epsom Downs as you round
Tattenham Corner. It's hard to explain but you've just descended
through a residential area and can only see houses when suddenly,
everything is removed, leaving just the vast green expanse of the
Downs. A saddle was playing up at this point and nobody really had a
suitable tool but Nonsuch Park was pretty much downhill all the way
and they had a Dr Bike at their "Awareness Day" event. They also had a
reproduction penny farthing to play on which provided an extra bit of
entertainment!

32 miles, out for 8hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622244876669
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc076

===

SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLISTS

Last call for those who'd like to be at the inaugural meeting. It'll
cost you a tenner to attend a 2.5hr friendly social evening where top
tips on advanced riding techniques will be dispensed, demonstrated and
discussed.

We'll run the events on a regular basis but there'll also be further
evenings that concentrate on a particular aspect of advanced riding.
Your hosts (Steve Watkin and myself) are both highly experienced
cyclists, qualified to teach skills and lead rides. Drop me an email
if interested.

===

NEXT WEEK

First up is the 3rd Saturday of the month Beddington Park ride.
They're slightly slower than PHC rides and great for those new to
cycling or just getting back in the saddle. The ride leaves the park
cafe at 2pm. http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark

Sunday is the big London event - the Skyride. If the weather is good,
there could be 100,000 cyclists pottering around the circuit of closed
roads in Central London. We're an official feeder ride so it's hard to
know how many of us there'll be. I still need more experienced riders
to help out so please do email if you're coming. We'll be following a
nice route over commons and along backstreets and we'll also be
bringing everyone home. Meet outside the library at Pollards Hill for
a 9:30am sharp departure.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Just a quick note to say that the website has finally been updated.
Hit F5 or SHIFT Refresh if the old page still shows. I hope to fix
that quirk soon.

Could all the experienced riders who are planning on coming to the
Skyride / Freewheel let me know? I need to see if we need the extra
marshalls that LCC are offering. I'd rather not take them because
we're far more organised and efficient than most groups out there and
we should be able to cope with this ourselves. I can advise on what
needs doing. If you're not sure if you count as an "experienced"
rider, just let me know you're coming anyway. No silly bibs to wear,
no day at school, just a normal PHC ride!

Thanks
Mark

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

===

RIDE REPORT
The Vanguard Way 06/09/09

It's not often the Ramblers do something for cycling but their long
distance Vanguard Way route from East Croydon station to the coast at
Newhaven links up a nice series of bridleways that we set out to
follow today. It's also not very often that we do a ride that is
mostly suited to mountain bikes but those can came on hybrids or
tourers coped well.

At East Croydon, the route is well signed but we had to make an early
detour to avoid a couple of no cycling passageways but before long we
were shooting down the grassy bank on Lloyd Park heading for a
remarkably early morning stop at the newly refurbished Coach House tea
room in Coombe Wood. It's a vast improvement on the old Pond tea room
and I'd recommend it, especially as it's set in such beautiful Green
Flag grounds.

Although we were barely a couple of miles from central Croydon, the
bridleways now started in earnest. Conduit Lane has acquired a kind of
wood chip surface and lost it's sea of mud. Littleheath Woods gave us
a couple of great descents and a jammed chain. Then it was the
bridleway slotted in amongst the houses at Forestdale and the
impossible steep and imaginatively named Bridle Way to Baker Boy Lane.
Whilst these might sound like roads and they probably were years ago,
they're now dirt tracks and take you right out into the countryside.

We weren't sure how to get out of the beautiful Halliloo Valley,
fearing a murderous ascent on the Vanguard Way's chosen bridleway.
Indeed, it looked pretty fearsome so we cycled past to Southfields
Road which was a more manageable ascent on a mostly tarmac road all
the way to the top of the North Downs, bringing us out on The Ridge,
not far from the lunch stop.

It's been several years since we visited the Botley Hill Farmhouse,
possibly because it's almost the highest point in Greater London and
the thought of the hill up from New Addington is off-putting. However,
we've definitely found an easier way up and it's a worthy destination
with well priced, quality food. There's often live music there but
nothing today.

We needed to alter the route a bit after lunch because the Vanguard
Way switches to footpaths. Instead, we dropped off the Downs on
Pitchfont Lane, a loose byway through the Titsey estate. The mountain
bikes whizzed down but those on thinner tyres needed to take more
care. However, we were all stopped in our tracks by what amounted to a
ford at the bottom, a 1ft deep permanent puddle that required
bypassing on foot.

By now, the signs had run out and a bit of dodgy map reading turfed us
out of Limpsfield Chart onto the pretty High Street rather than
further along the A25. We suffered a bit of the A25 on its cycle path
but couldn't locate the bridleway we were after. Instead, we found the
next one along which dropped through cornfields and presented us with
another bit of orienteering at the bottom until we spotted the route
through Loampit Wood.

A fantastic descent on the tarmac Trevereux Hill bridleway marked the
end of our traffic-free riding as we rode the rural lanes onto the Yew
Tree Way and along to Edenbridge where we'd just missed the hourly
train. We passed the time by scrumping apples from the trees adjacent
to the platform!

25 miles, out for 7hrs plus travelling time. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622284381106
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc075

More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157622146189295/

===

RIDE REPORT
First Saturday Of The Month 05/09/09

Septmber's half day ride had promised a secret destination. I
suspected it wouldn't have sounded as attractive if I'd said we were
going to the 10th floor of a multistory car park in Peckham. What most
riders didn't know was that for the past couple of weeks, there's been
a very trendy 'pop-up' cafe on the top floor. Franks Cafe is part of a
sculpture park that has taken over the top couple of floors of
Peckham's under-used car park and is constructed solely from old
scaffold boards, including the tables and benches.

We'd ridden out on a route that hoped to minimise the hills, skirting
around Streatham towards Dulwich, through the park and down to Peckham
Rye. We seemed to find every closed road in the area but still made
good time, so much so that the cafe wasn't even open when we arrived.
Unfortunately, once the staff had opened the gate, we discovered we
were too early for any food and we didn't have time to hang around
until they were ready. Instead, we just had a drink and checked out
the great view of the London skyline where you could see everything
from Big Ben to the Dome.

On the way back, after the unusual opportunity to ride down the car
park ramps to street level, we stopped off at a fete on Peckham Rye
Common to quickly pick up some food. Then we retraced our steps
through Dulwich Park and tackled the steep traffic-free Low Cross Wood
Lane so we could freewheel the rest of the way back from Crystal
Palace.

I had my camera on the wrong setting so all my pix are blurred. So,
you can see someone else's pix of the cafe on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157621584990669

===

THE SOUTH LONDON INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED CYCLISTS

Do you ever feel in danger from traffic on the road? Do vehicles pull
out in front of you or cut you up? Did you know there's a way to stop
it? If not, then the South London Institute of Advanced Cyclists could
be for you. It's a brand new venture that I'm proposing setting up
with Steve Watkin. It will take the form of a sociable evening where
we'll discuss tactics for safer cycling and go out on our bikes to try
it. There'll be lots of tips and advice on dealing with traffic,
positioning, your riding skills and route planning, all delivered in a
friendly environment. It's not going to be in a classroom and we won't
be treating people like school children on a course. It'll fun,
relaxed and informative.

We'll limit the evenings to a maximum of 10 people and there'll be a
£10 charge per person. For most people, one evening will be enough to
radically improve your cycling to a degree where you'll be much safer.
Having seen most people on this list ride, I can guarantee that almost
everybody will be able to gain something from the evenings.

In the first instance, I'm looking for expressions of interest. Drop
me a line by hitting Return if you might be interested in coming
along. As an incentive, I'll pick a couple of random names from the
replies who will get the first evening for free. Let me know if
there's anything in particular you'd be looking to gain from such an
evening.

Both myself and Steve are qualified cycle instructors, we're both
qualified ride leaders with British Cycling and we've both got a
wealth of experience to share.

===

THE MAYOR OF MERTON'S RIDE

I've been asked to see if anyone is interested in volunteering to
marshall at the mayor's bike ride. This is a new venture and one that
I welcome. The previous mayor's office told me that it was ridiculous
to invite the mayor to come cycling so this is a move in the right
direction. Unfortunately, it's not very adventurous and the council
aren't prepared to enter the details onto their website because that
'costs time and money'. So, all I can tell you is this from an email I
had:

"The fun / quiz ride will be p.m. on 11th October and aimed at
children (8+) accompanied by their parents / carers. The intention is
they will ride part of the Wandle trail from Morden Hall Park (Surrey
Arms entrance) completing a quiz by visiting the national trust at
MHP, Deen City Farm, Merton Abbey Mills plus a few other bits en route
before finishing in Wandle Valley Park, a distance of about 3 miles."

If you want to help out, you'd need to email: roadsafety@...

===

LONDON BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL

This year's Bicycle Film Festival takes place between Sept 23 - 27.
Visit their website for the details:
http://www.bicyclefilmfestival.com/?p=london

Anyone who enjoyed the Danny McAskill video might like this one:
http://morvelo.posterous.com/ive-said-it-countless-times

===

NEXT WEEK

We've a midweek ride on Wednesday. Details of late summer midweek
rides have been sent out to a separate list of people who expressed an
interest but several new people have joined this list since then.
We're meeting at Mitcham Eastfields station at 9:30am for the the
09:50 train which gets to Elstree & Borehamwood at 10.45am, then we're
going to follow London Cycle Network Route 5 all the way back. It's an
Explorer because we don't know what the northern section is like.
About 25 miles with lunch near Hyde Park (the route is the one that
goes through the park!).

Sunday is the first in our series of PHC Classics. These will be rides
that we've done before and that we feel are as good as they can be.
They're the rides that everyone should try at least once. This one
kicks off along the Wandle Trail, nips into BedZED and then goes
through Beddington Park towards the old lido on Purley Way where we'll
stop off at the garden centre cafe. A maze of quiet residential roads
takes us to the Wandle-Oaks link and up onto the exposed rural plains
of the black weatherboarded Little Woodcote Estate. Lunch is at one of
our favourite pubs, The Mint at Banstead, then it's the best view in
South London as we round Tattenham Corner to reveal the huge expanse
of Epsom Downs. After cakes at Nonsuch Park's Mansion House, we'll
finish with a lovely little stretch of the Wandle Trail that we didn't
do in the morning. 9:30am departure from outside the brand new
Pollards Hill library.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
West End Common 30/08/09

14 turned up for a repeat with better weather of the enjoyable ride
out to the quintessentially English village green at West End Common.
I'd contemplated a suggestion to do the route in reverse to avoid
Sunday afternoon Thames Path madness but I didn't think we'd get to
the pub on time. The Prince Of Wales is a busy destination pub that
doesn't take bookings so you need to turn up and be seated at midday
if you want to get your food in reasonable time.

I'd left my map holder at home so I made up a route through the pretty
Merton Park conservation area on the way out to the Krispy Kreme donut
emporium. Aside from the unhealthiness of their headline product, it's
a useful morning coffee stop, if not a little close to the starting
point. As a bonus, a member of staff was handing out free samples,
including freshly cooked glazed donuts which are preferably to the
cold version.

We snaked through the backstreets of Motspur Park, crossed the
Hogsmill river, ducked under the A3 and skirted Long Ditton on the way
to Hinchley Wood before then we hit Millionaires Row between Claygate
and Esher. Many of the roads are fully gated in this area, especially
around the Claremont Estate but we chose a through route that brought
us out at Esher's main crossroads before crossing into another private
estate, this time one that houses a rather special property.
Wayneflete Tower is the remaining gatehouse of bishop and Lord
Chancellor William Wayneflete's palace, widely thought to be the first
Tudor palace.

Fortunate timing saw us arrive at the pub just before the Sunday lunch
hoardes descended. Most stayed put but I nipped next door to the well
stocked farmshop to sample some cheese and pick up some Sweet Freedom.
We then retraced our steps but instead of going back into Esher, rode
off in the direction of Sandown Park towards Hampton Court, avoiding
the daytrippers and escaping into super-smooth Bushy Park where the
Diana Fountain is still being restored.

Originally, the ride was to leave Bushy and go through Teddington but
we'd been making good time so we hung a right onto Timothy Bennet's
Cobbler's Walk and crossed the river at Kingston to pick up the Thames
Path. The riverscape is lovely along these parts but I'd forgotten how
bumpy the path is in parts. Teddington Lock (scene of Monty Python's
Fish Slapping Dance I learnt today) provides a tarmacked respite from
the stones. The lock keepers cottage here is really well maintained
and looks a picture isolated on the opposite side.

Richmond is always busy but Tide Tables riverside cafe was quiet for a
change. We relaxed until the wind picked up enough to threaten to
start moving the furniture (it's happened before!) and then tackled
Richmond Hill into Richmond Park. We were all surprised to be shown
the Reasons To Be Cheerful musical seat dedicated to the memory of
rock star Ian Dury at Poets Corner near Pembroke Lodge. Unfortunately,
you need to bring your own headphones and plug them into the bench to
hear the music and we're all too sociable to be listening to iPods on
the ride.

A stretch of uphill A3 pavement misery took us onto Wimbledon Common
and into the village. A final freewheel down the hill back to the
station brought us back to base.

32 miles, out for 7hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622198840128
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc074

Ian Dury bench: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1958039.stm
Sweet Freedom: http://www.sweetfreedom.co.uk

===

A SWIFT HALF A REPORT

10 of us met up in the pub on a drizzly Wednesday night for a joint
PHC and Bromley social. We should do more evening rides. Please feel
free to offer your own.

===

THE MORDEN PARK FESTIVAL

Several people turned up to hang out at Merton council's Change 4 Life
event. There was an excellent collection of stalls and activities but
nobody knew the event was on due to poor advertising. I reckon less
than 1000 attended. We were a little bit isolated next to mini tennis
and girls football but I arranged for the organisers to place some
better signage which did the trick. We partnered up with Pedal 4
Health who had bikes available for kids to try out and a fixed wheel
mini penny farthing that threw a lot of very competent adults.

After the event ended, I headed over to the excellent Environmental
Fair at Carshalton Park which had attracted around 10,000 paying
visitors. We'll try and get a stall at this brilliant festival next
year because everyone will love it. We can't go back to Morden because
it's not worth our while.

===

AVOIDING THEFT

A few people have been interested in the security of their bikes
recently. Whilst the unfortunate reality is that there is nothing you
can do to guarantee your bike won't be stolen, you can take steps to
minimise a loss. You can see how quick and easy it is to steal a bike
in this trailer for a TV programme that went out last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WeEq_SxNRc

Here's some CCTV (with the bike owner commentating!) showing a casual
and relaxed thief in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bjcmlMy27Y

Here's a video of motorcycle chains being easily broken:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC3hFr8p2ck
If you think a thief wouldn't take those bolt cropper out on the
streets, think again!

The first rule you need to remember is that two different types of
lock are your best deterrent. Thieves tend to only carry one type of
device for breaking locks. I'd recommend a good D lock through the
back wheel / rear triangle of the frame, attached to a solid bike
stand. Don't attach it to steel railings as thieves just kick these to
break them. Signposts can be removed with a spanner and your bike
lifted off. It has to be a proper bike stand. Don't leave any space in
the D part of the lock and lock with the easily pickable keyhole
pointing to the floor. Don't lock the top tube of the frame or the
thief will use it as a lever to break the lock. The tools used to
break D locks are normally car jacks so you're looking to minimise the
opportunity to insert a jack. They can also be frozen and struck with
a hammer so try to limit the opportunity to rest the lock against a
solid surface.

Next, use a cable lock to secure the front wheel. Don't allow it to
touch the floor as that allows any bolt cropper to be used with full
force. Your bike should be in full view of as many people as possible
and not hidden up a quiet street. Look for CCTV covering the area
although this rarely discourages the thief but it might help to trace
them. Place your bike onto an online register such as Immobilise or
keep a copy of the frame number at home so that the police can return
it to you in the unlikely event they recover it. A transponder is
fairly cheap but I've no idea if they work well.

Never leave a heavy lock in situ at a regular parking stand as thieves
will simply break it so you can't use it, knowing you will just use
your portable lock to secure it whilst you replace the heavier lock.
Before you've even got to a shop, your bike will be gone.

Bikes are relatively safe on our rides as there's often someone stood
near them. Well equipped thieves don't tend to target country pubs but
we should always be on guard on urban rides. Knowledge is power when
it comes to beating the thief.

===

RIDING WITH LANCE ARMSTRONG

You may have seen the news coverage of Lance Armstrong's open
invitation Twitter advertised ride in Glasgow last week which
attracted 300 people. He repeated the stunt a few days later in Dublin
and attracted 1000 riders for some laps of Phoenix Park. Here's a pic:

http://twitpic.com/fs02b

He's suggested that he might do it again and London has been
mentioned. If anyone sees the 11th hour notification, please post it
on here.

===

NEW BIKE DESIGNS

The latest bike innovations:

http://webecoist.com/2009/08/27/15-dazzling-bike-design-directions

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the First Saturday Of The Month next week so head over to
Pollards Hill library at 9:30am for a very special half day ride. I'm
not revealing the destination but there's no second chance as it won't
be there next month. You need to come on the ride to find out what it
is. We'll be back in time to head over to Carshalton for the Charter
Fair. Easy ride at our normal pace but not out as long so a great ride
to try if you're not sure about a Sunday ride.

On Sunday, there's a rare PHC mountain bike ride. Obviously you can
try this on any bike but it'll be easier with chunky tyres. We're
going to meet at East Croydon where the Ramblers' Vanguard Way starts
and follow as much of it as we can. The route goes to Newhaven via a
series of bridleways and footpaths but mostly bridleways in the early
stages. We'll detour when required onto lanes. It's very much going to
be an explorer ride and I can't guarantee where we'll be at certain
times so carry some snacks just in case. It'll be hilly in places but
we're not racing (do we ever?) so fine to walk up. I imagine we'll be
at Botley Hill Farmhouse for lunch and that we'll end up at Edenbridge
where we can catch a train back to East Croydon. We're not aiming to
get muddy so if the paths are really bad, we'll skip them. Should be
an excellent adventure. Be outside the CEX shop at East Croydon
station for a 9:30am departure and bring a couple of quid for the
return train journey

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
CTC's A Day On The River 23/08/09

Nobody volunteered to lead a PHC ride today so we piggy backed onto
the Central London CTC ride starting at Cheam station. 23 riders in
total headed to Kingston for morning coffee before heading along the
Thames Path to Teddington Lock for a pub lunch. The afternoon saw the
ride go through Bushy Park to Hampton Court and then along to Nonsuch
Park for a final afternoon stop.

See some pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157622128448988
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc072

===

MIDWEEK RIDES

We've done a couple of rides so far, one to Guildford for a loop down
to Dunsfold with 4 of us and then 9 of us for an explore on the
desolate Isle of Grain. Train restrictions make rides in certain
directions quite difficult on midweek days but we might repeat parts
of the Grain ride on a future Sunday. If you're interested in midweek
rides, let me know. They're completely ad-hoc, could be on any day of
the week and will only happen if someone has an idea and wants to
suggest a route.

===

FUTURE RIDES

Any requests? Any offers to lead? We'll definitely do a ride out to
Herne Hill velodrome on Halloween for the evening cyclocross racing:

http://www.rollapaluza.com/?page_id=326

===

ROYAL PARKS

I was asked in the week if we would host a stall in Richmond Park at a
small cycling event. I refused for various reasons which I will share
here:

Firstly, it's too far away. Richmond Park attracts people from all
over London and we need to carefully target where we advertise so that
we're not distributing hundreds of postcards to people who live too
far away to get to our rides.

Secondly, and more importantly, Royal Parks remain very anti-cycling.
They have a cycling department and are forced to pay lip service to
cycling but you sense that they would prefer to ban it instead. There
are very few legitimate cycling routes across the Royal Parks and a
policy of enforcement is in place against those who stray off the
marked paths. Where they have allowed cycling, they insist on
unenforceable speed limits such as the laughable 5mph limit on the
Broad Walk in Regents Park. You can walk at 4mph! Their policy is
heavy influenced by the anti-cycling Ramblers and militant dog walkers
and as cycling groups tend to be populated by woolly liberals with no
desire to make a fuss, cycle provision in the Royal Parks remains
wholly inadequate.

Thirdly, one of the stated aims of the cycling event is to "catch"
cyclists using "illegal" routes in some of the Royal Parks. Whilst
London Cycling Campaign and others seem to think this is acceptable, I
believe that there is no reason why considerate cycling cannot be
allowed on all hard paths in every Royal Park. It is not an
anti-social activity!

We're not a campaign group and never will be but I cannot condone
putting our name to an event that will do nothing to further the cause
of recreational cycling. Therefore, I refused the offer.

===

TRAIN ETIQUETTE

I wasn't aware that not everybody is familiar with the situation
regarding bicycles on trains. Here's an overview:

- Each train should have a cycle compartment that is marked on the
outside door with a Cycle sign. Although they officially only hold 2
bikes each, you can get at least 4 in there, sometimes up to 7.
Sometimes there are multiple cycle compartments.

- The train companies can refuse to carry bicycles unless they are in
the marked cycle compartments. It is the train guard who would enforce
this, not the platform staff. It is nothing to do with the staff on
the platform, regardless of what they might try and tell you.

- There are restrictions on full sized bicycles during the rush hours,
normally 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm, on services operating into London
in the morning and out in the evening. These do not apply at weekends.
Each train company has slightly different variations on this and
Southern include trains in and out of Brighton within their
restrictions.

- Tandems, tricycles and trailers are not permitted at any time

When we travel at weekends, we are nearly always putting an excess of
bikes onto the train. This has only been a problem on one occasion and
should continue to be fine if we are sensible and cooperate when
required. The first thing we need to do is spread out along the
platform in small groups. The electronic arrival boards often state
the amount of carriages a train has and signs on the platform indicate
where a train of that size will stop. All riders should be looking for
the cycle compartments and should move along if the carriage with the
cycle compartment stops near you.

We should board the train quickly and effectively, allowing other
passengers to get off the train and then allowing foot passengers to
get on. Once on board, cycles need to be stored so that the guard and
other passengers can walk through the train. If you are not lucky
enough to be in the cycle compartment, place your bikes against the
doors on the right hand side as most platforms are on the left.
However, there will be occasions when the platform is on the right and
you need to be aware of this and be ready to move the bikes over to
the left or take them off whilst other passengers embark and
disembark. Make sure your bike is secure and won't roll away or fall
over when the train pulls out of the station.

If the guard asks you to move your bike, you should do so without
question. To not do so is to put all the other cyclists on the train
in jeopardy as we could all be asked to leave.

===

NEXT WEEK

On Wednesday, we've got a short evening ride to pub where we'll meet
up with the Bromley Cyclists for a drink and a natter. Meet 7:30pm at
Carshalton Westcroft Leisure Centre for a short ride to the Crown pub
on Wickham Rd in Croydon or meet us there from 8pm onwards.

Sunday's ride is a reprise of the mostly flat route to the Prince Of
Wales pub on rural West End Common. Meet outside the main entrance to
Wimbledon train station for a 9:30am departure. Garson's PYO farm is
around the corner but can everyone please note that it won't be an
extended lunch stop so you'll need to manage your time if you're
eating in the pub AND going to the farm shop.

On Monday (Bank Holiday), we'll be in Morden Park (not Morden HALL
Park) for the Change 4 Life festival with a stall advertising our
rides. We'll be hosting a picnic for those who want to come up and
hang out. There'll be other cycling-related stalls and various
activities. If it's not to your liking, you could always head over to
Carshalton Park for the annual Environmental Fair which normally
attracts around 10,000 people. Take some of our postcards if you do!

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
The Forest Way Loop 16/08/09

A perfect 8 riders at East Croydon for the "4 for 2" Group Save ticket
buy and another 4 on the train made a nice total of 12 out today. Lazy
planning had the route going from Edenbridge Town station when in
fact, the train arrived at nearby Edenbridge instead. Never mind, we
were on the beautiful rural lanes within a minute, heading toward the
Yew Tree Way. The highlight of this signposted cycling loop is St
Piers Lane, a flat single-lane country road that bisects the National
Centre For Young People With Epilepsy campus. We tried and a new
morning stop at the Occasionally Yours garden centre at Lingfield and
had the place to ourselves when we arrived. The staff were friendly
and cake slices were particularly generous. We'll be using this one
again!

The next leg involved a length of the Forest Way, a converted railway
line. Unfortunately, to get there involved a few unexpected climbs.
Eventually we picked the route up just north of Forest Row and rode 4
peaceful miles towards Hartfield, our lunch destination. I often think
that riding on Sustrans' dirt roads is what William Cobbet might have
experienced on his Rural Rides. I like to think we are carrying the
flag for his ethos of seeing the countryside in its natural setting
and not using the 'turnpike' roads.

The Hay Waggon pub at Hartfield was an excellent choice with a nice
beer garden, fast service, good food and a wide variety suitable for
all pockets. If they could remove the wasps, the place would be
perfect! We had a vote after lunch to see who wanted to detour to see
Pooh Bridge. Hartfield, after all, was home to AA Milne and the
stories were all set locally. A unanimous decision saw us heading off
up another hill, stopping on the way to visit Pooh Corner, a gift shop
on the site of the original shop where Christopher Robin came on the
back of a donkey with his nanny to buy bullseyes sweets.

The bridge isn't signposted from the direction we approached.
Motorists face a much longer walk from a car park on the other side of
the valley. Our route was a tarmac private lane until we turned off
onto a bridleway. If we'd carried on, we would have arrived at
Cotchford Farm, the Milne family home. Instead, we chucked a few
sticks into the stream, soaked up the view and pedalled off back up
the hill. A mechanical stoppage caused us to notice a small child
ringing a bell attached to a tree. He had found the House At Pooh
Corner!!! A really neat idea where a small door and bell have been set
into the trunk of a tree. We didn't have any honey sandwiches we could
leave and despite the constant ringing, Pooh just wasn't going to
answer the door!

After another bit of Forest Way, we turned off at Bells Green and then
the hills really hit. We were heading for Chiddingstone but progress
was slow and the sun was blazing. We just about made it to the castle
before their Victorian tearoom closed. At this point we were clocking
up a higher mileage than the advertised route (it was a combination of
my morning re-routing and the Pooh Bridge diversion) so we decided to
pick up the train from Hever, about 3 miles away. The hills hadn't
levelled out but we just about managing to catch the hourly train.

36 miles, out for 8hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621932405803
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc070

===

RIDE REPORT
Gardeners Delight 15/08/09

Only 4 riders on a very short local ride to the open day at Spa Hill
allotments. We picked our way through back streets to Biggin Wood and
onto the site. It was a large scale event with stalls and a music
stage. As independently managed allotments, they've got quite a lot
going for them including a wind turbine and a hall which houses a
cafe. We drank tea and ate cakes before joining a guided tour of the
site which was really informative. Nosing around the plots was quite
interesting with a heavy Jamaican influence judging by the amount of
sweetcorn and calaloo growing.

See some pix on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621932303931
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc071

===

RIDE REPORT
Beddington Park Cycle Rides 15/08/09

14 riders out on a lovely sunny afternoon for a meandering route over
to Nonsuch Park. These rides are the 3rd Saturday of the month and are
slightly slower than PHC rides. Ideal for those testing the water.
Next one is 19th September. Details at:

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

===

4th PLINTH PIX

Here are some more images from Robert's alternative Bristol ride to
the 4th Plinth at Trafalgar Square:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621887742539
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc069

===

A WORD ABOUT THE HILLS

I'd advertised today's ride as having a couple of short but sharp
hills but generally fairly level. This turned out to be a pretty poor
guess. Instead we had some tough climbs and I wished I'd described it
as "hilly".

Obviously, as I'm sure everyone will appreciate, it isn't practical to
offer a different ride every week and then go out and ride it
beforehand. My current method is to take the sections I know into
account (which were flattish for this ride) and then try to deduce the
rest by looking at contour lines on an OS maps. It's easy to see
really steep hills but not so easy to spot long tough drags.

Therefore, from today, if a ride has not been fully recce'd, it will
be noted as an 'Explorer' on the ride listings. That means you all
know that you're in the same boat as me! If we come up against
unexpected climbs then we're all in trouble together. Although it's
not fair on those relying on the descriptions, I do think the 'mini
adventure' aspect to our rides is quite appealing. I'd rather do this
than try and 'grade' rides which I'm not keen on.

===

WEBSITE PROBLEMS

I've had 4 people tell me that the website is out of date. It isn't. I
don't know why this is happening all of a sudden but the cure is to
hit Refresh whilst holding down the CTRL key or the SHIFT key. That
should give you the latest version.

===

NEXT WEEK

Nobody volunteered to lead a PHC ride so we're joining up with the
Central London CTC at Cheam. Get the 9:53 from Mitcham Eastfields,
arriving in Cheam at 10:09. Fares could be as low as £1.75 but you'll
need to buy them at Cheam because Mitcham Eastfields isn't manned on
Sundays and the ticket machine cannot calculate Group Save discounts.
We've joined Lynda's excellent rides many times before and they're run
to the same pace as a PHC ride.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Here's this week's reports and news. It contains important news
regarding an incident on today's ride so please make sure you read all
of it. Thanks...

===

RIDE REPORT
Shepperton Riverside 09/08/09

23 riders assembled outside Wimbledon train station on a warm sunny
morning and set-off along an LCN route through Raynes Park and New
Malden to Kingston. Following the cycleway around the north side of
Kingston, we arrived at Kingston Bridge and turned onto the north
Thames towpath to Hampton Court. The sun was fully up by now with
activity by the riverside and on the river beginning to liven up.

After a pleasant peaceful ride in the sunshine we arrived at Hampton
Court and went to the Tiltyard cafe for coffee and cakes, where
another two riders joined us bringing our number to 25. With coffee
and cakes finished and sun-tan lotion applied, we turned onto the
south Thames towpath via Hampton Court bridge and began a leisurely
trundle towards Shepperton. A glorious day by the river was also being
enjoyed by other cyclists, walkers, trotting dogs, picnickers and
dozing fishermen. Coming by Walton bridge, 3 riders decided to get
over the river using the roadway, whilst the rest of us carried on
towards the ferry which we found with no difficulty.

The ferryman didn't flinch when told that we were 22 in number and
quickly made the three trips necessary to get us all across. Just a
few hundred yards further on we found our chosen pub stop, the Thames
Court at Shepperton. After locking our bikes to the railings outside
we set about ordering food and drinks on what was obviously a very
busy Sunday  lunchtime session. The wait for food wasn't as long as
some of us had feared, the food was good and reasonably priced, with
service by efficient, polite young staff.

Suitably fed and watered, we used the roads to Walton bridge to return
to the south Thames towpath and  enjoyed again the peaceful rustic
charm of the riverside. The sun was still proudly blazing away at this
point and most riders were getting a tan, as we came to Hampton Court
a little early for tea, so we pressed on to Bushey Park. Coming out of
the park by way of Cobblers Walk, we came around the edge of Kingston
onto a quiet LCN route through Motspur Park and West Barnes. A few
occasions when 1 or 2 riders overtook the ride leader and sped off
with other riders inadvertently following caused some difficulties and
was the main reason why the afternoon tea-stop turn off was missed. We
pressed on past Raynes Park and Wimbledon Chase where three riders
turned off to take a short-cut home, with the rest of us returning to
Wimbledon station before going our separate ways.

32 miles, out for 7hrs. See the pix on Flickr at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621993323994
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc068

Report by Mike. Pix by Jim

NOTE: The Shepperton ferry has existed for 500 years and is a request
service, summoned by ringing a bell attached to a wooden post. Those
familiar with HG Wells' War Of The Worlds will know it as the scene of
an attack by the Martians:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds/Book_1/Chapter_12

===

RIDE CONDUCT

It was tremendously disappointing to hear from a couple of riders and
from Mike's report that this afternoon was spoilt by riders trying to
force the pace, riding off ahead of the leader and causing the
carefully planned afternoon stop to be missed. I don't know who it was
but I will be very clear here - if you don't like the pace of our
rides, go and find one that suits your ability. We list plenty of
clubs on our Resources pages and almost all of them ride quicker than
we do.

We work very hard to plan the rides and as we don't publish the route
in advance, I don't know how anyone can think they know where we are
going to the extent that they ride ahead of the leader. In future,
this will not be tolerated and perpetrators will be advised of more
suitable clubs.

The only exception is riding uphill where leaders may drop back to
help pace any slower riders. In this instance, you must wait in a safe
place at the brow of the hill and you must not agitate for the ride to
move on. The leader will decide when to move off. Photographers can
also take vantage points ahead of the leader if we are on straight
stretches of road.

---

I need to remind the slower riders that you should not ride at the
rear of the group. You need to be first to move off after a stop and
you need to be behind the leader so we can pace the ride properly.
Riding at the back causes the ride to split. Do not think you are
holding people up as we always go at the speed of the slowest rider,
regardless. If you drop back as the ride progresses, don't worry. When
we stop, make your way back to the front. I need people to get used to
doing this themselves as we do not want to be directing riders like we
are a school group.

---

If everybody can adhere to the two points above and remember to take
responsibility for the rider behind you, waiting at junctions where
necessary, the rides will progress without problems. If anybody is
unsure what they need to do, ask the leader who will be able to
explain this to you.

===

PHC PICNIC

On Bank Holiday Monday 31st August, we are hosting a stall in Morden
Park as part of the Change For Life festival. I am going to request
that we have a corner stall so that we can host a picnic. Everybody on
the list will be welcome. Just make your own way to the park (not
Morden HALL Park!) and set up camp near our stall. Pedal4Health are
hopefully running some rides from a stall adjacent to ours so you can
tootle off on your bike if you've eaten all your sandwiches. Aim for a
midday arrival and we'll keep an eye on the bikes at the stall.

===

RIDE REPORT
The 4th Plinth 02/08/09

Robert has submitted an excellent (and lengthy!) report from last
week's alternative to the Bristol ride.....

The day had finally arrived for the PHC Bristol ride. 4 adventurous
riders set off from the Pollards library for an alternative AD-HOC
jaunt. Weather look fine, better than the previous day, a joint
discussion took place and  a ride into central London and to the 4th
plinth situated in Trafalgar Square was voted upon.

Headed off in the direction of Streatham Common station with Peckham
Rye cafe as the 1st port of call for the morning coffee break. Rode
through the grounds of BEAUBERRY HOUSE Dulwich, built 1785 in the
style of Robert Adams for a wealthy corn merchant of Whitechapel and
now a posh nosh eating establishment. Continued into traffic free
Dulwich Park, now restored to its former Victorian glory with lottery
funds. The park already busy with families taking advantage of a
glorious Sunday morning.

Peckham Rye cafe offered ourselves a chance to indulge in teas, cakes,
croissants and toast. Butter obligatory even if not required. Memories
of Jack Nichcolson's attempt to order food as seen in FIVE EASY
PIECES. All in all good food quick and pleasant service for our
al-fresco extended break. After all it is a Sunday leisure ride.

Next on our list of things to see the quite amazing statue of PETER
the GREAT situated in Deptford-Thames Path-to commemorate his landing
there to learn about the craft of English ship building. 1 rider
volunteered to sit on Peter's throne to be King for 15 minutes while
photographs were taken.

Continuing Westwards along Thames Path reached Surrey Docks City Farm
Rotherhithe with its array of various real animals and hand crafted
arty ones. Giving morning salutations to an elderly couple-puffing
away on ciggies-one of our group was asked 'do I know you?' Enquiring
where we had all journeyed from and saying Croydon area, the woman
went on to say that she, being Bermondsey born and bred, had family
living close to Croydon. West Wickham in fact and only about 5 mins
from were 1 of the riders themselves lived. This couples' son was
working in the farms cafe. Photographs taken, hands shaken with them
both, the husband having grown up along Tommy Steele an early English
Rock n' Roller and the entertainer of the 1950's and 60's Max Bygraves
of I'm a Pink toothbrush fame. People of a certain age shall know the
song.

Now running late we try to make up for lost time, as we stop once more
for photographs this time of an imposing river shot of Tower Bridge
another local approaches us and before long he he telling members of
the group about his childhood days playing amongst the Spitfires and
Lancaster bombers as they parked up at Croydon Airport, before flying
off for action over Germany. Asking also one member of our group about
the pubs situated along Surrey Street Croydon. Now we are running
really late, so a quick dash towards Central London and a swift ride
over Waterloo Bridge turning into The Strand and at last Trafalgar
Square and our first glimpse of the now famous 4th plinth.

Walking the bikes through and around the massed bands of tourists plus
a gathering of Steel bands, competing as to who could make the loudest
noise, we eventually arrived close by and alongside the by now world
wide famed 4th plinth. The on-the-hour changeover had just taken
place, so out came our lunchtime snacks and cameras to observe and
maybe to be observed also.

The living sculpture that we saw was in the form of a 'Queen Bee'
busily buzzing around and proclaiming to the world the very serious
issue, the demise of the bee population and the threat of lack of
pollination to various crops. 1/3 of all crops are pollinated by these
humble but very important insects.

Lunch ended just as the new artist was raised and then lowered on to
the plinth. This time it was a woman showing off her skills at
curling. Though one member of the group did wonder where the ice was!

The sculptor, Anthony Gormley creator of the Angel of the North, came
up with the idea on how best to utilise the 4th plinth which has
always remained empty of any permanent statue. His idea was to let
ordinary people become the living work of art themselves - to be
famous not just for 15 minutes of fame but for one whole hour. The
result is that over the period of 100 days until early October 2400
people shall have this opportunity to be living artworks. Every hour
on the hour day and night, wet or dry, sunny or cloudy, some brave
soul is up there doing their thing.  It's not too late to apply, it's
being done on a draw basis on www.oneandother.co.uk. The strange thing
is a type of deja vu, logged on the check correct web address and
another bee is on the plinth. These bees certainly buzzing around
Trafalgar Square.

As the images from the Square are a live stream and backed up and
archived, did look to if any of the group had been captured live. But
luckly for all, no is the answer. Homeward bound now, cycling along
The Mall and towards Buckingham Palace headed towards the river
crossing of Chelsea Bridge.

Into Battersea Park then a few twists and turns found ourselves on
Clapham Common. Few short miles further on as Norbury approached
riders started to disperse and 2 made it back to Pollards Hill
library. A grand day out.

No punctures and only one quick look at the map was required. A great
team effort for the days ride.

30 miles covered. Out for 7 hours. See some pix here:

http://sports.webshots.com/album/573855727STYZAW

===

NEXT WEEK

Those interested in midweek August rides should email me to be placed
on the temporary extra list. There's a ride on Tuesday where we will
be catching a train from Wimbledon to Guildford. Meet at 9:30am but
please mail to say you are coming for this particular ride. No need to
announce your intentions for weekend rides.

There's a couple of rides next Saturday. First up is a 10:30am
departure from the library at Pollards Hill to visit the allotments at
Spa Hill. It's their annual open day and you don't need to be green
fingered to enjoy looking around their site and enjoying a drink at
their cafe.

In the afternoon, make your way down to Beddington Park for the
easy-going monthly amble. 2pm departure from the cafe and more details
on the website: http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark

The Sunday ride will be a picturesque rural ride linking some
brilliant routes with parts of the Yew Tree Way, the Forest Way, lunch
near Pooh Corner and afternoon tea at pretty Chiddingstone. We're
starting from Edenbridge station at 9:55. Meet outside the CEX shop at
East Croydon station at 9am for the Group Save ticket buy. Fares could
be as low as £2.90 but latecomers will be on their own as we need to
join the queue at 9am sharp. Those wanting a fast ride should stay
away as this is likely to be a short train and I don't want to
overcrowd it with people who aren't happy with our pace. We don't do
fast rides.

What is the CEX shop? http://tinyurl.com/cexcroydon Meet behind the 2
grey noticeboards.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (use it or lose it)

Here's some more info that I didn't have time to include yesterday....

===

MORE BRISTOL PHOTOS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157621809557391

Jim's Avon Cycleway photos are now in the correct order and captioned.
Avoid using the slideshow option if you want to see the captions:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621808537287

===

RECOMMENDED READING

I had a selection of books available for browsing on the coach to
Bristol and someone asked if I could provide a list of which books
they are. So, I've gone one better and put a link to Amazon that makes
us a few pennies if you buy a copy. All are recommended....

Rural Rides (East Surrey) http://tinyurl.com/phcbook1
Rural Rides (West Surrey) http://tinyurl.com/phcbook2
Cycling Without Traffic South East http://tinyurl.com/phcbook3
Traffic Free Cycle Trails http://tinyurl.com/phcbook4
Cyclecraft http://tinyurl.com/phcbook5 (EVERYBODY needs this book!!!)
On Your Bike In Surrey http://tinyurl.com/phcbook6
On Your Bike in Sussex http://tinyurl.com/phcbook7
Cycling In The UK http://tinyurl.com/phcbook8
50 Quirky Bike Rides http://tinyurl.com/phcbook9
AA Cycle Rides London & South Coast http://tinyurl.com/phcbook10

===

SUNDAY'S ALTERNATIVE RIDE

I forgot to mention that Robert's ad-hoc ride attracted 4 non-Bristol
riders who used a great route through Streatham and Peckham Rye to the
4th plinth at Trafalgar Square. Here's what they saw:

http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/Lucy_Googlechild

===

ADDITIONAL THANKS...

I omitted to publicly thank Kathy for supplying homemade chocolate
brownies for the return coach trip back from Bristol. That was a very
welcome and thoughtful gesture.

===

Look out for a few more rides being added during the week and try to
get along to Mike's Shepperton ride on Sunday.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Here's this week's reports and stuff...

===

RIDE REPORT
Bristol to Bath Railway Path 02/08/09

Our big day out! We rented a luxury coach and a van for our bikes as
it's impossible to take a large group on a train to Bristol. The trip
sold out in advance and a waiting list began to grow. Excitement began
to grow too and was only dented slightly when I sent out a stern email
to all regarding the importance of adhering to the strict timings.
Both our drivers were subject to tacograph rules and only had 15hrs to
return back to base before we were obliged to hire a second driver,
which we couldn't afford.

Fortunately, everyone was on time bar one who had train problems and
missed the trip. Early arrivals were treated to warm croissants whilst
we waited for the vehicles. The van loaded really quickly with all
bikes wrapped in blankets. We put 30 bikes on the lorry which
comfortably filled it - the Dunwich Dynamo and other rides would have
put up to 90 bikes piled high on the same vehicle. The same level of
luxury applied to the coach which had comfortable business class
seats, a fully fitted kitchen and on-board toilet. Several screens
allowed us to show a couple of cycling-related DVDs, including the
very apt Cyclists Day Out depicting a 1950s CTC outing. Free breakfast
was kindly served by Steve who took control of the kitchen.

A motorway closure threatened to throw a spanner in the works but we
still made it to Bristol in good time. The lorry travelled at a
slightly slower restricted speed but we only waited about 10 minutes
for it to arrive and bikes were unloaded very quickly. We'd parked up
at the start of the actual Bristol and Bath Railway Path which meant
we didn't have to cycle through the busy city centre and were straight
on to the traffic-free path. It's the busiest cycle path in the UK
with an average of 2750 cycle journeys per day. Some sections are so
busy that a solid white line indicates which side you need to stay on
to avoid oncoming cyclists. Locals were very vocal if any of us
strangers strayed over the line! At times, it was so busy that it felt
like a mass charity ride, even though this was just a normal sunny
summer Sunday. There's nothing to compare to these levels of use in
London.

The path is fully tarmacked and well signed. There's a slight climb
out of Bristol to Fishponds were we stopped to dispose of a rubbing
mudguard into a bush for later retrieval. A brick fish is the first
major piece of art along the trail. Not long after, you get cold and
damp through the UK's longest cycleable railway tunnel at Staple Hill
and then it's up onto the platform at the former Mangotsfield station
where enamel train tickets are sunken into the platform surface and a
cast iron art installation adorns the old station windows.

The old station at Warmley is now a cafe but we pushed on to Bitton
station where part of the old railway line has been preserved by the
Avon Valley Railway who were running rides on their steam train. We
stopped at the cafe but by this time, some riders had gone off ahead
to make the most of their day. The rest of the route drops very gently
towards Bath before it ends abruptly on Brassmill Lane. Fortunately,
the route then picks up the River Avon towpath for 2 miles into Bath
city centre.

To avoid huge waits for food, we split up into smaller groups to enjoy
Bath and find somewhere to eat, meeting up again at the main railway
station for a return journey back the way we came. The weather was
great, everyone enjoyed the trip and we'll definitely do another one,
possibly very soon if I can find a cheaper way to transport riders and
bikes.

See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621932618912
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc065

To discuss the trip, please start a thread on the forum. It would be
good to get everybody's thoughts....

===

BRISTOL TO BATH AND BEYOND

Only one rider ventured further than Bath. Here's Jim's pix from the
Avon Cycleway:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621808537287
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc066

(apologies to those viewing prior to Tuesday evening. These are in the
wrong order and without Jim's captions. I ran out of time!)

===

RIDE REPORT
First Saturday of The Month 01/08/09

Only 3 out today but we will, of course, continue these essential
rides throughout the year. Jill led a nice route into Battersea Park
and back.

Here's some pix:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621933150222
or
http://preview.tinyurl.com/phc067

===

MIDWEEK RIDES

Please put your hand up if you are interested in midweek rides over
the next 4 weeks (well, email me!). They will mostly be train-assisted
and some will be longer than an average PHC ride. Once I know who is
interested, I will mail those people as and when the various trips are
decided. No obligation to come - I just don't want to bombard 300 who
are at work with emails about rides they can't do!

===

NEXT WEEK

We have an excellent Sunday riverside ride to the picturesque Thames
Court pub at Shepperton. On the way out, we'll use the quirky £2
Shepperton ferry which is summoned on the quarter of the hour by
dinging a bell. The return will use Walton bridge but come back much
the same way. The pub has the same menu as the Mint at Banstead so it
should be a great day out. The ride leaves from outside the main
entrance of Wimbledon station at 9:30am.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk (use it or lose it!)

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Birthday Cake Ride 26/07/09

Weather warnings across the country had spared the South East and the
11 riders who joined the Dorking bound train at Mitcham Eastfields
anticipated sunshine and showers. Mitcham Eastfields is unmanned on a
Sunday and we couldn't therefore purchase Group Saver tickets.
Unfortunately neither could the ticket machines dispense Permit to
Travel tickets. Pressing the information button gets no response
except a few mute buzzes. On arrival at Dorking, the official in the
ticket office joked about the fact that the ticket office at Mitcham
Eastfields won an award - and as they are only open for a few hours
each morning, it was quite galling for him. We didn't leave Dorking
until about 10:30 as the train was a few minutes late and also the
single toilet was in need by most of the group. Two more joined us and
we headed out towards our first cake stop of the day at Shere.

Two missed turnings early on meant retracing our steps but soon we
were on the Pilgrim's Way and climbing towards a great view over the
village of Westcott and the surrounding valley.  A few riders had
difficulty with the loose gravel path but most enjoyed the long
descent down to Hole Hill.  Here we pick up the cycle route into
Abinger Hammer and again some riders found some sandy narrow stretches
difficult and slow going.  Crossing over the busy A25 we joined the
farm tracks through Gomshall into the picturesque village of Shere.
Shere is the self-style prettiest village in Surrey and has had many
so called 'chick-flick' movies made here (such as Holiday, Wedding
Date and Bridget Jones) but also the 1965 Sci-Fi/Horror classic, The
Earth Dies Screaming.  We located the Village hall which hosts a twice
monthly quaint Antique market and more importantly refreshments
including home-made cakes. Only a small selection but most welcome.

We headed south towards Peaslake and then from there the longest climb
of the ride up to Holmsbury Hill. All riders managed this quite
comfortably and then enjoyed a long winding descent the other side to
join the Ockley Road towards Forest Green. It was 1:15pm when we
arrived at Forest Green and a decision was sought to whether we headed
on towards our preferred lunch stop of The Crown at Capel or to go to
the more up-market Parrot Inn on the green. We phoned The Crown and
decided to head into Capel.

Capel was a thriving Quaker community in the 17th and 18th Century and
still has a Friends Meeting House as one of it's most prominent
buildings. More prominently for us was the Crown pub.  Food was
generous and cheap although the only real vegetarian option was
'off'(no mushrooms for the Mushroom Stroganoff!).  After a good
refuelling we headed off towards Newdigate.  With the bulk of any hill
climbing now behind us we made good progress through Newdigate and
Parkgate where one rider left. Unfortunately rain had started during
lunch and waterproofs were needed most of the way towards our final
cake stop of the day at Brockham.

Famous for it's Guy Fawkes bonfire and fireworks Brockham with the
river Mole running through it is only a very short distance from
Dorking and our end point so we relaxed with a great selection of
handmade cakes and fancies. As it was our Birthday ride we even sang
'Happy Birthday' whilst scoffing down the teas and cakes. The old
Coach Road took us traffic free through Betchworth Park golf club and
into Dorking.

Out for 8 and half hours. 32 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157621718163867

Report by Jez

===

RIDE REPORT
Cycle Bingo and Birthday BBQ 25/07/09

15 riders pioneered the world's first ever game of Cycle Bingo. And it
worked! Everybody had a different bingo card worn around their necks
for easy access and a pencil in their pocket. We basically used the
bikes as transport to move to various vantage points where numbered
items of interest could be seen. You had to wait for the 'bingo
caller' to read out each number and point to the corresponding item
before you could cross it off your card. The 55 numbered points ranged
from the oft-overlooked terracotta bridge in Beddington Park to the
magnificent Carew Manor to mundane objects such as a postbox.

We had our first winner before we left Beddington Park with a full
line but it was a while before the 2nd prize for all 4 corners was
claimed. Remarkably, we were down to the last 5 numbers leading to
high anticipation before we finally had a full house and an overall
winner. Bars of chocolate were awarded to the first to get a line and
first to get all 4 corners but our overall winner was able to choose
from a variety of donated prizes.

Once the prize was claimed, we rode up to the Stanley Park allotments
for the Carshalton Lavender open day. It was fairly busy with visitors
cutting their own lavender, several stalls selling all manner of
related items and a large temporary distillery on site extracting
lavender oil. It's worth checking this annual event out and we're
happy to support it.

Once back in the park, several more joined us for the Birthday BBQ.
The Friends of Beddington Park had arranged for 3 permanent BBQ stands
to be installed last year. They're very popular and we were lucky to
get one with 2 other parties taking place at the same time. All the
food had been stored on ice whilst we were riding which meant we had
some nice, cool, fresh juice to return to. One person volunteered to
man the BBQ (thanks Paul!) and we sat around to enjoy sausages (meat &
veggie!), burgers, kebabs and fruit parcels.

We awarded a few more prizes from the stash which gave us an
opportunity to recognise a couple of our longest standing members who
have been around since the 3rd PHC ride back in 2005 as well as our
chef. We packed up about 5:30pm.

See the pix on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157621700375993

The next social gathering will be at Morden Park (not Morden HALL
Park!) on Aug 31st when we'll have a picnic at the rear of our stall
during the Change 4 Life event. Our next competition will be Cycling
Photo Crossword!! Being devised as I write....

===

THE STATE OF THE UNION

We're four years old. We have 387 members on the email list. We are,
without doubt, the largest and most successful leisure rides
organisation in South London, even though some of the racing clubs
such as Addiscombe and Kingston Wheelers have equally impressive
membership numbers.

A lot of people think it's me that runs this club alone but there's a
brilliant support network that often goes unnoticed. At the risk of
missing anyone out, we should all thank the following, without whom,
the club wouldn't exist in its current format:

Jim F, despite not being able to ride with us as often as he used to,
still attends to all our online publicity, submitting the rides to the
LCC rider email list and informing the local papers. Time Out
unfortunately scrapped their leisure section but it was Jim who was
responsible for getting us so much coverage in the magazine.

Jill has been with us since the 3rd ride and is always prepared to
offer to lead rides with Philip when we're stuck or volunteer to help.

John G, Jez, Nick, Jim B and all the others who send me photos as soon
as they get home, which enables me to choose from a huge pool and
upload the pics the same day. They are our biggest selling point and
the speed of delivery is crucial in keeping the interest of those on
the list.

Jim B has a wealth of knowledge of local routes which is invaluable
when planning rides.

Jez hosted our website for several months and helped to get the South
London Cyclists forum up and running.

Special thanks should go out to Suzanne who co-founded the club with
me but now lives in Scotland and to Charlie Philips who worked so
tirelessly in the early days to ensure we had people turning up on the
rides.

Thanks too to everyone who has ever led a ride. We have a very strict
set of guidelines for leading rides to ensure consistency and it isn't
easy to remember all of those points when you've got 30 people on your
rear wheel. We rely on the leaders to continue to present the club in
such a way that everyone is made welcome and the pace is kept
constant.

Sorry if I missed anyone!

Somebody recently asked where the 'club funds' came from as nobody
ever pays to come on a ride. It's a good question. Back in 2006, we
did what can only be termed as 'corporate work', organising Bike Week
for Croydon Council and arranging rides for local organisations such
as church groups. To cover costs, we charged an administration fee and
banked this money. We also won a CLPP grant to do Merton Cycle Quest
amongst other things and delivered under budget which meant we had
another surplus. These days, money comes in from the two affiliate
links we have with Wiggle and Amazon. It's been hard to reach the
minimum amount with Amazon but Wiggle have sent several useful
cheques. Use the links below if you're buying something from either
company:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/default.aspx?cat=cycle&ReferID=POLLARDS
http://tinyurl.com/pollardsamazon

We use club funds to pay for the website hosting, the domain names,
the Flickr account and our 3rd party insurance. It costs us about £150
a year to operate.

===

KINGSTON CAFE

Who knows Kingston well? Is there a town centre cafe open on Sunday
mornings that wouldn't mind a bunch of cyclists descending? Let me
know. Otherwise it's going to be expensive Italian coffee at
Carluccios on one of the forthcoming rides!

===

FREEWHEEL

This event is now called The Mayor of London's Skyride. It's on Sept
20th but rather painfully, there's still an utterly pointless
registration process. Whilst you're not obliged to register, those who
wish to do so should visit:

http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/skyride/london

There are no hubs this year so we don't need to pick up hundreds of
other riders at Clapham Common. Instead, we'll do our own ride there
and back.

I still maintain that this event is too small and should be weekly
through the summer months.

===

NEXT WEEK

Those going to Bristol on the sold-out coach trip have had an email
explaining the final details. Robert has offered to lead an ad-hoc
ride from the library, leaving at 9:30am, for those who don't have a
ticket to Bristol.

If all goes well, we may run another Away Day in the next couple of
weeks. Watch this space!

It's also the first Saturday Of The Month so join Jill at Pollards
Hill library at 9:30am for a half day explore of excellent local
routes, finishing at 1pm.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
The Blue Ball 19/07/09

13 set out from Pollards Hill library. Gentle progress saw us meander
along the Wandle path and through to Westcroft Leisure Centre at
Carshalton. Onwards to Telegraph track & to the Oaks Park café for
munchies.

Beyond Oaks Park the Lavender fields were in full bloom and the air
was heavy with their wonderful aroma as people wandered around picking
bunches. The gentle climbing began now as we made our way up to
Woodmansterne and on to Banstead. All safely crossed the busy A217
then we had to stop to don rainwear as showers threatened, then
delivered! It lasted about 20 minutes and fortunately was the only
rain we had all day.

Ever upwards towards Walton and a momentary lapse, (who said senior
moment!) saw the group gently lap a quiet urban street then return
whence we came to discover the correct route again. Lunch at the Blue
Ball was excellent as usual. Wide choice, reasonable prices and
quickly served.

Onwards again for a wonderful 3 mile descent into Epsom. A few minor
climbs along the way didn’t detract from the fun. Just beside NESCOT
we suffered our first puncture. Repaired and mounted,we had our second
within ¼ mile! There must be very hostile glass in that area.

People departed at various points along this section and we arrived at
Nonsuch café with 9 riders. After tea two more left and the remaining
7 pottered off through Cheam & Sutton, arriving at the start at 1700.

34.5 miles, out for 7 ½ hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621570798627
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc063

Report by Ian.

Note: 12 riders out on Saturday's monthly Beddington Park ride. Next
half day ride is on August 1st from Pollards Hill.

===

BIG GREEN DAY OUT

I manned a stall at the National Trust's Big Green Day Out event in
Morden Hall Park today. The advertising wasn't very good (unless you
listen to Radio Jackie) and subsequently I'd put the attendance across
the day at less than 500. It wasn't really worth it for us to be there
but as always these events do provide a good opportunity to meet
people who are aware of us but haven't been on a ride. Thanks to the 3
PHC riders who turned up for moral support.

We're going to try another event on the Bank Holiday Monday in August
called Change 4 Life. This promises to be a much bigger affair and is
organised by Merton Council who are expecting between 5000 - 10,000
people. Confusingly, it's in Morden Park which is nothing to do with
Morden HALL Park. If you want to do an hour on the stall, enthusing
about how great our rides are, let me know.

===

LIDL CYCLING SPECIALS

Regular readers of the South London Cycling forum will know that Lidl
has a big cycling sale this week. And regular readers of this email
will know that there's very little wrong with their products and that
lots of us wear the cheap jerseys. A fiver for a track pump is good
value too.

http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20090723.index.ar1

===

BRISTOL TRIP

I will email all those going with details during the week. I have
copies of route maps and Bristol cycle maps for everyone. Those not
coming are free to arrange a ride - let me know if you fancy it.

===

NEXT WEEK

It's our birthday weekend. 4 years old. First up, there's been a
slight change to the Saturday arrangements. The Cycle Bingo ride will
now leave at 1pm. There's a reason for this - we're heading to a
secret destination. But we'll be back in time for a 3pm BBQ in
Beddington Park. I've decided to provide sausages for everyone who
wants them, from club funds. You need to email me back to say you
intend to come and whether you want meat or veggie. We'll also have
buns and ketchup etc. You can still bring your own food and chuck it
in the ice box. To be clear, the Saturday timeline is:

12:45 Arrive at Beddington Park cafe and place any items you've bought
for the BBQ in the ice box. Bag them and label them please.
1:00pm Cycle Bingo ride leaves from outside the cafe in Beddington
Park. At this point, you are far too late to put your BBQ food in the
ice box.
3:00pm Ride returns to the park and BBQ starts on one of the dedicated
BBQ stands near the cafe

You can join us at any point but those doing the ride should know that
it is very short with lots of stops. The playing of Cycle Bingo is
optional. Rules explained at the start. No entry fee so no refunds if
it doesn't work out as planned!

Beddington Park is here: http://tinyurl.com/phc062

On Sunday, Jez is leading a normal Sunday ride with a heavy emphasis
on cake (it is our Birthday after all!). The ride is reasonably tough
because it's hilly in places so not really ideal for complete novices.
We're going to pace for all but some may want to walk the big hill
before lunch. Lots of off-road sections although the worst of the
sandy bits should be ok as we've had some recent rain. The rest is
fine if a little bumpy in places. Cakes at Shere and Brockham, lunch
in Capel if all goes well. You need to be at Mitcham Eastfields before
9:15 to catch the 9:23 train to Dorking. There's no Permit To Travel
machine so you'll need to buy return Group Saves at the other end. The
ticket machines cannot calculate the Group Save discount (which
perplexes me - how hard could it be?). Don't be late to the station or
the level crossing gates might be down. As we can't do a Group Save at
the start, fine to board at whichever interim station you like along
the way.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Forgot to say on last week's email but if you're not going on Ian's
ride on Sunday (and why not!!), come and say hello at the PHC stall in
Morden Hall Park at their Big Green Day Out event. I'll be there from
11am with some maps and leaflets, hoping to sell the delights of
leisure riding to those passing by.

Mark

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Hogsmill 12/07/09

Today's 18 riders managed to avoid any rain despite the overnight
downpour. We chose a route out to Nonsuch Park that still has people
wondering where they are, especially when we cut through Seears Park.
That's the beauty of these rides - we use routes that you wouldn't
normally find if you're going direct from A to B. We tend to amble and
that takes us into interesting corners.

After a very early morning stop at Nonsuch Mansion House cafe we
crossed the busy A24 and snuck down the passageway by Ewell Castle
school before picking up the Hogsmill river path. I wasn't sure what
state the rain would have left the first part of the path in so some
opted to bypass it. There was nothing to worry about and they missed
the funky bit over little bridges and under a railway bridge on a
wooden boardwalk over the river itself.

Then we picked up the new Hogsmill path, a properly surfaced, wide,
traffic-free trail that follows a pitiful watercourse that belies its
past as a powerful industrial river. Within no time at all, you're at
Tolworth with it's big ugly tower in the distance, where you switch to
a different branch of the river that's more like a ditch. The path
hasn't been upgraded here and can be hard work in places. You reappear
in a pub car park near Chessington where it's a short ride through a
gap in some houses to Horton Country Park.

We've ridden round the Country Park many times before but always using
the same path. This time we mixed it up a bit and rode for about 3
miles on the wide all-weather paths using tracks we haven't tried
before. As we neared the exit, we chanced upon a British Driving
Society horse and cart show with the participants in period costume.
We watched for a bit then crossed over for more traffic-free riding on
Epsom Common before a wrong turning in the trees (they all look the
same) saw all 18 riding over the grass on Stamford Green like a
marauding cycling army advancing on the Cricketers pub, our chosen
lunch stop. We were there before midday so we had to wait for them to
open properly but food was fairly priced, served swiftly and no
complaints. You certainly can't argue with a 2 course meal and a soft
drink with change out of a tenner. We'll go back.

There's always a hill after lunch. But not before a nice long gentle
descent on more Epsom Common paths and through Ashstead Park. Then we
climbed up Epsom Downs, caught our breath at the top and picked out
the Wembley arch from the amazing view whilst model stunt planes flew
overhead. Then we picked our way through Banstead and across the ridge
to the downhill ride past the amazing lavender fields and into Oaks
Park.

We've always known that the Oaks gave its name to the famous horse
race whilst the owner of the house, the Earl of Derby, won a coin toss
to have another Epsom race named after himself. What most didn't know
was that the house was the scene of the most elaborate social
gathering ever seen in England in 1774 when even Parliament closed
down to attend the wedding of the Earl's successor. Today, we were
able to see the archeological dig that has uncovered the foundations
of the demolished house including a very rounded foundation for a
turret and a large hole that has possibly hit upon a vault or
basement.

As our numbers had dwindled a bit by this point, we decided to try a
cheeky tree covered alternative to riding through the park's car park.
We walked through the formal gardens but remounted for the brilliant
descent on a great surface that had most grinning at the bottom, even
though we had to slow for a couple of pedestrians. At least one wanted
to go back up and have another go!

The ride technically ended back in Carshalton but a contingent carried
on to Sutton for the last hour or so of the Move It At The Manor
festival where cycling was very heavily represented with a variety of
stalls, including ingenious ideas such as a competition to lock a bike
in the quickest time which was actually a cleverly disguised way of
instructing on the correct way to lock a bike (D-lock through the rear
triangle and cable lock on the front wheel) plus old favourites like
Dr Bike, the obstacle course and the ubiquitous police stall offering
Smartwater to Sutton residents. We stuck around to watch a tired Team
Extreme go through their stunts on BMX, skateboard and inline skates
before heading off home.

5 miles back to Carshalton, out for 6.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621217881773
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc061


Team Extreme:
http://www.teamextreme.co.uk

===

MORE PHOTOS

Here's some more from last week:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taylorbritt/sets/72157620971124445/

and some more from today's ride:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157621342606978/

Our Flickr account wasn't very well thought through when it was set up
and it means no one can add anything without first sending it to me.
Whilst a lot of the regular photographers send their images over via
email as soon as they get home, enabling me to choose from a larger
pool, not everyone can do this. If you want to share your photos, just
drop me an email and we'll add them to the following week's email.

Those who enjoy taking pix off the bike might fancy entering this
local competition:
http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5740

===

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

There are two things planned for our 4th Birthday on Saturday 25th
July. One is Cycle Bingo, a fun but hare-brained scheme that comprises
a short ride and the opportunity to win prizes whilst sight-seeing in
the local area. You need to meet at the cafe at Beddington Park for a
2pm departure. This is the easy bit and will go ahead regardless of
the weather (unless there's a ridiculous storm which means your Bingo
cards will get soggy!)

A bit trickier is the BBQ. Firstly, we cannot go ahead in inclement
weather. If this happens, we'll cancel in the morning via the website
and email list and decamp to a pub instead. If the weather is ok, you
need to bring drinks and something to chuck on the BBQ. Make sure you
arrive at least 15 mins before the above ride leaves and I'll have a
large ice box on site to store the food in. Wrap it up and put your
name on it. The Bingo ride will be over in an hour so hopefully no one
will get food poisoning but in this day and age of litigation, let's
be clear that it's YOUR risk! The BBQ will be in the park near the
cafe on the dedicated BBQ stands. PHC will supply the coals etc and
we'll have a separate grill for the vegetarians.

The emphasis will be on the social aspect so don't expect too much and
I'm sure we'll have a great afternoon. I'm not going to advertise the
details on the website so print this out or stick in in your diary.
All 384 PHC members welcome! I'll remind everyone of the details again
next week.

===

THE CYCLE QUESTS

It was nice to see the cover star of the Croydon Cycle Quest out on
today's ride and that reminded me that a lot of newer members won't
know about these rides. Back in 2006 we devised a week of events for
Croydon's Bike Week, the highlight of which was a 50 mile route around
the whole borough of Croydon, passing 10 'Quest' points along the way.
The idea was to visit each Quest point where you would find the answer
to a simple question and those with all 10 correct where entered into
a prize draw. Whilst the competition is long over, you could still
ride the route and check out some of the places. The website is here:

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

We then devised similar for Merton but this was a much shorter route:

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

I'll revisit these routes soon and add a GoogleMap version which most
will find easier to follow. If you want an actual printed leaflet, let
me know and I'll bring some out on a ride. I'll definitely have some
at the Birthday events.

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the 3rd Saturday of the month and that means it's the Beddington
Park afternoon ride. You'll find the park nestled between Hackbridge,
Carshalton, Beddington and Wallington. The rides are nice and steady
and head out to a cafe and back on quiet roads or traffic-free routes,
making them ideal for beginners or those returning to cycling. Nearest
station is Hackbridge and more details can be found here:
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark The ride leaves
at 2m from the park cafe.

Sunday's ride is a nice scenic ride out to Walton on the Hill.
Obviously there's a clue in the name but there's no real mountains to
climb and there's some nice downhills in the afternoon. 9:30am
departure from outside Pollards Hill library.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
July's First Saturday Of The Month

9 riders out for the monthly half day ride. There was no fixed route
so it was agreed to head for Dulwich Park. We tried some new
backstreets routes to Streatham Common where they were setting up
their annual festival and then carried on picking various bits from
the map as we went along, taking us through Norbury Park (not the one
near Norbury Station but near Gipsy Hill) and on towards Dulwich
Village. The return involved a steady climb up to Crystal Palace and
then a huge downhill sweep that takes you virtually all the way back
without pedalling!

Come and join us next month. We go at the same pace as a normal ride
but we stay local and try to find interesting routes or interesting
places to go to.

Some pix:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157621002556582
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc056

===

RIDE REPORT
Jubilee Greenway 05/07/09

A sunny flat city ride organised jointly with Bromley Cyclists meant
we were always going to get a good turnout. 36 riders turned up at
Victoria which is about the maximum we can cope with whilst keeping
the ride comfortable. We're very well drilled in the mechanics of
keeping the group together and that means we can generally keep moving
without having to constantly wait at every junction.

The route is under-publicised and unsigned but aims to link all 9
London Olympic venues together using a series of parks and waterways.
The official launch, which slipped under my radar, was at the end of
April when HRH The Duke Of Gloucester rode part of the route. I'd
downloaded the 36 page instruction guide to finding the way around but
was glad of some help from one rider who'd already tried the route a
few weeks back, especially trying to get on and off the canals.

Because we'd started at Victoria, we rode past Buckingham Palace and
up Constitution Hill to Hyde Park, using its cycle paths all the way
to Kensington Gardens. We accessed the canal network near Paddington
and into Little Venice, a route that has quite a large No Cycling
section. We ignored that because there weren't many people around.
What we couldn't ignore was the fact that the route drops you into a
one-way street which you need to go up the wrong way. That was quite a
serious failing. Then, once back on the canal network at Lisson Grove,
we had to get off and walk past all the moored boats although that did
give you chance to see their cute little gardens on the towpath. We
finally got to legally ride a section of towpath as we went past some
amazing villas on the south side (it's said the Sultan of Brunei owns
one) and past London Zoo where you can see some of the animals,
although the path was very busy with pedestrians. By this time, we
were ready for elevenses so we diverted into Regents Park.

There are a choice of cafes in Regent Park but we chose the Honest
Sausage as they serve fairly quickly and have a lot of seats, although
toilets are a cycle ride away. The park offers little in the way of
cycling provision but the Broad Walk (clue in the name!) is still
undergoing its 'cycle trial' whereby bikes are allowed on if you don't
exceed 5mph. As most people walk at 4mph, this is clearly ridiculous.
However, it does demonstrate the Royal Park's poor attitude to
cycling. To demonstrate our contempt, we rode at double the speed
limit!

A short section of canal takes you to Camden Lock where you need to
dismount and pick your way through the punks, goths and tourists to
swap sides and then swap back again. As soon as we were free of the
market, the towpath became much quieter. We admired St Pancras lock
with it's pretty gardens and the exclusive canalside developments at
Kings Cross. You have to leave the canal as it disappears into the
Islington tunnel and so we regrouped on the road and after a short
gap, news filtered through that a passing cyclist had fallen into the
canal and had to be hauled out by several of our group. She was
unpeturbed about her and the bike going right in but annoyed that a
book in her panniers had got wet. An awkward join between the concrete
and the grass had caused her wheel to stick and thrown her in. We'll
email British Waterways and ask them to look at that section.

The fussy section through Islington back to the canal required us to
walk the bikes. As soon as we were back on the towpath, the crowds
died down again and we had a fairly free ride all the way to Victoria
Park. However, it was now 1pm and we'd only covered 12 miles in 3.5
hours due to constant dismounting and negotiating pedestrians. We
decided to split the group so some ate at the Victoria Park's Pavilion
cafe, some picnicked under a tree and others went to the Royal Inn On
The Park pub. A long wait for food at the park cafe was worth it
whilst the pub served quickly but not all diners were happy with
portion sizes or the cost of a pint.

After lunch, to speed things up, we stayed in the park instead of
getting back on the towpath and rode down to the Greenway, a long
traffic-free route on top of the Northern Outfall sewer pipe. Almost
instantly, you ride past the Olympic stadium which is looking
reasonably well advanced. In the distance, the velodrome is still just
a steel shell. A tyre blow-out gave us an extra 10 minutes to study
the Olympic Park progress.

Once off the Greenway, we followed the Capital Ring through parks all
the way to Cypress DLR and the University Of East London before
crossing the docks and picking up the riverside path to the free
Woolwich Ferry where we crossed the Thames. This was an event. Some
had never been on before, others hadn't been on for years. It's just a
5 minute crossing but it's nice that cyclists get priority for getting
on and off the boat. Time had dragged on so we decided to retire to
nearby Firepower before it shut at 5pm. Normally, a ride this length
would be over by this point but we'd only done 20 miles. The sheer
size of our group, the constant walking and the overall slow pace on
the towpath had cost us most of the day. We decided that everyone
would ride the river path to Greenwich where the ride would splinter.

This section of the Thames Path has featured on a lot of our rides,
around the O2 Dome where Madonna had about 36 trucks parked outside
waiting to shift her gear to the next venue. It gets very narrow in
places but there's rarely many people using it. It ends with a
magnificent new section through the grounds of the Naval College. At
Cutty Sark gardens (where's the boat gone!), some rode off towards the
Waterlink Way to return to Croydon, some went to Bromley, a contingent
jumped the train to Charing Cross to end the ride earlier whilst the
remainder carried on along the Thames Path.

Our longest ever day with some riders out for 9hrs. Nearly 40 miles.
See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157620873093215
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc057

===

MORE GROUP RIDING TIPS

When we're regrouping, we need to be really careful that we're not
blocking paths or roads. I think where we go wrong sometimes is that
the leader pulls up in a place that can only accommodate a portion of
the group, simply because there isn't room for everyone. Don't follow
blindly, think carefully about where you can pull up. If we block the
road, we simply annoy pedestrians or motorists unnecessarily.

You will often hear a shout from the front about glass or potholes.
Please make sure you pass this along the group so that everyone
benefits. When we're in the countryside, there will sometimes be a
'car up' (from behind) or 'car down' (coming towards you) shout. This
is the signal for everyone to fall in line single file. We don't need
that shout on a road that has a lot of traffic because we expect cars,
only on the quiet roads where riders have drifted to the right or are
two abreast.

===

MECHANICS

On the way back from the First Saturday ride, I broke a spoke and in
turn, blew my tyre and buckled the wheel. I fitted my spare tube but
the bike wasn't rideable because of the buckle so I caught a train
home. Because I needed it for the following day, instead of going to a
bike shop, I simply rang one of the friendly mechanics listed on our
website, dropped the wheel round and it was fixed within the hour for
£12. Do remember these guys next time you need some work doing. You'll
undoubtedly recognise them from our rides as we've invariably got a
mechanic on most outings.

I'd advise all those going to Bristol on the coach trip to get their
bikes serviced before we go as it's a long walk home if you miss the
coach back due to a mechanical breakdown. You should also pick all the
sharp bits out of your tyres the day before to minimise the
possibility of punctures. Those sharp bits keep working their way in
until eventually they pierce the tube. A small screwdriver will pick
them out.

===

WEBSITE

The website is now firmly ensconced in its new home. However, some are
having problems seeing it because the old one is still displaying. You
need to hit your Refresh button, possibly with the shift key down or
in extreme circumstances, empty the browser's  cache. The current ride
should be next week's.

===

NEXT WEEK

We're going to ride the upgraded Hogsmill River Path. Never far from
home, lunch will be at the pretty Cricketers pub on Epsom Common. Lots
of nice offroad tracks on good surfaces including some good new
routes. Plus at 25 miles, it's going to give us time to enjoy the
scenery. One big hill in the afternoon. Departing Westcroft Leisure
Centre in Carshalton at 9:30am. Details on how to find it are on the
website.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

ANA NICHOOLA NEWS AND REVIEWS JUNE 2009

Welcome to the first edition of the Ana Nichoola newsletter- for ladies wot
ride! We aim to send out this newsletter monthly, and possibly bi-monthly in the
summer time. You will find the ultimate women's guide to cycling in and around
London, with write-ups of past events from the women who took part, up and
coming events and product reviews. July is looking to be heaving with stuff
going on, hopefully you can take inspiration from the ladies who have
contributed to this edition and give something new a go. The world of cycling is
so large and varied it is evident that there is always something that even the
most experienced rider hasn't tried yet!

Please forward this email on to anyone you think would be interested. To join
the mailing list contact info@...

Photographer Joe Plommer revamps Ana Nichoola website, ensuring that the look is
crisp and feminine. Check out our new look at www.ananichoola.co.uk.
Photography is playing an ever-bigger part of what we do, capturing the
lifestyle and essence of female cyclists. Women ALWAYS look amazing on a bike
and Ana Nichoola are helping to demonstrate that, with an ongoing series of
photographs the "Lady Rides Archives."  It is starting slowly with weekly
photographs, but the aim is to have a new inspirational picture each day. Each
photograph can be voted for and at the end of each month the winner will receive
a selection of Ana Nichoola goodies.

New Products.

Our range of exclusive Brierley bike-part jewellery has expanded and now
includes chain-link stud earrings, ball-bearing necklaces and more.

Finally our first pair of SPD heels go on sale! They are on a white and silver
pair of size 6 Faith wedge sandals. You have to ask us to fit the SPDs for you
for legal reasons. There are currently only 2 pairs in existence, so snap them
up quick if you are interested.

Sexy and intricate trouser guards made from black, red or gold lace, with
reflective piping and adjustable sizing. Starting at only £5.99.

Special Offer.

Our "Lucky saddle" floaty bamboo t-shirt is now £20.49 including postage. Make a
statement and breeze around town in this lovely top.

BikeHood hoodie launched in conjunction with Kingston-upon-Thames council.

8 teenage girls in Kingston-upon-Thames embarked on a project last October that
would encourage their peers to cycle. They decided that ugly cycle clothing was
a barrier to cycling, so they teamed up with Ana Nichoola's head designer, Anna
G, to create something that both looked good off the bike, and was practical for
cycling in. Last week we launched 300 organic cotton hoodies that feature the
iconic London skyline and a reflective river Thames! Click HERE for press
release and contact info@... to find out how to order.

The hoodies were manufactured by the wonderful Stonepark UK. A special thank you
goes to Spencer Newton for his great service and ethical guarantees.

Smithfield Nocturne Success.

The Nocturne Series returned to Smithfield for one of the biggest cycling
spectator events of the year. Ana Nichoola was involved in promoting the
first-ever women's criterium held here. Unfortunately it was held on the same
day at the Women's South

East Divisional Championships, so getting the numbers was tough. But the ladies
pulled together and we got the 30 needed in the end, ranging from pro's to hobby
racers. Many thanks to James Pope for breaking the mould and putting on the
race, the spectator feedback was amazing, so lets keep our fingers crossed for
another next year.
www.nocturneseries.com/smithfield

Croydon Fashion Festival.

"Funky new cycle clothing label wins coveted stand at Croydon Fashion Festival"

Proving that the recent interest in fashion-conscious cycle clothing is more
than a passing phase, our fledging brand, AnaNichoola, fought off stiff
competition from mainstream fashion designers to win a spot at Croydon Fashion
Festival on Sunday 21 June.

A London to Brighton story.

An Ana Nichoola customer did the infamous London to Brighton for the first time.
Click HERE to read her inspirational interview. Last year Helen didn't own a
bike, this June she rode over 50 hilly miles surrounded by thousands of people.

Flattery at the highest level.

Joanna Rowsell, World Track Champion and Olympic Gold Medallist sets-up her
website www.joannarowsell.com. She was photographed for Ana Nichoola wearing
some of our gear and even has a link to us on her website!

To read our interview with this budding and beautiful star visit "Drinks with a
world champion".

Cycling.tv interview.

Anna G was interviewed for www.cycling.tv all about Ana Nichoola, being asked
about the cycling behind the brand and an insight into some the products. She
got to sit with acclaimed cycling journalist William Fotheringham, who spoke
about his book "Fallen angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi." The book covers the
life of the legendary rider, but also looks at the bigger picture of cycling in
war-time Italy.

The video can be watched here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfnTFrqWHko

Talking of books and Mr. Fotheringham, it was revealed that he was in fact a
character in a rather juicier book called "Cat" by Freya North. This book is a
must-read for all female cyclists. It is about a girl who follows the Tour de
France as a journo. Check it out. It's good!

Chloe Thomas at Crystal Palace
"Meanwhile, at the palace"

We are delighted to have our hands on this lively account of one of the
country's fastest and gnarliest critieriums.

Heels on Wheels

The cycledivas in Derby put on a novel and exciting bicycle fashion show on June
16th. But cycle fashion shows are not all that they do, visit their gorgeous
blog, and support their work to spread the bike beauty movement out from London,
which includes female cycle training and personal styling! Bring it on!!

LCC SheSpoke pages.

For those of you who don't know this already the London Cycling Campaign have
just launched "SheSpoke" webpages dedicated to the female cyclist in London.
There you can find advice on buying bikes, cycle fashion, cycle training and
more.

http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1348

!!WANTED!!

We are looking for girls who can do tricks on their bikes to join a gaggle of us
for a professional photoshoot. It will take place during a whole day in the
summer at various locations in London. There will be beers and picnic and great
quality pics of yourself looking your coolest! We're looking for girls who can
wheelie, bunnyhop, skid, no hands etc. Please contact us direct if you can take
part.

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

I am off on a cycling-camping adventure for 10 days, but do email a member of
the Nichoola team for anything you like. Anything at all. Even if it's just to
say hi.

Ride lovely,

Anna Glowinski x

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

===

RIDE REPORT by Laurence
London to Brighton - One Week Late 28/06/09

20 cyclists met at E Croydon Station benefiting from a £7.50 group
saver return fare to Brighton. The contingency plan, should anyone not
be able to get onto the train to Horley was to get the first train to
Gatwick where the group would meet. Everyone gets on the Horley train.

One more cyclist on a 2 wheel recumbent met the group at Horley
Station. We followed Route N21 passed the end of the Gatwick runway
and the Beehive Building just north of Crawley.

To avoid Crawley and the stop start progress trying to follow the
cycle routes with a large group of cyclists, a small detour around the
east side of Crawley on quiet country rounds was made. A little more
traffic was encountered cycling back west passed Three Bridges Station
to find the Tilgate Forest cycle route. A very short section of
pedestrian path has to be used to continue along the cycle route and
then more pedestrian paths to divert to the morning break at the
Tilgate Forest Golf Centre.

After the break the pedestrian paths across a number of golf course
fairways was used to rejoin the cycle route where it crosses over the
M23. A short section of sandier but dry path leads through Tilgate
Forest to a quiet road which leads west to Pease Pottage. Cycling
south along the old Brighton road parallel to the very busy A23 leads
to Handcross and we see larger numbers of cyclists, many of whom are
participating in the Capital to Coast (C2C) Charity Cycle Ride.
Cycling across to the west of the A23 we join the C2C route north of
Warninglid and follow the C2C signed route for a while towards Bolney.
Members of the PHC group marshal the cyclists at a road junction
making sure the PHC riders make the turn towards the lunch stop at the
Eight Bells in Bolney. The Eight Bells has a big garden with big
umbrellas providing shade, the food is very nice and reasonably
priced, the service good and efficient.

After lunch we quickly rejoin the C2C route which this year is using
slightly wider country roads than the 2008 route. By pure coincidence
the new C2C route from Bolney to Devil’s Dyke is the one planned for
the PHC group. There is some high milky cloud and a few drops of very
light rain giving some welcome relief from the warm temperatures. This
year’s C2C route uses the country roads west of and parallel to the
A23 through Twineham. At the bottom of Newtimber Hill the long climb
up towards Devil’s Dyke on roads closed to motor traffic spreads the
PHC group out which meant a puncture repair at the bottom of the hill
didn’t hold up the group as a whole. After the big climb we met at the
top of the South Downs ridge by the Dyke Golf Club. Looking south
Shoreham power station and Brighton are clear to see. 5 PHC riders
decide to leave the group and ride to Brighton Station, the rest of
the group cycle the short distance “off course” to the Devil’s Dyke
Pub on the north side of the South Downs ridge. Just before you reach
the pub you can actually see the Devil’s Dyke on the right hand side,
most didn’t see it as they battled head down up the hill just 20
minutes earlier.

Now at the highest point on the ride we are at over 700ft above sea
level. The visibility isn’t perfect, but you can still see the North
Downs in the distance. Most of the PHC cyclists buy ice creams from
the van which is there nearly every Sunday even in the winter. One of
the group finds out how inefficient the service in the pub is, taking
about 15 minutes to get served a drink. There are no Hang Gliders or
Paragliders flying today probably because the wind is blowing in the
wrong direction. In the last 2 months the National Trust has
introduced pay and display parking at Devil’s Dyke, which I think is
very unfair to the Flying Club members who are there throughout the
year whenever there is a north westerly wind blowing. The NT were
trying to ban the Flying Club despite the fact the Flying Club have
been flying there since the early 70s before the NT gained control of
this small piece of ground.

From Devil’s Dyke it’s almost downhill all the way to Brighton.
Leaving the Devil’s Dyke Road onto the Hangleton and Hove Cycle Route
28 we make sure the C2C riders don’t follow us as we take the scenic
route passed the Brighton & Hove Golf Course towards Brighton. There
is one short but steep climb on this cycle route after it crosses the
A27. Then there is one awful short section where the undergrowth is
almost blocking the route and we then have to cross a busy road.
Further downhill we eventually find the cycle lane running alongside
The Drive and Grand Avenue to the seafront. The group splinters as
some stay for chips other find a tea stop and others find the railway
station.

35 miles in 7 hours. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157620581537005
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc054

===

PHC WEBSITE

Our URL was up for renewal so I took the opportunity to add on a
hosting package. For the past year or so, the site has been kindly
hosted for free by Jez but it's also coincided with the site being
hacked and blocked by Google, local councils etc etc. I asked a couple
of weeks ago if anyone was having problems and there are still some
who can't access our website. I'm hoping that having a new home might
help that problem to go away.

Unfortunately, the move wasn't as smooth as I might have hoped and it
took 48hrs, during which time a holding page appeared. It's now
working fine so I'm keen to hear from anyone who can't access the
site, which errors you receive and where you were trying to access it
from. If possible (and you don't get fired doing it), it would be nice
to know if it loads on your work computer, especially if you work for
a large company. If you get an error, write it down and forward to me.

===


NEXT WEEK

First up it's the first Saturday of the month so there's a half day
Saturday morning ride. We simply ride out at the same pace as a normal
ride to one of our regular cafe stops and then ride back, hopefully
using some great local routes on the way out that you might not have
known before. 9:30 from Pollards Hill and back by 1:00pm. Destination
a surprise!

On Sunday, we're riding the under-promoted Jubilee Greenway route with
Bromley Cyclists. It's a full loop of central London and the East End
Olympic venues, making as much use of parks and river paths as
possible. Because it's a walking and cycling route and it's likely to
be sunny in the middle of summer, we may well opt to not do the
Southbank bit and use NCN4 on the roads instead as it will be jammed
with pedestrians. Lunch will be near ExCeL at a pub we know can take
big groups and morning and afternoon stops will have to be based on
numbers. The ride could take a while to complete if there are hundreds
of us although it's pretty much flat which generally helps to keep
rides moving. Be at Mitcham Eastfields at 9:30 to jump on a train or
meet us at Victoria at 10am near the main ticket office.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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