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

===

RIDE REPORT

20 riders turned up for this ever-popular route along the Waterlink
Way on a beautifully sunny day. It's part of a much longer Sustrans
National Cycle Network route that goes from Greenwich to Eastbourne,
although it takes a few interesting options further south on the way
to Gatwick. We rode the superior northern section from South Norwood
Country Park but turned off just before Greenwich.

We used the Heavers Meadow shortcut to get us out to the Country Park
which neatly avoids the hill near the Crystal Palace football ground,
although unfamiliarity meant some map dithering surprisingly close to
home. Back on track, we rode in and out, past the Visitor Centre which
is rarely open and the pitch and putt course. A puncture just after
the unnamed park (anyone know?) gave everyone an early breather.

The official morning stop was up at Beckenham Park Place at the
functional cafe overlooking the landscaped golf course. It's on nice
days like today that it's worth exploring the woods there as the mud
will have dried out but that wasn't the right direction so we headed
back onto the Waterlink Way at Bell Green.

A few questioned the shortcut just after Catford station but cyclists
have been recently mugged following the official route into a deserted
shared use railway arch. Much better to stay on the road where you're
in full view. The swirly bridge in Ladywell Fields was new for quite a
few today and it's always good fun, even if it's your 10th go.

We crossed the DLR at Elverson Rd and rode up the hill to the Bike and
Kite festival at Blackheath where we split into a couple of groups for
lunch. Some picnicked, some pubbed it and some rode over into
Greenwich Park. Unfortunately, not many really found time within the
lunch hour to see much of the event but trust me, you didn't miss
much. With just a busy Dr Bike, kids obstacle course of cones and a
limbo, an info stall, the MAD stunt team and Company Of Cyclists'
weird and wonderful bikes it wasn't much different from your average
TfL community cycle event. The kite flying looked good but cycle
content was poor. Fortunately, Greenwich and Lewisham LCC groups were
on hand to offer advice and the excellent Young Greenwich and Lewisham
Cycle Club were running several led rides from the event for both kids
and adults.

We rode back pretty much the way we came, until we hit Kent House
where we veered off to Crystal Palace Park for an afternoon ice cream
stop. Although there's Anerley Hill to contemplate when you leave the
park, this route does have the advantage of then being all downhill
back to Pollards Hill!

27 miles, out for 5.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157619742220486
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc050

===

RIDE LEADERS NEEDED

Who's going to lead on Sunday 19th July? I'll be at Morden Hall's
Green Fayre drumming up business and dishing out postcards. If you're
not riding that day, come and join me. If you are riding, have a think
about leading. We can even resurrect the sat nav if you're not sure of
the directions. Needs to be a Wimbledon or Pollards Hill start. No
train assists. Anyone interested? Be really good if it's someone new
to leading.

===

TOP TIPS

I had a few people express thanks that last week's riding tip had
helped them clarify what's required on a ride. So I'm going to
continue the trend with another group tip.....

When we're at traffic lights which have turned red, we need all the
riders to bunch up so that we can cross the junction as one large
'vehicle'. The means sitting 4 or 5 abreast at the lights as tightly
together as we can. If everyone stays in single file, you not only
risk a vehicle turning left across you, it's likely the lights will go
red on you and the group splits. Once we're clear of a junction,
everyone should fall back into a regular riding position.

If we can get regular riders to assist the constant influx of newer
riders with the riding tips, we'll soon be a lean mean riding
machine!!!

===

BRISTOL TRIP NOW SOLD OUT!

All the tickets for the Bristol trip have been sold and I have 7 names
on the waiting list. If you can't go for any reason, I will help you
to re-sell your ticket to someone who wants one. It would be
interesting if people can continue to express an interest as there may
be an option to add an additional vehicle if there's enough demand.

===

1950s CYCLISTS SPECIAL

You've all seen the British Transport film (no?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP1KxPjh4RM) but now you can read about
another one from the SW London CTC archives:

http://www.lcolombo.plus.com/Images/Train1.jpg

===

OUR BIRTHDAY RIDES

Diary the last weekend of July as we celebrate our 4th birthday. On
the Saturday, I'm going to trial my new (potentially mad) idea of
Cycle Bingo. That will end with a picnic and BBQ at Beddington Park.
We'll finalise details but I might need to start that ride at
Beddington Park so we can put the BBQ food into a icebox before we go.
If I've got it right, Cycle Bingo should only take an hour. And
hopefully, Charlie Phillips will host our BBQ. Although he rarely
rides with us these days he often comes out to the start to say hello,
as he did today. Without Charlie's enthusiasm and persuasive skills,
there probably wouldn't be a Pollards Hill Cyclists as a lot of the
early riders were friends of Charlie's or people he had befriended
whilst out on his bike. Expect a 3pm start for this one.

What better way to spend the Sunday than riding to Shere where there's
an excellent new morning tea and cakes venue and onto Brockham for the
legendary Teas On The Green via a country pub for lunch. Hopefully
there'll just be the one big hill so everyone can come out - that's
not bad for an area that's actually called the Surrey Hills! Details
soon.

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the 3rd Saturday of the month so it's time for the monthly
Beddington Park ride. 2pm departure from the cafe for a gentle amble
with a midway cafe stop. More detail at
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark

On Sunday we're going to join in with the London to Brighton charity
ride for a few miles. This is a fantastic event with enough atmosphere
to carry you all the way to the coast. However, don't get carried away
with the enthusiasm of the ride because we're turning off and making
up our own circular route. The ride starts outside the Westcroft
leisure centre in Carshalton so be careful if your route to the start
gets you tangled up in the main charity ride. When you come over the
ponds at Carshalton, you need to go left along the High St which means
defying the marshall on that junction. We'll either need to be very
disciplined on the way out and stay together or fix a meeting point
because we'll be calling in to Fanny's Farm for a morning break which
is halfway down a hill that most riders whizz past. You'll not be
allowed to walk or ride back up the hill if you miss it as the road is
closed to traffic and you'll be placing yourself in danger. I'll be
giving everyone a reminder at the Chipstead playing fields which is
where we will regroup if we lost anyone walking up How Lane (you can't
ride up - too busy!) Departing the leisure centre car park at 9:30am.

Good luck to those PHC riders who are doing the Brighton ride
officially. Watch out for Ditchling Beacon!

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

If anyone doesn't want to venture as far from home as Blackheath on Sunday, they
could come up to The Harrow Inn on Farleigh Common, where I am leading some
easy, family-friendly cycle rides at 11am, 12 noon and 1pm.  Come up and see the
country lanes in the area (especially those who were put off by the storm early
last Sunday morning), the clock tower at the former Warlingham Park Hospital,
have afternoon tea at Farleigh Church, etc.  If the weather turns bad on us,
whizz home (downhill) in no time at all!
You could make your own way to The Harrow for a pub lunch, or I could lead a
feeder ride from Westcroft Leisure Centre at 9.30am, if anyone wants.....note
that I will just go straight up to The Harrow myself unless anyone says that
they want a feeder ride!

Cheers
   jim

Here's Sunday's ride report.....

===

RIDE REPORT
Warlingham Lanes 07/06/09

Despite early morning rain, the sun was out for the start of the ride
and stayed with us all day. We had an ever-fluctuating number of
riders with a maximum of 8 at any one time. The route out of
Carshalton took us through Beddington Park on the Wandle Trail and
through Croydon towards the countryside. We stopped off at the Shirley
windmill, hidden up a side road but beautifully restored, although it
wasn't open until later in the day.

Options for morning stops are limited when we're going out in this
direction so we called into the Sparrows Den refreshment kiosk by the
sports fields, where a couple of Addiscombe CC mountain bikers had
also stopped off for a morning coffee. There's no indoor seating but
it's fine when it's not raining.

From here, it's country lanes climbing steadily all the way to lunch.
We cut out some of the off-road bits because of the earlier rain and
had to avoid patches of loose gravel that had been washed along the
lanes. There were also some patches where the road had flooded.

The Hare and Hounds wasn't the best pub we've ever used for lunch.
There's a noisy large screen tv in the bar and the only food is a
roast with no veggie option. Fortunately, most had brought their own
lunches so we sat in the deserted beer garden and those that did order
food were well looked after by the friendly staff.

The beauty of climbing before lunch is the prospect of a long sweeping
descent afterwards. Featherbed Lane gives you 2 miles of downhill,
depositing you right at the bottom of Gravel Hill which is best ridden
up on the cycle path along the pavement, even though it climbs
slightly more than the road does. We were down to 3 riders at this
point, all of whom had things to do so the ride ended at the top of
Gravel Hill instead of going back to Carshalton.

Out for 5.5hrs, 25 miles to the point where the ride ended. See some
pix on Flickr at:

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157619535078938
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc049

===

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

I'm sending this week's news and updates out early because I'm away
from email for the next few days. I'll send out a report of Jim's ride
midweek. In the meantime.....

===

RIDE REPORT
Wandle Valley Festival 06/06/09

Every year, we offer a ride along the full length of the Wandle Trail
as part of the annual Wandle Valley Festival. In its heyday, the river
powered 90 mills and earned the title of the Hardest Working River In
The UK! It now boasts a hugely important cycling and walking route,
forming part of the Avenue Verte traffic-free route from London to
Paris as well as being our local Sustrans route. Most of our rides
utilise a small part of the Wandle Trail at some point but the signage
is poor and most people get lost when they try to follow it on their
own. The expensive newly installed signage will unfortunately do
little to improve the situation.

Numbers varied along the route but we had a total of 14 at one point.
The miserable winter weather seemed to keep people indoors today.
Beddington Park was fairly empty as we had our first sighting of the
river Wandle, by the ornamental terracotta bridge. We followed it out
of the park, past one of the few remaining mill buildings at
Beddington, on our way to the Croydon source at Waddon Ponds. There's
just one pond now as the other was filled in during the 60s but it
retains its plural name. An industrial estate sits where the second
pond used to be.

There are plans to deculvert the river further upstream so we visited
Wandle Park in Croydon which used to have a boating lake fed by the
Wandle but that too was filled in during the 60s. Word on the street
is that the council miscalculated how much it would cost to reveal the
river and despite winning money to do the work, they now can't afford
it. A mini festival in the park was starting to get going but without
anyone to enjoy it.

We retraced our steps back to Beddington Park over the old watercress
beds behind Carew Manor and out towards Carshalton Ponds, the other
source, where we stopped for morning coffee. At the rear of Honeywood
is Margaret's Pool which is often dry, even during rainy days like
today. This is because Sutton District Water Company sunk some wells
that robbed the pool of its supply (yep - in the 60s!). As a result, a
system was put in place to pump treated water back from the sewage
farm at Goat Bridge along the river bed to feed Carshalton Ponds when
the levels drop.

We used the pedestrian path opposite Wilderness Island to see where
the Carshalton and Croydon branches merge and carried on through the
Watermeads and Ravensbury Park to Morden Hall where we enjoyed free
snacks and drinks courtesy of the council. It had taken a lot longer
than anticipated to cover the southern section so we lunched at the
revitalised Merton Abbey Mills.

I'm never sure if people realise the significance of Merton Priory
which stood on the site until Henry VIII had all the monestries
destroyed and stole the Priory's masonry to build Nonsuch Palace. It
rivalled Westminster Abbey for importance. Henry VI was even crowned
there, the only king to not have his coronation at Westminster for
1000 years. Thomas Becket and Nicholas Brakespeare (the only English
pope) were both educated there and in 1235, Henry III agreed the
Statutes Of Merton, the first Statute in English law after the Magna
Carta. It now houses a craft market whilst the foundations of the old
church are covered by Merantum Way.

We seemed to reach the Thames in no time at all and called into
Leaders Gardens for an afternoon stop. On the way back we retraced our
steps with a small diversion to see the locally infamous Bridge To
Nowhere, part of the originally proposed Wandle Trail but never
completed because the council messed up the negotiations. The bridge
just sticks out over a 10ft drop whilst the sandy path disappears
around a corner, 30m ahead of you.

Most riders started to make their own way home from here. Those
returning to Pollards Hill had 30 miles on the clock. See the pix on
Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157619257201335
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc048

===

PHOTOS FROM LAST WEEK

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157619091952802

===

CTC RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK'S TRAIN PROBLEM

As we are affiliated to CTC, the national cyclists' organisation, I
alerted them to the problems on last week's ride where 13 riders were
booted off the train because it didn't have enough cycle spaces. They
are taking it very seriously and have asked if we can start to collect
specific data, along with Southwark Cyclists, Central London CTC and a
cycle group in Merseyside as we are all regularly putting cyclists on
weekend trains well above their stated capacity, generally without
problem. The data will be used to attempt a policy change by showing
that the trains are regularly catering for a weekend leisure cyclist
market without a problem.

There's a huge irony here too. South West Trains (the company that
kicked us off) are advertising their services as a way for charity
riders to get to Clapham Jct to start the London to Brighton ride in 2
weeks. Their rival train operating company, Southern, have banned
bikes from ALL services on that day as they don't want the hassle of
returning the riders to Clapham......

===

DAY TRIP TO BRISTOL

There are still 2 tickets available for our 2nd Aug big day out to the
Bristol & Bath Railway Path. First come first served. For the benefit
of those new to the list, we're hiring a very plush executive coach
plus a lorry to take ourselves and our bikes to Bristol where we'll
ride to Bath along the original Sustrans route, through the longest
cyclable railway tunnel in the UK and then back again after we've
sightseen Bath and had a bite to eat. You can't do this as a group on
the train because inter-city trains only take 4 bikes. We're offering
a far higher standard of travel for less money than a 3rd class return
on the train. £35 cheque to PHC, posted to me with an SAE secures your
place. Email me if you're interested.

===

A REMINDER

It's important that everyone on a ride is aware of their
responsibilities. I think it's worth repeating those here.

The most important thing you need to do is to be aware of who is
behind you. When we make a turn, you are responsible for ensuring that
the person behind you saw where you went. If that means you have to
stop and wait for them then that's what you need to do. It's no fun
when you pedal off for miles in the wrong direction because nobody
waited for you at the last junction! Fortunately it doesn't happen
very often but there have been some lapses recently.

Your other main responsibility is to ensure we keep the ride moving at
the correct pace. Be ready to move off when the rest of the group
moves and if you are a slower or less confident rider, make sure you
ride directly behind the leader so we can pace the ride better for
you. It doesn't matter if you get overtaken up a hill but we can't
help you if you stay at the back and then drift off where we can't see
you. Conversely, don't try to speed the ride up - PHC rides are
carefully paced so that everyone can enjoy them.

I'm hoping to get the website updated soon and I'll try to include
this information so that newer riders know what to expect as well.

===

RIDE LEADER TRAINING

British Cycling are looking to recruit and train ride leaders for a
series of organised leisure rides (sounds familiar!) There's a pretty
full-on commitment required and I've no idea how good their training
is but it leads to paid work. I will hopefully be signing up but if
anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll help to back up your
application.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/bcf/News2009/20090527_led_rides.asp

===

BIKE WEEK

Someone asked what we are doing for next week's National Bike Week.
The answer is 'nothing!'. We offer year-round access to our very
do-able rides so we don't need to dream up a scheme to attract new
riders, we do that by continuing to do what we've been doing for the
past 4 years, running our rides pitched at anyone who is fit enough to
ride a bike to work and back.

However, it IS a good scheme and there various local things you can
try out. The website has been considerably improved by the new
commercial owners of the event and you'll find it here:

http://www.bikeweek.org.uk

===

NEW TfL CYCLING WEBSITE

With excellent timing, TfL launched their new cycle website and
emailed all their contacts whilst the PHC link was still on the
homepage!! Not sure if that will bring us good fortune but next to the
Evening Standard, it might well be the best press coverage we've had.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/11598.aspx

===

NEXT WEEK

We're going to ride that other South London Sustrans classic, The
Waterlink Way. From South Norwood Country Park, it's a clever
combination of river paths and parks all the way to Greenwich. We'll
be stopping short and hiking uphill to windy Blackheath for the annual
cycling and kite festival. There's a pub overlooking the open green
expanse or I'm sure there'll be food stalls at the event. Back pretty
much the way we came. Leaving from Pollards Hill at 9:30am.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

TfL are offering free cycle lessons. It doesn't matter how long you've
been cycling, unless you've read Cyclecraft or had a lesson in the
last 5 or 6 years, you'll benefit from a refresher. Modern cycle
training is nothing to do with Cycling Proficiency, in fact - it's the
opposite! There's no stigma to having a lesson so what have you got to
lose....

---

Just 3 days to go..!

It's almost time for the London Workplace Challenge to start so you
should be polishing those bikes and getting ready to hit the roads!

To help you to feel really confident about taking to two wheels, you
can take advantage of a free confidence training session that
Transport for London are providing with a qualified cycling
instructor.

Just call 020 7231 6005 and quote 'Cycle Challenge' to claim your free
training session or visit www.cycletraining.co.uk for more
information*.

You'll also be pleased to know that just by registering, you will
already have been automatically entered into a free prize draw to win
£150 worth of Evans Cycles vouchers.*

Save around 50% of the cost of a new bike with the Evans Cycles
Ride2Work programme - for more information and to check out how much
you could save with our online savings calculator visit
www.evanscycles.com/ride2work.

*Terms and conditions apply, Please refer to the website.

This week's news & reports....

===

RIDE REPORT
Test Valley Explorer 31/05/09

18 cyclists, including several new faces met at Clapham Jct for the
09:22 to Andover. The weather was dry, with blue sky and sunshine and
it was already getting warm. There was a little confusion as to where
the main ticket office is for those who don’t know Clapham Junction
station.

The outward journey was fine even though the train was fairly full the
train conductor was very helpful telling us that there were only space
for 3 bicycles on each unit of 3 coaches.

Because of the late start time of the ride, we decided to forego a
morning stop as we left Andover Station at approximately 10:30. We
cycled south west to join the circular route at Little Ann and rode in
a clockwise direction around Andover. Very quickly we had lost count
of the number of thatched cottages we had seen in the lovely Hampshire
villages in this area south west of Andover. We were also amazed at
the number of pubs in the area, We cycled through 20 villages on this
ride. On the majority of the ride we were no more than 3 or 4 miles
away from Andover which offers the option to shorten the ride very
easily.

The terrain was varied with some hills but only one of significant
gradient. We stopped at 13:00 for lunch at the Bourne Valley Inn just
outside St Mary Bourne. Unfortunately, the food did not live up to the
lovely setting with the Secluded Garden where you could eat out under
umbrellas and an open garden next to the River Test. Just south of St
Mary Bourne, we could see the watercress beds and high above, a bridge
which bore the railway line between Andover and Basingstoke. We were
now riding along the B3048 which, besides the road leading out of
Andover and some we crossed, was the busiest on the circular route. We
were pleasantly surprised that there was hardly any traffic on this
road and motorists were very courteous on the whole route. Living in
such pleasant surroundings probably manifest itself in the motorists
being in no hurry. No obvious venue was seen for a mid afternoon break
and we were also trying to catch the 16:46 train from Andover so we
pressed on.

We were all back at Andover Station for the 16:46 train. We boarded
the train but it seemed to be waiting for something. Horror of horrors
our train had in it’s charge the “Conductress from Hell” we were told
in no uncertain terms that there wasn’t enough space for most of us
with our bicycles because they we obstructing doors. It seems she
would exert her authority to the letter of the rules as she strode
down the train and insisted we get off the train. Only 5 of our group
were allowed to remain on the train as it departed a little late. The
rest of our group waited for the next train at 17:43 and were a little
worried when the station display stated the next train was only 3
coaches long. When the train arrived it was a very long train and very
full but we all got on and the train staff were happy even though we
were causing obstructions.

38 miles in just over 6 hours. No pix yet.

Report by Laurence

--

NOTE: This is the first time that train staff have ever enforced the
ludicrous cycle restrictions on one of our rides. Whilst we run this
risk on virtually every train-assisted ride we do, it is normally the
platform staff who get agitated whereas the train staff just want to
get you on and get the train moving. Both CTC and LCC are working hard
to ensure that future transport is fully integrated with the needs of
the cyclist. (Mark)

===

FREEWHEEL 2009

Registration has now opened for the annual Freewheel event which will
take place on 20th September. There's no need whatsoever to bother
registering but it does help the organisers with numbers so I have
just signed up and we'll go there on our PHC ride. Expect the event to
be similar to last year with a circuit of closed roads around Central
London.

http://www.london.gov.uk/freewheel/signup/

I maintain that this is too little and not often enough but of course
it's worth supporting. I'd like to see Central London closed to motor
traffic every summer Sunday from 7am to 2pm. It happens abroad and
there's not a single reason why it couldn't happen here. Jon Snow goes
further in this blog entry:

http://tinyurl.com/snowblog-phc

===

BIKE FOR SALE

I'm trying to keep the list traffic low so I'm adding this email that
came in on Friday to the weekly update:

Ridgeback Electron, hybrid, hub gears and drum brakes – so low
maintenance and reliable. Regularly serviced and replaced chain and
cassette. Great for commuting and tracks/paths. £200. Angela 07768
461549.

===

OIL IN THE SURREY HILLS

Leith Hill is the centre of the remote Surrey Hills mountain bike
activity. The sandy soil of Abinger forest produces acres of pines in
a truly spectacular setting. But now the villagers of Coldharbour have
more to worry about than mountain bikers straying off the designated
tracks - Europa Oil wants to drill for black stuff, right on their
doorstep. A website that explains all  has been set up here:

http://www.thevirtualvillage.com/oilwell.cfm

But.... before anyone objects as a matter of principal, do consider
the fact that both Oxted and Brockham already have active oil wells so
this isn't particularly unusual. However, the proposed rig looks
hideous and Coldharbour Lane is not the ideal place to drive a HGV.
And, from a NIMBY point of view, I think that area is lovely to cycle
around and I don't fancy having it spoilt by an oil well lit up 24
hours a day with a flashing aircraft strobe on top.

===

THE FORUM

Have a look at the forum if you want to see details of other rides
taking place. There's a steady usage which is good to see. Some good
threads with plenty of info on there!

http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk

===

NEXT WEEK

It's the Wandle Valley Festival on Saturday and we'll be exploring
every inch of it. This isn't a ride for those who want to keep
pedalling, instead it's a constantly stopping ride that will visit as
many of the attractions along the way as possible. We'll be calling in
to the Orienteering club's stall in Beddington Park, the event in
Wandle Park, the reception in Morden Hall etc etc. If you've ever
struggled to find your way along this brilliant route, you need to be
on this ride. We'll be demonstrating the 'official' route and
alternatives to avoid barriers as well as giving you some soundbite
history of the area. 9:30 from outside Pollards Hill library.

Sunday's ride leaves Carshalton's Westcroft Leisure Centre at 9:30 for
an explore of the lanes around Warlingham. You'll see the restored
Shirley Postmill on the way out and there are some great views along
the lanes. Lunch at the Hare and Hounds pub.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORTS
Bewl Water 23/05/09

This was an untested ride involving a fairly lengthy train ride to
Stonegate where we accessed the circular cycle route around Bewl
Water, the largest expanse of inland water in the South East. None of
the 10 riders who caught the train were expecting such a hilly route
but we met up with an 11th who knew the route well.

The lanes out of the station were testing but so was the official
route south of the water, which uses country lanes instead of
following the water's edge. Then you drop steeply on a rutted track to
finally find the reservoir and are rewarded with spectacular views.
Much of the waterside route is rough track which was bone dry and very
bumpy.

The terrain slowed our pace so we opted for an early lunch at the Bewl
visitor centre. The cafeteria is a wasted opportunity with its limited
selection of basic food. Visitors arriving by car pay £3 per person
for the privilege of entry so it seems a bit pointless to offer such
poor food facilities when they could easily employ a chef to knock out
some decent food made with local ingredients. At least the view out of
the window was impressive as we watched the boats bobbing by.

After another bumpy waterside stretch, we left the reservoir to ride
around the adjacent Bedgebury Forest. The well-surfaced fire roads
that comprise the 5 mile family cycle trail were a welcome contrast as
we happily snaked through the colourful trees. It was a bit of a
struggle to find the visitor centre as we entered the forest via a
bridleway and subsequently didn't have the luxury of the trail map
they hand out at the main entrance. We eventually chanced upon the
cafe and ate ice creams by a small lake.

As the trains are hourly, we made a group decision to try for the
15:20 instead of riding the remainder of the forest. There was no
pressure on anyone to ride any quicker than they wanted to and some
hills were still walked but we were all conscious of having a fighting
chance of getting the train. So imagine how deflated we were when we
missed it by minutes and had to sit  on the deserted platform for an
hour!

25 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157618733448588
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc045

===

RIDE REPORT
Richmond Gelato Ride 24/05/09

12 riders met up for a meandering ride on the hottest day of the year
so far. There was no real set route other than arriving in Richmond
for lunch but the agenda was to revisit some great local routes and
sights that we don't visit as often as we should. Kicking off with a
traverse of Mitcham Common proved the point as many had never seen
Seven Islands Pond, despite living close to the Common. We used to
start almost every ride by going over the Common but in recent times
we've been overly keen to get away from the start and make the
destinations further away. By not needing to take a direct route
today, we were free to explore whatever took our fancy.

As the Common had gone down so well, we swung by the pretty but hidden
Mitcham Garden village before riding through Phipps Bridge to the
cluster of National Trust properties including the out-of-place Wandle
Villa and the often missed castle folly. A quick think about direction
whilst on the Wandle Trail ended with us blindly following excellent
London Cycle Network routes to Wandsworth jail and over Trinity Road
to the Common Ground cafe on Wandsworth Common.

It's been a while since we've had a morning stop here and it's
unlikely we'll be back soon. Whilst the setting is superb with
cricket, bowling greens and tennis nearby, they have instigated a
completely stupid system which sees you queuing inside for a slice of
cake to eat outside in the sun and then having to join another queue
outside for a drink because they'll only serve drinks to seated
customers inside, via the waitress. It frustrated everybody and I'm
sure they lost out on some business because of it. On top of that,
they're trying to charge Dulwich prices which doesn't sit very well.

We lost a couple of riders around Putney and although we located each
other via telephone, it emphasised the importance of being responsible
for the person behind you and waiting for them at junctions, even if
that means stopping and waiting. If you don't, it could be you that we
lose one day! After that, we stayed as a much tighter unit as we
picked a route through to Marc Bolan's memorial at Barnes Common and
onto Richmond for lunch.

The White Cross, despite being packed due to its prime riverside
location, has a brilliant food system. You either collect your food
there and then from the servery or they give you a pager if you've
opted for something that takes an extra few minutes to put together.
The food is well priced and there were no grumbles although a few
nearly forgot our ice cream date as they contemplated dessert.
Instead, we rode 2 minutes round the corner to Richmond Green for the
UK's best gelato from Gelateria Daniella. You won't get a better ice
cream this side of Italy!

It's tempting to go back through Richmond Park but whilst you can
never tire of the park, we have done it to death. Instead, we inched
along a packed river path to Ham House and skipped a bit before
picking up the river again to Kingston. We decided to head to the
Joseph Hood Rec for the afternoon stop but when we got there, the art
deco cafe was shut for renovations. Undeterred, we pushed on for
another mile to the garden centre cafe at Lower Morden.

Even this close to home, we still managed to find some interesting
things to do, riding the incomplete path over the unnamed park
parallel to Glastonbury Rd, part of Sustrans' new Greenways to the
Olympic venues, and opting to negotiate the barrier at the end of the
river path at Watermeads so we could appreciate the prettiness of the
river. With an adventurous spirit, 5 of us completed the ride with an
ascent of Pollards Hill and sat for a while to admire the view (yes,
there is a hill there!!).

30 miles, out for 7.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157618653661817
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc047


-- If you want to make your own ride up, you can be fairly sure that
any roads coloured blue or yellow on the free TfL paper cycle maps
will take you on a quiet backstreet routes. That's all we did today
and it worked very well.

===

BRISTOL TRIP - 2nd AUGUST 2009

The response has been brilliant and the trip will be sold out very
soon. There are currently just 4 tickets left, so if you want to come
with us to Bristol on our plush executive coach and cycle the railway
path to Bath, then you need to get your cheques into me as soon as you
can. First come, first served. I'd like to sell them before next
weekend if possible.

===

VINTAGE RETRO JERSEYS

The jerseys sold very well so thanks to everyone who bought one. There
are a handful left so last chance if you want one. Don't forget that
the sizes aren't definitive because the material is stretchy. Make
sure you view each image individually so that you can read the full
details. You won't see the information if you use the Flickr slideshow
option. Only those marked FOR SALE are still available. If they're
RESERVED, someone has already indicated they wish to purchase it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617994320461

I won't mention this again so it's your final chance!

===

MORE BEGINNERS' RIDES

At long last, Merton Cycling Campaign have re-started their rides
programme with a new monthly beginners ride starting from the cafe at
the Joseph Hood recreation ground in Motspur Park. They're only 2hrs
long so they can't be going very far. Rides depart at 2pm and are on
the first Sunday of the month.

Details: http://www.mertoncyclists.talktalk.net/monthly-beginner-rides.htm

===

CHEAP CAMPING

If you fancy getting away somewhere new on your bike, why not take
advantage of the Mail on Sunday's offer of 3 nights for £2 at selected
campsites. You'll need this voucher:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/05_01/mos_camping_offer_voucher.pdf

and this list of participating campsites:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/05_01/mos_camps_list.pdf

My picks would be the Isle of Wight or Ringwood on the edge of the New
Forest. Both offer excellent cycling opportunities.

===

WEBSITE PROBLEMS

I'm hearing that people cannot access our website again. If you're
having problems, please drop me a line and tell me what happens when
you try to load. The correct link is:

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk

Hit reply to this email if you're getting problems and we'll try to
get them fixed.

===

OUR AFFILIATE SCHEMES

Wiggle sent us a cheque for £12.22 this month. Thanks very much to the
people who are using the affiliate link to help us boost our coffers.
We use the money to pay for our 3rd party insurance and the costs
associated with having the website and our Pro Flickr account. If you
want to help us while helping yourself save money (a win-win if ever
there was one!), please bookmark the following link to Wiggle:

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

Or, if you are buying from Amazon, access the site using this link:

http://tinyurl.com/phc-amazon

If you save the links as bookmarks, then you won't forget to help us
as you shop. My current recommendation would be to get a copy of
Cyclecraft and a copy of 50 Quirky Bike Rides from Amazon and floor
pump for easy tyre inflation from Wiggle.

===

NEXT WEEK

It's another Explorer! We're catching a fast train from Clapham
Junction to Andover for a circular ride through pretty villages on
quiet lanes. No one has done a recce but we're following a published
route that suggests there are "no significant hills". The stops will
be very ad hoc but there's no shortage of pubs on the route. It could
be the first ride with 3 pub stops! 35 miles. You need to make your
own way to Clapham Junction main ticket office for a 9am Group Save
ticket buy. We're catching the 9:22 to Andover which arrives at 10:24.
Tickets could be as low as £11.00, depending on numbers. Don't be late
for the ticket buy or you'll have to buy your own full price ticket!!
And for those who can't access the website, the leader is Laurence on
07949 088863.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

A bumper email this week including the important details you need to
know for our first ever coach-assisted away day.....

===

BRISTOL DAY TRIP

Thanks to everyone who responded to my email about the day trip to
Bristol. We have enough interest to almost fill the coach already.
Therefore, tickets go on sale from now.

To recap, we have booked a nice luxury executive coach for the humans
and a lorry for the bikes and trikes and are going to Bristol where
there'll be an official PHC-led ride along the UK's best traffic-free
cycle route, the fully tarmacked, hill-free, Bristol to Bath Railway
Path (although you'll actually be free to do whatever you like if you
don't fancy that). It's about 30 easy miles in total so hopefully
there'll be time to visit Bristol city centre afterwards or ride over
the Clifton suspension bridge.

It's going to be a long day but it's impossible to do this as a
train-assisted ride because you can only put 4 bikes on each train,
bookable and chargeable in advance (with today's lowest rail fare at
£50+ return). We'll get about 7hrs in Bristol which is the average
length of our rides. A light breakfast will be included in the deal
and will be placed on the coach for the outward journey along with
tea, coffee and soft drinks.

It's on Sunday 2nd August. 8am - 9pm. Pick up and drop off at Pollards
Hill library. No additional pick ups, no waiting for latecomers, no
refunds on your ticket although you'd be welcome to re-sell via this
list if we're sold out. Money back if we have to cancel for any
reason. First come, first served. The coach only seats 32 because the
original, larger coach I held was double-booked.

To buy a ticket you can either:

1) Bring £35 in either cash or cheque form to any ride that I am
leading (I'm doing both next weeked)
2) Send a £35 cheque made out to Pollards Hill Cyclists and an SAE to
21 Vellum Drive, Carshalton SM5 2TL

There'll be a page on our website with full details in due course.
Unless it sells out before I get round to it!

===

RIDE REPORTS
West End Common 17/05/09

I don't think any of today's 16 riders had anticipated the unwelcome
return of winter. The heavens opened the moment we left Wimbledon
station forecourt and didn't relent whilst we picked our way through
the Merton Park conservation area to a very fortunate early coffee
stop at New Malden's Krispy Kreme Donut Emporium. We weren't the only
special-interest group to have descended for sugar and shelter from
the rain as the car park was full of souped up hot-rod type American
cars and low slung Harley choppers. It's an interesting place as you
can watch the entire doughnut process from behind a glass screen and
they have a good selection of drinks from coffee to freshly made
smoothies.

The rain had virtually stopped by the time we left but the temperature
was still low. We rode a maze of backstreets to Tolworth and out into
the wealthy semi-rural parts of Claygate and Hinchley Wood. There are
lots of exclusive private estates around this area and many are gated
to prevent you gaining unauthorised access. Fortunately, we picked one
that allowed us to marvel at the way the other half live and still get
out the other end, leaving us right in the centre of Esher.

Another private estate revealed a surprise that was hinted at in the
ride description, the alleged site of the first Tudor palace. I didn't
read up on this beforehand but have just done a quick scan on Google
which reveals that what we saw was Wayneflete Tower, the altered and
restored gatehouse to the former palace of Esher, the remainder of
which no longer exists. Channel 4's Time Team excavated the site in
2005 to uncover the extent of the palace. The current owner has
written a book which I'm sure sheds more light on its history. Link at
the end.

Lunch had been proposed for Garson's Farm, simply because I had heard
that the West End Common village pub had closed. That, however, was
baseless rumour and the Prince Of Wales is still fully operational so
we piled in bang on midday to warm up and eat. Food was reasonably
priced and arrived amazingly swiftly. It seemed a bit remiss to come
this far and not see Garson's Farm so we rode the extra few yards
afterwards for a quick look at the upmarket deli farmshop and the
equally upmarket garden centre gift shop. In the summer, you can pick
virtually anything you care to think of from the farm's Pick Your Own
fields. In the middle of May, the asparagus had all gone and nothing
else was ready.

We returned past Wayneflete Tower and swung back on ourselves to coast
the perimeter of Sandown Park racecourse on the way to another Tudor
palace, Hampton Court. I think everybody has seen this impressive
palace from a distance at some point (its cafe is recommended - near
the maze, no entry fee required) so we pressed on through heavy
sightseeing traffic to the comparative quiet of Bushy Park where the
central Diana fountain has been completely drained.

Teddington Lock is a popular Thames crossing point for cyclists and
pedestrians at the point where the river ceases to be tidal. The
Thames Path from the front of Ham House to Richmond Bridge is in
serious need of a surface upgrade but to be fair, it does disappear
underwater for exceptionally high tides which might account for the
lumps and bumps. We pushed on to Tides Tables at Richmond Bridge into
an increasingly high wind. By the time we'd been served, small
branches were being blown off the trees in the garden. The only time
I've ever been convinced that a cycle helmet might be useful!

An ever-dwindling group rode into Richmond Park for a short reprise of
the rain and then alongside the thunderous A3 on the shared-use
pavement to one of the underpasses into Wimbledon Common. The wrong
one! So we carried on a bit further to pick up the cycle route and
made our way back to Wimbledon Hill to the station.

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

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157618362260926
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc044

http://www.waynefletetower.com

---

Beddington Park 16/05/09

12 riders started the ride (with two dropping out fairly early) on an
interesting and improved route up to the Rookery on Streatham Common.
Many had not seen Norwood Grove, former home of one of P&O's founders
boasting fantastic views over south London, nor had they seen the
Rookery, a secluded formal garden and the alleged hiding place of the
stolen Jules Rimet World Cup, sniffed out by a dog called Pickles in
1966. We returned via Pollards Hill and over the commons back to the
park.

Beddington Park rides are every 3rd Sunday and leave from the park's
cafe at 2pm. It's in between Wallington, Hackbridge and Beddington
Lane.

===

LIDL'S CHEAP CYCLING KIT

Message from Ross:

"I popped into Lidl's Morden on Friday and they had a few cycling bits
and pieces there.

Of most interest would be cycling shoes (SPD) for men and women at GBP
19.00 and bike hoists for under GBP 5.00."

===

VINTAGE CYCLE JERSEYS

A bit of shameless self-promotion. I've acquired a job lot of vintage
cycle jerseys which I am selling on. Most are pre-loved but have very
little if anything wrong with them. There's some absolute classics
amongst the haul. I've uploaded them onto Flickr as I'm just offering
them to people on this list first. The pricing is meant to compare
well with the cheapest tops from Lidl but most of these would have
retailed around the £40 mark in 'proper' bike shops. The sizing is
just a guide as you'll notice the same 'model' has managed to squeeze
into all of them.

Have a look at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617994320461

Cycle specific jerseys are designed to wick moisture away from the
body and are cut lower at the rear to allow for reaching forwards.
Some of these are acrylic / wool which was widely used before the
advent of lycra. If you don't already have a cycle jersey, you'll
notice a real difference in comfort when riding. If you're interested
in buying one, you can either come round to my house to try it on or I
can bring it on a ride. I might even deliver!

===

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

Does anyone on this list do graphic design for the web? Get in touch
if you do and send me some links to your work, I might have something
for you.

===

NEXT WEEK

On Saturday, we're going to Bewl Water for a jaunt around the
perimeter path and then into Bedgebury Forest for a lap of the family
cycle trail. No one has done a recce so terrain is unknown and food
could end up being at odd times. Bring a snack or stock up at the
first stop. We'll try to get to the Globe & Rainbow at Kilndown for
lunch but not if it causes us to miss too much of the perimeter path.
It'll be another PHC mini-adventure! Meet outside the CEX shop at East
Croydon station at 8:45am for the Group Save ticket buy. Fares could
be as low as a tenner and we're catching the 9:03am. Those driving
themselves should meet us by prior arrangement at Stonegate station at
10:27am

Sunday's ride will meander around the interesting local routes that we
don't do often enough until we end up at Richmond for lunch at the
White Cross. There's a servery so there's no long wait for food. But
don't have pudding - as soon as we're finished, we'll go round the
corner to Richmond Green for the best gelato in London. Then we'll
meander back. Meet in the car park outside Pollards Hill library for a
9:30am start.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Earlier this year, I investigated the options of chartering a
"Cyclists Special" steam train for a day trip to Bristol. That turned
out to be stupidly expensive at £30,000. I've now fully investigated
the option of travelling by coach and taking the bikes in a lorry.
It's not a cheap option although it will work out considerably less
than a chartered train. We can't go by normal train because they will
only take 4 pre-booked bikes

I'm proposing we go on Sunday 2nd August, leaving Pollards Hill at 8am
and arriving back late at 9pm. That should give us 7hrs in Bristol
which is ample time to do the excellent recommended Bristol to Bath
railway path or branch off and try some of the 85 mile Avon Cycleway.
You could also try the steepest road in Britain if you have time and
energy to spare. The ride along the railway path would be led as per a
normal PHC ride but you wouldn't be tied to this. If you want to ride
quicker, you can continue along the Avon & Kennet canal. (If you kept
going, you'd eventually end up on the Thames Path!). Bristol is a
Cycling Demonstration City with the council looking to double the
already above-average cycling levels. There's mountain biking in
Ashton Court on the Timberland Trail and you can't go there without
riding over Brunel's spectacular Clifton Suspension Bridge. The more
adventurous might consider finding the Strawberry Line outside Bristol
at Clevedon and trying that out.

The coach I've costed is an 'executive' model with toilets and a DVD
player that we could possibly show some cycling related films on. The
firm I am thinking of for the lorry already do the Capital to Coast
ride so they are familiar with loading bikes. We'll put tea and coffee
on the coach and stock it up with some breakfast items.

The price will be £35 per person and we'll need to sell almost all of
the tickets to make this work. Any profit would go into club funds.
Conversely, if we made a loss, it would have to come from our funds.
So, if you're interested, please let me know by return email (no
commitment at this stage) so that I can make a decision on whether it
is worth going ahead.

Cheers
Mark

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Avon-Cycleway
http://www.bristolbathrailwaypath.org.uk
http://www.forestofavon.org.uk/out-and-about/cycle-routes/timberland-trail
http://www.thestrawberryline.co.uk

Here's this week's reports & info for next week....

===

RIDE REPORT
Denbies Vineyard 10/05/09

18 of us met up on this very promising morning for a ride out to
England's largest vineyard. We followed a quiet route up to Nonsuch
Park for a swift toilet stop and then on towards Epsom where we
stopped off outside the hospital to inspect the unusual sundial.
Instead of a metal pointer, you stand on the designated stone
representing each month of the year and your shadow points to the
correct time. At first it seemed to be 30 minutes out but then we
realised you need the stand below the square depicting the current
month. Very neat and rarely seen by those passing in vehicles.

Our morning stop was the brand new Olive Tree cafe at Ashtead Park
garden centre. Unlike last week's unpleasant garden centre experience
in Reigate, we were welcomed into the spacious cafe by excellent food
and drink, all at good prices, and staff who were happy to serve us.
All they need now is some bike parking provided outside.

We skirted the City of London Freeman's school estate on the steady
climb up Farm lane to pick up part of the Surrey Cycleway. As we
regrouped at the top, a marshal for the vintage Model T ride (that was
also heading to Denbies) told us there was congestion on the lanes
ahead. It's always funny to see car drivers struggling to assess the
size of their own vehicles as they try to work out whether they can
squeeze through a gap or if it will damage the paintwork. The lane was
completely gridlocked due to poor driving skills but it was fairly
easy to get the bikes through and on towards Headley.

We rode carefully along some of the narrow lanes, especially as there
were a lot of horses about and regrouped just before the 2 mile
downhill sweep of Lodgebottom Lane. Unfortunately, it has just been
resurfaced and was being guarded by 3 workmen. That gave us limited
options so we turned around, rode back up the hill we'd just come down
and headed along to Box Hill, where we stopped off to soak up the
magnificent view from the summit. Then finally, we got our long
descent, this time down the Zig Zag with its amazing views and hairy
hairpins.

Denbies is a fully fledged tourist attraction as well as a working
vineyard. We were heading for the servery restaurant where options are
slightly limited but food was more than adequate for a light lunch.
Not everyone was pleased but my roasted butternut squash was fine. The
cafe area is in a glazed courtyard so we started to bake after a while
with the sun blazing through the glass.

We'd already been up Box Hill because of the diversion so I changed
the route home, taking us along the A24's off-carriageway cycle path
to Leatherhead and then alongside the river Mole to bypass the town
centre. With several riders noticing that we were repeating a route
from a couple of weeks ago as we rode alongside the railway, I
switched to some back roads to take us to Ashtead and Epsom Commons
where we rode a couple of nicely shaded woodland miles on their
beautifully surfaced cycle tracks.

Ad-hoc map reading took us past a fantastic property that has a bridge
over the road (check the photos) but also to the world's tallest
railway bridge, a ramshackle concrete contraption that seemed to be
much higher than any other railway bridge we've ever had the
misfortune to haul our bikes over. I wasn't entirely sure of the
locale because I was making the route up as we went so I was surprised
when we popped out at Sainsburys in Epsom, but at least we knew how to
get on the adjacent cycle track because we'd used it a couple of weeks
ago.

Several people had not seen Ewell Castle before but rightly suspected
it wasn't very old. In fact, it is just a battlemented house built in
the early 1800s in the same style as the Mansion House in Nonsuch
Park. It's now a school. The Nonsuch house and it's cafe were our next
destination, the second time in a day and 3rd time the the space of a
week. The ice cream queue stretched across the courtyard and the sun
was mostly definitively making its presence felt. The mileage had
crept up because of the earlier diversion so we took the most direct
quiet route back to Carshalton.

Out for 7.5hrs, 36 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617869777197
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc043

===

FRIDAY NIGHT RIDE TO THE COAST

A couple of PHC riders did the legendary Cheam and Morden CTC's Friday
Night Ride To The Coast this weekend, ending up in Brighton at the
crack of dawn. Nearly 100 riders in total were out. If you can step
the pace up a bit from our rides and have a decent set of lights, why
not join the next (slightly tougher) one on June 5th which goes to
Whitstable. Have a click on these for details:

http://fnrttc.blogspot.com/2008/04/heres-basics.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/08/ethicalliving.cycling
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=33715

===

NEXT WEEK

First up is the 3rd Saturday of the month Beddington Park ride. A 3hr
local explore that departs from the park cafe at 2pm. Check the
website (in its new home - update your bookmarks) at:
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark

The full day Sunday ride is to another new destination, Garsons Farm
at Esher. It's a Pick Your Own farm so if you want a quick dash around
a field for asparagus or whatever else is in season, bring empty
panniers. Otherwise we'll be in their licensed restaurant, having
lunch. The morning stop is the 50's chrome diner chic of the Krispy
Kreme doughnut factory and in the afternoon there'll be a nice Tudor
era surprise (no, not Hampton Court but we will see that as well) as
we wend our way to the veggie heaven of the Tide Tables cafe at
Richmond Bridge. This ride departs from outside Wimbledon station at
9:30am and is pretty much flat for the whole route, except for the
area around Richmond Park.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Just received this report in from Mike who went to the Isle of Wight
Randonee. Also, just to clarify, Beddington Park rides are now MONTHLY
on the 3rd Saturday of the month, not weekly as I typo'ed in
yesterday's email!

===

RIDE REPORT
Isle of Wight Randonee trip, Saturday 2nd to Monday 4th May.

For those who may not know,  the Randonee is a 100Km  circular route
around  the island that keeps fairly close to it’s coastline & affords
a good view of much of it’s picturesque countryside & small unspoilt
villages. Free registration is  on the day at any one of the
checkpoints, & a fully stamped checking card at the end of the
circular route is rewarded with a ‘Randonee certificate’ to show that
you’ve completed it. The island itself  has a very rustic traditional
ambiance & on the Randonee week-end the atmosphere is very friendly &
jovial with a great sense of ‘cameraderie’ among all the cyclists that
swarm across the island.

Saturday’s trip to Ryde on the Isle of Wight by train & ferry was
peaceful & uneventful,  and brought the four of us into Ryde at about
2:45 pm, when we cycled a short distance to our B&B near Ryde town
centre. After a quick freshen-up we cycled over to Wooton camp-site
under a clear sunny sky  by peaceful country lanes to link-up with the
Kingston-cyclists group, only to find that they  had  gone out on an
afternoon trip of their own; so  after chatting with some other
campers we re-traced our route back to Ryde. A text message enabled us
to meet-up with a Kingston-cyclist who was staying in Ryde , & the
five of us went out for a hearty meal & drinks at a pub in Ryde,
making arrangements to meet up the following day for the Randonee tour
itself.

The Randonee tour, Sunday.

After a hearty cooked breakfast we met with our Ryde-based  Kingston
cyclist & headed west to the check-point  at  Wooton to register &
collect our checking cards, where we met with the rest of the Kingston
group. Setting of as a group of about ten amidst a near constant
stream of cyclists exiting the check-point,  the PHC/Kingston ensemble
rode out to follow the route to the  Yarmouth checkpoint, crossing the
river Medina at Cowes harbour by it’s unusual chain-driven ferry.
Nicely prepared snacks & rolls at Yarmouth persuaded us to stock-up
with food for a picnic-lunch to be enjoyed later. The sun was fully
out at this point after an uncertain start & the PHC contingent
adopted a relaxed pace as the Kinston eager-beavers scooted off  at a
more lively pace to Freshwater. A quick in &  out of the Freshwater
checkpoint saw us steadily climbing the cliff-road which leads to the
descent into the vale by Mottisfont &  into Brighstone village where
we had our picnic lunch  in the Garden of the ‘Three Bishops’ pub.
After being briefly entertained by a ‘father-daughter’ guitar-duo
playing some classic sixties rock ‘n’ roll tunes in the ‘Three
Bishops’ garden we continued the route in the warm sunshine up the
cliff road to Blackgang’ & around the Chine to the descent into St
Lawrence. The route here goes a little further inland for the gently
undulating ride thru’ picturesque countryside by the next two
checkpoints for the final leg of the tour to  Bembridge, where
Drinks, cake, & good-humour were still in great abundance. Here we
collected our certificates & a couple of Randonee-badges which this
year commemorate the 25th year of the “Isle of Wight Randonee”.

Selecting a quiet B-road route back to Ryde we Freshened-up /rested
for about an hour before going out for a meal & drinks in ‘The Castle’
pub, whose novelty is that it does look like a castle from the
outside. We rounded-off by having spirits/liqueurs in a slightly more
trendy bar in Ryde before returning to the B&B for a well earned
nights sleep.

Monday.
A good breakfast was followed by a short tour along cycle-tracks to
‘Quarr’ abbey near Fishbourne where an order of Benedictine monks
still occupy the main section of the new abbey,- the ruins of the old
one being viewed over a fence by the old vicarage which is still
occupied by the local padre! After a quick visit to the Chapel & a
stroll around  the abbey grounds we retraced our cycle-route &
collected our luggage from the B&B and caught the Ferry/train back to
London. A thoroughly enjoyable week-end.



Report by Mike

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Quiet Country Lanes 03/05/09

We were invited to join a Central London CTC ride today which saw
approx 20 PHC riders out, pushing the ride total up to 31. CTC's 1
star rides are not too dissimilar to our own and this one was
guaranteed to be popular as it snaked it's way around miles of lightly
trafficked, fairly flat, country roads.

The morning stop was planned for the cafe at Reigate garden centre, a
venue popular with cycle groups. Unfortunately, the manager had never
seen 31 people all turn up at once and demanded to know who was
responsible. In the meantime, everyone queued in an orderly manner to
be swiftly served by his staff. When all were seated, there were still
another 20 or so free seats but the manager was keen to insist that
any future visits had to be booked in advance. To a cafe. For coffee.
In a room that seats 50. What a joker. (Personally, I think he should
throw some of his tables and chairs into the skip as it's pointless
laying out 50 places if you don't want that many people to turn up.)
Another one off the Christmas card list!

The lunch stop was the complete opposite. Newdigate's 6 Bells pub had
pushed picnic benches together for us in the garden and stuck little
reserved signs on them. Food is a bit on the pricey side but very
nice. They did struggle with getting the correct food to the right
people and some seemed to fall through the net and had to wait ages
but everyone got fed in the end. It's another popular cyclist's haunt
and several others had also arrived on bikes, including a couple all
the way from Pollards Hill!

Much of the route was along the well-signed Surrey Cycleway route and
the geography allows you to link up loops without anyone really
noticing that the ride is going round in circles. And so it was that
the surprise afternoon stop, at the leader's house, was in reality
only a few minutes away from the pub. Drinks and cakes had been kindly
laid on. 31 is a lot of people to have at your house so it was
probably a blessing that 7 had departed at lunch for a more direct
route to the station so they could get back earlier.

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

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617698503020
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc041

Thanks to Susie for another great ride.

===


RIDE REPORT
Half Day Ride 02/05/09

12 riders out for the First Saturday Of The Month half day ride.
Several new faces confirms that this is the right move for the club at
this stage. No one is going to throw themselves into a 30 mile all day
ride without dipping a toe in the water first to see how they get on.
These rides provide excellent toe-dipping opportunities!

There was no set route so a quick assessment of the riders and the
bikes combined with the sunny weather tempted me towards a largely
off-road start, over Mitcham Common and along the Thames Water path
and sure enough, many were surprised when we popped out in Beddington
Park. I was heading for Nonsuch so we took a backstreets route through
Carshalton and skirted north of Sutton past the footie ground (where
posters say Mick Taylor, formerly of the Rolling Stones, played a gig
last night) and into Sears Park via Perret's Fields to get to the A217
crossing and into pretty Cheam village.

Nonsuch is always a good stop but the courtyard is heavily shaded at
that time of the morning. We rode out of the park and doubled back
through the Woodland Trust's Warren Farm to use the London Cycle
Network back to Sutton and home along the Wandle Trail and some
different bits of Mitcham Common. A lovely local explore.

18 miles, out for 3.5hrs. Some pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617606607329
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc040

- It was interesting to see Nonsuch on Saturday's Time Team's Henry
VIII special. The cafe we use is in the Mansion House which was built
in the mid 1700s but the palace was on the other side of the park. It
was described as being the most spectacular palace ever built by any
British monarch. It had two huge towers, lots of stucco relief work
and instead of looking like a traditional Tudor building, it was
influenced by Italian Renaissance architecture. It's a real shame it
doesn't exist but Charles II allowed his mistress to demolish it and
sell the bricks, allegedly to pay off her gambling debts. There was
obviously no 0800 Insolvency hotline in those days....!

===

RIDE REPORT
Sustran's Mayday ride 04/05/09

Sustran's are the sustainable transport charity responsible for
building the 13,000 mile National Cycle Network. The don't do much to
promote their own routes although parts of them feature very regularly
on our rides. So, it was only right that we lent our support to the
2nd year of this annual linear event along Route 21, from Gatwick to
Greenwich.

The day began with the weirdness of the 'secret' cycle lift. The only
way off the platform at Gatwick railway station is to go into the
departures area of the airport and then locate a goods lift that takes
you down to the cycle route. It feels slightly odd wheeling your bike
past the suitcase-toting air passengers but not as odd as the cycle
route in the bowels of the airport's service areas that feels as
though it ought to be a restricted area.

Sustrans had decided to start their ride half a mile away at the
Beehive, the art deco original passenger terminal incorporating the
air traffic control tower on the roof. As we rode down, the Sustrans
group were just leaving but the 10 of us carried on to have a look at
the Beehive before retracing our steps along a pleasant tarmac path
that passes the end of the runway, catching up with the main group at
Horley.

Anyone who has ridden on parts of the National Cycle Network will have
spotted an odd tendency to try and feature as many pitted cart tracks
as possible. Route 21 doesn't disappoint although some of the
bridleway links are pleasantly well surfaced. About 50 riders in total
regrouped at Redhill station and then split into smaller groups. We
formed the majority of 'Group One', setting off along some of the best
parts of the route with quiet lanes and well surfaced tracks.

Then, just as you were enjoying the ride, up pops the North Downs and
Sustran's crazy ascent through an area called the Roughets. To be
fair, it makes slightly more sense going up than it does hurtling
down, trying to stay on the bike but it's a rough track that winds
steeply all the way to the Caterham viewpoint, where we rested to
catch our breath and take in the view.

The welcome long downhill on Woldingham School's tarmac drive then
presents you with another classic, the virtually impossible ascent of
Plantation Lane, a gravelly bridleway offering great views over the
Dukes Dene golf course. Most had to walk up. Fortunately, lunch was at
the top. Knight's garden centre knew we were coming but as everyone
arrived in dribs and drabs, getting served was easy. The do light
lunches and whilst portions aren't exactly generous, it's enough to
get you through the next set of tracks and hills.

Our Sustrans leader switched groups to assist a YMCA ride along the
same route and asked me to lead the next bit. No problem but all the
groups seemed to have merged into one at this point and I'd secretly
planned to skip some of the daft bits of the route. Charged with
following the official route, we avoided getting muddy through the
woods, no one died on the ludicrous High Hill Road bridleway descent
(although everyone walked up the other side) and by the time we'd
reached New Addington, I seemed to have amassed nearly all the riders,
including the YMCA group.

We followed the daft route through the New Addington estate, pointless
going down hills just to ride back up them and eventually ended up at
the bottom of Spout Hill, a seriously steep climb guaranteed to get
your lungs earning their keep. Fortunately it's downhill through
another housing estate all the way to South Norwood Country Park where
a new set of leaders were poised to take over whilst most of the PHC
group went home, with just two continuing on towards Greenwich along
the Waterlink Way.

30 miles to SNCP, out for 7 hours. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617608939759
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc042

Hat's off to the Sustrans Rangers for putting this ride together. It's
a shame Sustrans don't spend some of their Peoples Millions on regular
led rides along their routes, paying professional leaders to
demonstrate the Waterlink Way and the Wandle Trail, the two best (but
poorly promoted) cycle routes in South London.

===

NEW RIDES

These aren't all on the website yet but if you need to stick them in
your diary.....

May 10th - Denbies Vineyard from Carshalton
May 16th - Beddington Park ride
May 17th - West End Cricketers from Wimbledon
May 23rd - Bewl Water train-assist from East Croydon
May 24th - Richmond Gelato ride from Pollards Hill
May 31st - NEED A LEADER! Any volunteers?
June 6th - Wandle Trail from Pollards Hill (incorporating First Saturday ride)
June 7th - NEED A LEADER! Any volunteers?

===

YAHOO LIST CHANGE

I've changed this email list's status to 'moderated'. It should be a
low traffic list and most emails that come through could have simply
been included on this weekly update. The new status means that I will
intercept any messages sent and either include them on the next email,
allow them through because they're important or disregard because
they're Out Of Office messages or not relevant to enough people to
warrant being posted.

If you need to involve people on a chatty basis, use the forum. In
fact, this needs its usage increasing or it'll have to be closed down
when the URL comes up for renewal.

===

BEDDINGTON PARK RIDES

The website is going to move in the next week or so. It's new URL is
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/beddingtonpark so please
updated your bookmarks.

The rides are going to stay weekly throughout the summer on the 3rd
Saturday of the month. They're sociable 3hr afternoon rides along
local routes, ideal for novices or those with limited time. Join us on
16th May for an explore of the local area.

===

NEXT WEEK

First of all, a plug for the excellent annual Tour de Penge on Sunday 10th May:

Cycle along the Waterlink Way to Greenwich Park for a BYO picnic and
then returning, a total distance of 15 miles, a family ride at a
leisurely pace. Children 12 years and under who cycle the distance
will be awarded a medal on completion of the ride. Children under 16
must be accompanied.

Meeting at Royston Field, Kenilworth Road, Penge, at 10.00 a.m. for
registration and safety checks prior to departing at 11.00 a.m. The
route can be found here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/285197.

The ride will be led and marshalled by members of Bromley Cyclists and
the Penge & Cator Safer Neighbourhood Team. The ride leader is Steve
Watkin, 07748 655201.
http://www.pengefestival.co.uk/Calendar%20of%20Events/calendar.htm

--

Sunday's PHC ride will start outside the Westcroft Leisure Centre in
Carshalton at 9:30am and head to Denbies Vineyard near Dorking. We'll
lunch at their conservatory restaurant and there'll be time for those
who want to explore the gift shop. Half day option available for those
who want to get a train back from Dorking after lunch. It's hilly when
you head south but we'll keep that to a minimum and try to make sure
that any climbs are rewarded with great views. Mostly on tarmac.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Folks - I completely forgot to remind everyone of the first of our
monthly half day rides which start this coming Saturday. It's a 9:30am
start at Pollards Hill and we'll stop off somewhere for snacks and
drinks. No set route - we'll go where our noses take us depending on
who's out with us. Very suitable for novices so do try and drag
friends or partners along.

So, this weekend is:

Saturday: 9:30am for a half day ride from Pollards Hill library
Sunday: 9:30am at East Croydon station for a train assisted ride
around the lanes near Horley
Monday: 8am at East Croydon station for the Sustrans ride up Route 21

Mark


2009/4/27 Mark PHC <mark@...>:
> Here's this weeks news & updates....
>
> ===
>
> RIDE REPORT
>
> After last week's complete mess, two of the riders who were waiting
> for me at Clapham Jct had gone out on their own ride to make the most
> of the day and discovered an excellent riverside pub near Surbiton.
> When no one volunteered upfront to participate in this week's mystery
> ride, I thought it would be good to head back out to this particular
> pub and Mike offered to take the reigns. Here's his report...
>
> Eleven riders turned up at the library on a morning that promised good
> weather. We set off on a quick route to Richmond park, going past
> Wimbledon, through Raynes Park and along the cycle-path that parallels
> the A3 to Richmond Park, where we stopped for hot drinks and muffins.
> Out of the park and through Richmond, we crossed Richmond bridge and
> picked up the north Thames tow path, heading westbound. The sun was
> out in a clear blue sky as we leisurely rode alongside other cyclists,
> dogs and families to the point where the tow path ends. Using a
> selection of quiet-ish ordinary roads & a short section of the A308 we
> came past Hampton Court and over the bridge to pick up a
> cycle-path/back-streets route to the edge of Surbiton and our
> lunch-stop, The Ferry pub.
>
> The weather was good enough to sit outside where we enjoyed good food
> from a varied menu at reasonable prices. Everyone seemed to approve of
> this pub as a lunch stop. After a leisurely lunch break for over an
> hour we set off through Surbiton and onto a cycle-friendly version of
> a 'Kingston-by-pass' route through New Malden and back into Raynes
> Park. Decision time! Four riders split off to go home whilst the other
> seven went up to Wimbledon common for ice-creams and a lazy
> lounge-around in the sunshine by the pond. After about 3/4 of an hour
> we came down Wimbledon hill and used a quiet back-street route to
> return to Pollards Hill, with some riders turning off to take a
> quicker route home.
>
> About 30 miles, out for six hours. No pix.
>
> Many thanks to Mike for this ride and to Jill and Phil for assisting.
> Without this kind of help, the club would crumble when situations like
> this arise. If you feel you can help on future rides, do let me know.
>
> ===
>
> GREAT FREERIDING VIDEO
>
> I saw this video just after it was uploaded last week but since then
> it's been all over the Twitter social networking site, plugged on the
> South London Cyclists forum and featured by CTC in their weekly email,
> resulting in over 2 million views. If you've not seen it yet, it's
> Danny MacAskill doing some amazing street riding on a stunt bike set
> to a great soundtrack:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o
>
> ===
>
> ANOTHER CYCLING NEWS WEBSITE
>
> The London Paper, the freesheet that litters the tube during the
> hometime rush hour, have jumped onto the cycling bandwagon with a
> dedicated news page on their website. Worth bookmarking:
>
> http://www.thelondonpaper.com/topics/cycling
>
> ===
>
> NEW RIDES
>
> I need to plan the May rides. They'll hopefully be on the website
> during the week. We'll be doing mostly local rides starting from one
> of our 3 starting points but discovering some new destinations. If you
> know a great destination / pub / cafe / tearoom that you think we're
> overlooking, let me know. Needs to be open on Sundays (obviously!) and
> suitable for a large onslaught of bicycles.
>
> ===
>
> NEXT WEEK
>
> We're joining CTC on the Sunday for one of their countryside rides.
> There's no need to be a member of CTC but you will be required to pay
> a 50p donation towards the cost of running the Central London Section.
> However, as this entitles you to receive the rides list for a year,
> it's well worth it. Meet outside the CEX shop at East Croydon station
> at 9:30 to partake in the Group Save offer. We're catching the 9:53 to
> Horley which arrives at 10:22. Fares could be as low as £3.20 using
> Group Save.
>
> Sustrans have a ride on Bank Holiday Monday. Starting at the Beehive
> at Gatwick, they're heading up their notorious Route 21, all the way
> to Greenwich. The first part to Redhill is great, then it goes a bit
> bonkers as it climbs the North Downs and then, at South Norwood
> Country Park, turns into one of London's finest cycle routes - the
> Waterlink Way. Unfortunately, that's the bit we're intending to miss
> out!!. Once we hit the park, the ride will head back towards Pollards
> Hill until everyone knows where they are and can make their own way
> home. Meet outside the CEX shop at East Croydon station at 8:00 to
> partake in the Group Save offer. We're catching the 8:26 to Gatwick
> which arrives at 8:40. Fares could be as low as £2.75 using Group
> Save.
>
> Mark
> PHC Co-ordinator
> 07711 688189
>
> http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
> http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk
>

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

===

RIDE REPORT

After last week's complete mess, two of the riders who were waiting
for me at Clapham Jct had gone out on their own ride to make the most
of the day and discovered an excellent riverside pub near Surbiton.
When no one volunteered upfront to participate in this week's mystery
ride, I thought it would be good to head back out to this particular
pub and Mike offered to take the reigns. Here's his report...

Eleven riders turned up at the library on a morning that promised good
weather. We set off on a quick route to Richmond park, going past
Wimbledon, through Raynes Park and along the cycle-path that parallels
the A3 to Richmond Park, where we stopped for hot drinks and muffins.
Out of the park and through Richmond, we crossed Richmond bridge and
picked up the north Thames tow path, heading westbound. The sun was
out in a clear blue sky as we leisurely rode alongside other cyclists,
dogs and families to the point where the tow path ends. Using a
selection of quiet-ish ordinary roads & a short section of the A308 we
came past Hampton Court and over the bridge to pick up a
cycle-path/back-streets route to the edge of Surbiton and our
lunch-stop, The Ferry pub.

The weather was good enough to sit outside where we enjoyed good food
from a varied menu at reasonable prices. Everyone seemed to approve of
this pub as a lunch stop. After a leisurely lunch break for over an
hour we set off through Surbiton and onto a cycle-friendly version of
a 'Kingston-by-pass' route through New Malden and back into Raynes
Park. Decision time! Four riders split off to go home whilst the other
seven went up to Wimbledon common for ice-creams and a lazy
lounge-around in the sunshine by the pond. After about 3/4 of an hour
we came down Wimbledon hill and used a quiet back-street route to
return to Pollards Hill, with some riders turning off to take a
quicker route home.

About 30 miles, out for six hours. No pix.

Many thanks to Mike for this ride and to Jill and Phil for assisting.
Without this kind of help, the club would crumble when situations like
this arise. If you feel you can help on future rides, do let me know.

===

GREAT FREERIDING VIDEO

I saw this video just after it was uploaded last week but since then
it's been all over the Twitter social networking site, plugged on the
South London Cyclists forum and featured by CTC in their weekly email,
resulting in over 2 million views. If you've not seen it yet, it's
Danny MacAskill doing some amazing street riding on a stunt bike set
to a great soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

===

ANOTHER CYCLING NEWS WEBSITE

The London Paper, the freesheet that litters the tube during the
hometime rush hour, have jumped onto the cycling bandwagon with a
dedicated news page on their website. Worth bookmarking:

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/topics/cycling

===

NEW RIDES

I need to plan the May rides. They'll hopefully be on the website
during the week. We'll be doing mostly local rides starting from one
of our 3 starting points but discovering some new destinations. If you
know a great destination / pub / cafe / tearoom that you think we're
overlooking, let me know. Needs to be open on Sundays (obviously!) and
suitable for a large onslaught of bicycles.

===

NEXT WEEK

We're joining CTC on the Sunday for one of their countryside rides.
There's no need to be a member of CTC but you will be required to pay
a 50p donation towards the cost of running the Central London Section.
However, as this entitles you to receive the rides list for a year,
it's well worth it. Meet outside the CEX shop at East Croydon station
at 9:30 to partake in the Group Save offer. We're catching the 9:53 to
Horley which arrives at 10:22. Fares could be as low as £3.20 using
Group Save.

Sustrans have a ride on Bank Holiday Monday. Starting at the Beehive
at Gatwick, they're heading up their notorious Route 21, all the way
to Greenwich. The first part to Redhill is great, then it goes a bit
bonkers as it climbs the North Downs and then, at South Norwood
Country Park, turns into one of London's finest cycle routes - the
Waterlink Way. Unfortunately, that's the bit we're intending to miss
out!!. Once we hit the park, the ride will head back towards Pollards
Hill until everyone knows where they are and can make their own way
home. Meet outside the CEX shop at East Croydon station at 8:00 to
partake in the Group Save offer. We're catching the 8:26 to Gatwick
which arrives at 8:40. Fares could be as low as £2.75 using Group
Save.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Watership Down 19/04/09

We had a first today. I was due to lead but although I'd checked the
train from Clapham Jct for rail replacement busses, I didn't think to
check the local line as we had a second meeting point at Mitcham
Eastfields. I was running a bit late so I planned to jump on the train
at Hackbridge which is nearer to my home. Disaster - a rail
replacement bus! I wasn't sure if the whole line was affected so I
belted up to Eastfields in time to see the replacement bus service.
Nobody else was there. 3 riders meeting at Clapham telephoned me and I
explained the predicament so they made alternative arrangements for
the day. What I hadn't banked on was the two riders already on the
train and the 3rd rider who had driven to Overton. Fortunately, one of
those riders had the foresight to seek out the leaflet the ride was
based on and download a copy. And so, 3 riders did a very good
approximation of the ride that was planned. Here's Laurence's report:


The options we had were to abandon the ride, ride an on road route
“The Test Valley Tour” around Andover or to try to follow the
Watership Down ride. Having made the journey we wanted to do a ride.
The 33 mile on road Test Valley Tour necessitated waiting for another
train to Andover and therefore we decided to try and ride a variation
of the Watership Down Ride. I had a poor map/diagram from the
Hampshire County Council web site describing the Watership Down
Off-Road Cycle Trail.

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/watershipdown.pdf

However we decided to do more on road cycling than the “official”
off-road route. We made route decisions collectively as we went along.

To join the cycle trail north of Overton station we had to follow a
wet/muddy path for about half a mile and a small road before joining
the official trail going north up a long hill to North Oakley and
Hannington. We rode west from Hannington and picked up an off road
uphill section of the Wayfarers Walk. This path on the chalk downland
met the Kingsclere/Overton Road at the top of White Hill and we then
had a downhill section into cycling north to Kingsclere. It was about
12:15 and so we decided to stop for lunch. The Swan Hotel wasn’t
serving food and we were directed to the Crown Pub which is by
Kingsclere church. The food was good and reasonably priced (home made
Steak & Mushroom Pie and Sunday Roasts with potatoes and veg cost
£6-7).

We cycled west from Kingsclere past Sydmonton and decided to try
another off road section heading south up another muddy path uphill
through trees. There was a very large trees on the path and looking
west we could see and hear the busy A34 about ½ a mile away. At the
top of this muddy section we reached the top of Watership Down again
and joined the Wayfarers Walk which we followed east along the top of
the Chalk Downland where there were practice horse jumping fences. For
those that don’t know the area, there are a lot of horse racing
stables in this area, Clare Balding the BBC Sports commentators’
family train race horses in Kingsclere. We followed the Wayfarers Way
for about a mile back to the Kingsclere/Overton Road on White Hill
again but this time instead of riding north to Kingsclere we rode
south back to Overton.

We arrived back at Overton at approximately 15:30 and because the next
train back to London wasn’t due for another hour and a half the other
2 cyclists went to the pub to wait while I drove home.

20 miles 3 ½ hours of cycling, some of the off road trail was challenging.

See the pix on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157617056596092
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc039

Many thanks to Laurence and apologies to those who were let down.

===

THE FORTHCOMING CYCLE HIRE SCHEME

TfL have published details of the new Paris-style cycle hire scheme. Click here:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/cycling/cycle-hire-scheme

===

NEXT WEEK

Those who have checked the website will see that Nick's ride is
postponed. I've had a hectic week so there's currently no replacement
ride. Therefore, in the spirit of today's efforts, I think we should
have a mystery ride. Those who are interested in having an input,
please email me and we'll concoct a ride destination and vague route
suggestions. There's no need for an outright leader as we've done this
kind of thing before and it worked out well. Most people tend to know
the areas heading north or west so expect it to be a reasonablt flat
ride that will probably end up near the Thames somewhere. But also
expect the unexpected. it'll be another PHC mini-adventure! Meet
outside the library at Pollards Hill for a 9:30 departure.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

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

===

RIDE REPORT
Yew Tree Way 12/04/09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

===

SATURDAY RIDES

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

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

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

===

NEXT WEEK

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

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

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

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Folks,

I've just been out to do a recce of Sunday's route. The terrain is
really hard work. There are virtually no flat bits, some tough climbs
and a dodgy Sustrans bridleway that is a bit too soft. It's nearly
killed me to do half of it so I don't think it's going to be very
popular. It certainly won't be much fun. So, I'm going to change the
ride.

What I'm going to do is keep the meeting point and the train
information the same but we'll get off at Hurst Green and do the much
easier and flatter Yew Tree Way. As it's Easter Sunday, a lot of
places are closed. We'll struggle for a morning stop so please bring
snacks with you. We'll aim to get to the pub when it opens but you may
be wise to bring a packed lunch and eat it in the beer garden. Just
make sure you buy it before Sunday!

Please call if you plan or email to meet us at Hurst Green.

Cheers
Mark
07711 688189

Pub ride tomorrow
Easy morning ride on Saturday

Mike F has kindly offered to lead a ride to the velodrome for the
famous Good Friday meeting. He has a good route that avoids busy
roads, a couple of little hills and a short sharp one that could be
walked. Be ready for a 9:30am depart from outside Pollards Hill
library if you wish to join him. It's £12 on the gate, the event opens
at 10am and Mike will be leading a ride back in time for the evening
jolly to the pub.

Mark

Assuming everyone will be at Herne Hill in the daytime
(http://www.bristowevents.co.uk/goodfriday.html), I'm going to suggest
an evening social ride to the pub. Let's go to our old favourite,
Woodies at New Malden. Meet outside the Westcroft Leisure Centre in
Carshalton for a 6:30pm depart or outside Pollards Hill library at
7pm. It's about 9 miles from Mitcham so we'll be there at 8pm if
you're making your own way. We'll probably leave at 9:30pm or feel
free to stay later and make your own way home. Bring lights! All
welcome.

If you're going to Herne Hill, there's a thread on the forum so people
can arrange to meet up. The historic venue is under constant threat of
closure so that alone makes it worthy of support. Some of the world's
top riders will be there and there's always a decent cycle jumble.

Mark
07711 688189

http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk

Here's this week's bumper compendium of news and updates....

===

RIDE REPORT
Viking Coastal Trail 04/04/09

We've done this ride several times before but it's always popular. 27
turned up for today's outing, filling every available space on the
outgoing train. Despite the early drizzle, it stayed dry all day and
we even saw the sun for the final stretch.

The reason it's so popular is the quality of the route. Within one
minute of leaving Birchington On Sea station you're up on the sea wall
with that unique seaside smell that confirms that you're getting some
proper fresh air. The helpful geography of this part of Kent gives you
more coastal riding than any other circular route could offer as you
move from the wide Thames estuary round to the English Channel.

We stop off at a greasy spoon cafe for elevenses that easily deals
with our numbers and lunch at a Ramsgate fish and chip shop. The wide
traffic-free promenades and boulevards offer a unique opportunity for
multiple riders to ride side by side and chat away without fear of
blocking the route. Even when we move inland to cut between the
coasts, we're using lanes partly closed to traffic, concrete farm
paths or dirt tracks before getting back onto the sea wall.

I'm sure we'll be doing this again later in the year.

28 miles, 6.5hrs of riding plus train travel time. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157616305408287
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc036

There are some more pix here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/yvonnewright1965/VikingTrail#

Thanks to all who submitted photos - I had well over 100 to choose from!

===

RIDE REPORT
Not Cake Boy 05/04/09

I've been wanting to try a half day ride again for a while. We used to
do them monthly but they became viewed as a wasted opportunity for
those who preferred the full day 30 milers so we quietly laid them to
rest and let the Beddington Park rides take up the mantle. I was
waiting for a free Saturday so I could try one without upsetting the
Sunday regime and see who comes. I have no explanation for how I
managed to confuse Saturday and Sunday this weekend but suffice to
say, the great idea of going to Cake Boy was thwarted by them not
actually being open! D'oh!

I offered today's 7 riders the choice of going to Loo Loo's cafe at
Leader's Fields (similar mileage and almost identical route) or
chasing the elusive Sunday cup cakes at Orange Pekoe with the option
to burn off the calories through the extra couple of miles. It also
meant one hill needed to be added in but the backstreets route we
chose meant it was short and sharp and reduced the need for a long
slog up Wimbledon Hill.

Wimbledon Common was swarming with cyclists and the racks by the
windmill were completely full. The ride straight over the common to
Tibbets Corner is lovely when the sun's shining, especially the little
hill off to the left that must have been the inspiration for the
landscape in the animated TV version of The Wombles (we saw one once!)

We called by the immaculate Marc Bolan memorial and rode a series of
equally immaculate paths over Barnes Common, almost all the way to
Orange Pekoe - the best tearoom in London (says Time Out). They
certainly know their teas and will help you chose what to try via a
process of elimination. The cakes are good but no cup cakes out today
and to be fair, they can't rival Cake Boy on that front. Most of us
sat outside on a reclaimed corner of pavement.

Some tyre trouble on a couple of bikes as we approached the Wetlands
Centre saw yours truly forced to depart for a prior appointment,
leaving the remainder to ride the Thames Path to Putney where a new
tyre was purchased and the journey continued along the Wandle Trail
back to base.

We'll probably bring this in as a monthly ride but to make amends for
today's mix up, let's try again next Saturday when Cake Boy is
actually open. 9:30am at the library car park. Definitely no hills and
definitely back for lunch!

Today was 20 miles, out for longer than originally thought at 5hrs.
Some pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157616395865306
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc037

===

LIDL CYCLING OFFERS

From this coming Thursday, Lidl will have another selection of cycling
goodies. My picks would be the excellent tool kit that will deal with
almost any repair including removing cranks, bottom brackets and rear
cassettes, the £18.58 shoes which are sported on many PHC rides and
the track pump at £5.99 is an absolute must for any cyclist. As
always, don't expect much from the £1.99 locks except perhaps to
secure your bike in the depths of the countryside where opportunist
thieves tend to not operate. I don't know much about the £3.90
on-the-road repair kit but the inclusion of bulbs is odd in the LED
age.

===

ISLE OF WIGHT RANDONNEE

A couple of riders have booked into the Dorset House B&B on May 2nd &
3rd for the free to enter turn-up-and-go 60 mile round the island
cycle event on May 3rd. They'll be leaving from Clapham Jct if anyone
wants to do a Group Save. Best bet here is to register your interest
on the forum - I've made a sticky post that will stay as the top
subject.

http://www.cycleisland.co.uk

===

NEARLY FAMOUS

A picture researcher from The Times contacted me this week to ask if
she could use this PHC photo of the Digger's mosaic:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/13/89801726_c79053304a.jpg

It was taken on our ride in January 2006 when we followed the Diggers
Trail, a heritage trail leading to St Georges Hill in Weybridge
commemorating the 1649 movement led by Gerrard Winstanley. She found
it whilst browsing Flickr. Unfortunately, I don't think it was used
which is a shame because they pay between £50 - £100 depending on the
size. The article is online here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article60\
28098.ece

We've had other pictures used in the local press and this one was
featured as the January image on Merton Council's 2007 calendars after
it won a photography competition:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/34/72441571_8e7ff6f817.jpg

Not bad for a shot taken over the shoulder whilst riding!!

The Flickr account now has 4500 images taken on our rides, going right
back to the very first ride in 2005. It's a great way to kill half an
hour, flicking back through them.

===

CICLOVIA UPDATE

Boris knows I want to see the entirety of Central London closed to
motorised traffic every Sunday from 7am to 2pm after Jenny Jones posed
a question at Mayor's Question Time. The answer is typical political
waffle but I'm interpreting it as "lack of political will to make it
happen". Here's the question and answer:

"Will you consider a constituent’s request to replicate Bogotá’s
weekly Ciclovia by closing the entire central London area to traffic
every Sunday between the hours of 7am and 2pm giving pedestrians,
cyclists, bladers, joggers and boarders miles of streets to enjoy?"

Answer from the Mayor:

"The Traffic Management Act (2004) places a statutory duty on all
highway authorities (including TfL and the London boroughs) to manage
the road network.  Accordingly, any potential road closure, be it
temporary or permanent, must consider the needs of all road users,
together with the requirements of residents, businesses and other
stakeholders.

TfL provides funding to London boroughs through the Local
Implementation Plan (LIP) process for them to run events promoting
sustainable transport and, where appropriate, for them to run ‘car
free’ events giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists."

Jenny Jones fully supports instigating this but doesn't have the time
to take it on. Koy Thompson from LCC hasn't replied yet but he's
normally very good at responding to my emails so I won't write him off
just yet. Once Koy responds, I'm going to ask CTC if they will throw
their might behind it and then see if we can at least get it on the
agenda. If car-centric cities such as Mexico City can have the balls
to close their streets to motorised traffic then London has nothing to
fear. I'd love to see a civilised London full of pedestrians and
cyclists.

What's a ciclovia? Click this....

http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia

It's already happening all over Latin America and North American
cities are starting to copy the phenomena. San Francisco just
restarted the 'Healthy Saturdays' in Golden Gate park this weekend to
complement their car-free Sundays. Last year, non vehicular park
traffic increased by 40%. London needs this!

===

SIR ALAN

There has been much interest this week in last week's Mail on Sunday
story of Sir Alan Sugar's cycling exploits. He wouldn't tolerate our
social pace, preferring to power his £6800 bike around a 50 mile
course in under 3hrs. It's a good read:

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1165492/Sir-Alan-Sugar-reveals-fitn\
ess-secrets-helped-lose-stone-.html

===

CARSHALTON LAVENDER'S ECO-DATING

I wouldn't normally include non-cycling related topics but as this is
organised by someone on this list, I'm making a rare exception. Plus
Carshalton Lavender a fantastic project and we must try and call by on
harvest day this year to eat the lavendr biscuits. In the meantime,
try this......


Eco-dating with Carshalton Lavender - 18 April 2009

Do you want to meet interesting people? Do you like to get outside and
do your bit for the environment? Would you like to meet a green-minded
partner? If so, eco-dating could be for you!

The eco-dating event will take place between 10am and 1pm, on
Saturday, 18 April 2009, the Saturday after Easter in Carshalton
Beeches. It costs just £5 to take part, and refreshments of hot
drinks, biscuits and cakes will be provided.

Booking is essential, so if you are interested, please see
http://www.carshaltonlavender.org or email
jane.carshaltonlavender@... for further information.

Carshalton Lavender is the Observer Ethical Award-winning community
group that manages three acres of lavender fields on disused
allotments in the London Borough of Sutton.

===

SUTTON EVENING RIDES.

Every year, the Cyclism campaign group organises a series of evening
rides from various starting points. They're just rides - no pub stop.
Download the list from:

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk/Eve_Rides09.pdf

===

FUTURE RIDES

Now the website is almost fully functional again and Google have put
us back on their Christmas card list (for which we are indebted to
Jez), there's a new rides list up. Eagle eyed readers will notice a
novel twist - they're all train-assisted. Normally I aim to do one
train assist a month but when I get requests for rides, they almost
always require a headstart which means getting on a train. This isn't
without it's problems as we are really stuck if engineering work
necessitates a replacement bus because they won't take bikes at the
best of times, let alone 20 of the things! So it's important to check
your email or log onto the website just before the ride to make sure
no last minute problems have arisen. You should also be aware that
we're only allowed on at the guard's discretion so there's always a
chance we'll get turfed off but I've never actually known this to
happen.

The meeting times are deliberately earlier than the train departure
time because we need 15 - 20 minutes to buy the Group Save tickets.
Please bring change with you as the normal procedure involves one
person buying all the tickets and getting reimbursed by everyone else
on the train. Group Save is a great permanent offer that enables you
to get 4 tickets for the price of 2. We split the costs evenly between
all the riders.

===

NEXT WEEK

The Waterlink Way is so called because it links the Thames at
Greenwich with the English Channel at Eastbourne. After the excellent
mix of parks and riverside paths to South Norwood Country Park the
route because erratic with suicidal lunges down steep bridleways and a
bumpy descent off the North Downs. We know those parts well. What we
haven't done yet is to explore the part where common sense returns so
that will be rectified on this ride when we sample part of the Cuckoo
Trail. Rather than do a linear ride, we're letting East Sussex County
Council guide us around a loop that will include some quiet lanes from
their series of published cycle guides. Lunch is at an untested pub
and afternoon tea will hopefully be at April Cottage. Not sure of the
morning stop but we've several options open to us, although hopefully
we'll be able to go to the Farm Museum's tea room. Meet outside the
CEX shop (by the Visitor Centre) at East Croydon station at 8:45 to
partake in the Group Save offer. We're catching the 9:05 to
Crowborough which arrives at 9:51. Fares could be as low as £4.70
using Group Save.

And as previously mentioned, we'll actually go to Cake Boy on a half
day ride on Saturday. 9:30am at the library car park. It's a great
ride for those who are daunted by the prospect of being out all day.
And if anybody can rustle up a previously non-cycling friend to come
and try this excellent ride, I'll buy them a cake!

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Here's the latest news and reports....

===

RIDE REPORT
Route 22 to Guildford 29/03/09

I decided to have a leave of absence from today's ride to take
advantage of CTC's offer of free mountain bike training in Bedgebury
Forest (more later). Thanks to Jim for agreeing to take over and lead
the ride.

15 riders turned up at the library on a morning still cold from the
overnight freeze. The plan was to follow Sustrans' National Cycle
Network route no 22 all the way to Guildford, even though the route
isn't fully completed. Fortunately, we have the maps from the original
Trailblaze ride several years ago and many sections are already used
regularly on our rides. Hence we find ourselves on the very familiar
stretch of the Wandle Trail to Carshalton, an excellent local
riverside leisure route that is about to be comprehensively signed so
that nobody gets lost but has inexplicably been "deleted" from the
London Cycle Network.

There are more interesting backstreet options to get to the rural
countryside of the Telegraph Track but the Sustrans' route simply goes
directly uphill on a straight trajectory, a tactic they rarely employ
but of course provides the quickest journey time. More riders were
waiting at the morning stop of Oaks Park cafe where it had warmed up
sufficiently to sit outside. We were a total of 17 riders by the time
we left and set off on the slow uphill drag to the landmark village
sign of Woodmansterne, carved from a fallen cedar tree and adorned
with a menagerie of sculpted animals, one of whom now suffers from
wood rot!

A series of uneventful residential roads and a park path take you to
the top of Great Tattenhams, a long, wide, residential, downhill sweep
that rewards you with the most fantastic view at the bottom as the
endless expanse of Epsom Downs opens up before you. Sustrans picked
the slow-going sandy path over the horse racing course as their
preferred route (there is a tarmac option) and chose Sheep Walk as the
best bridleway to take you back uphill and out of the valley. That's a
tough offroad climb and is often used by horses which can churn the
ground (although I've never seen sheep on it?!)

We reached the pub via the country lanes just after midday, the
(childishly amusingly named) Cock Inn at Headley village. No problem
getting seated for lunch ("best ever roast dinner" by all accounts!)
although some chose to sit outside where they suffered the local
entertainment of boy racers speeding past in souped up old cars. The
promising weather gave way to a few spots of rain just before the
group set off for a well received 2 mile downhill freewheel to the
bottom of Box Hill (there's normally a hill after lunch that can't be
avoided but it's rarely going down) but just getting straight back on
the bikes meant fingers were frozen on the descent.

The original plan of returning from Guildford had been scuppered by
weekend railway engineering replacement busses leaving only an hourly
train to Epsom, necessitating a change of trains to get home from
there. So it was decided to skip the final stretch (which only entails
riding up the North Downs and then straight back down again), retrace
our tracks and return from Dorking. 8 riders opted to cut short and
jump on a train as we passed Dorking for the first time. The remainder
picked a path through the town centre and on towards the nicest
offroad stretch from Westcott to Abinger Hammer. These trails have all
been widened and resurfaced to allow good drainage. You pass through
the Wotton Estate and see a remote memorial to William Wilberforce's
son Samuel who died in a horsefall in the woods.

Instead of riding a mile on the A25 to Shere, the afternoon stop was
the tearoom at Abinger Hammer, a village on the A25 that built up
around the iron industry, commemorated in the unusual Jack The
Blacksmith clock which used to strike the hour with the blacksmith's
hammer until it broke a few years back. Although the weather had
picked up again, it was decided to return to Dorking along the A25
which is a busy road but does provide a swift route back.

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

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157616128387488
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc035

===

MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAINING

As I mentioned above, I took up CTC's offer of free mountain bike
skills training in Bedgebury Forest today. My group was taught by
Richard Abbott who is a leading figure in the MTB world and has
recently been commended by CTC for this work in re-opening the Aston
Hill MTB park.

I don't have a proper mountain bike so I used a cheap Raleigh with
chunky tyres. However, the skills taught can be used on any bike. The
key areas, which some could find useful on our offroad sections were
as follows:

1) When cornering tightly, the outside foot (ie: right foot when
turning left) should have the heel dropped as this stabilises the bike
around the corner

2) When cornering, point your belly button in the direction you want
to go. This shifts the hips to enable tighter turning.

3) Look ahead and not directly down at the trail surface's
imperfections. Your bike will just push over any obstacles

4) Push your bike forwards when going over exposed tree roots and it
will just pass over them. This moves you off the back of the saddle
and lightens the bike. It also prevents you going over the front!

5) At the bottom of a dip or a steep bank, pump your front suspension
down and it gives you extra momentum to get up the other side.

Obviously most of this applies to fast riding on singletrack but it's
useful to know if you're out on unfamiliar  bridleways and find
yourself picking up speed downhill with tight turns ahead or faced
with a small steep bank to get up. I had a lot more confidence by the
end of the course and found myself hurtling confidently along advanced
technical sections of the forest's 'red route'.

The forest also has a family route so I'm trying to include this in a
future ride.

===

WEBSITE UPDATE

It's slowly coming back to life although we can't stop Google flagging
it up as a Reported Attack Site. It's safe to ignore the warnings but
you'll only be able to access the rides page and the home page. Quite
why anyone would target our website is beyond me but presumably
somebody thinks we're worth disrupting! Email me if you need to know
anything

===

MEMORIES OF CYCLING & TRANSPORT IN SUTTON

Carshalton charity Eco-Local have produced a free booklet detailing
the memories of local cyclists. You can pick up a copy in Sutton
libraries or download it from here:

http://www.ecolocal.org.uk/files/Memories%20of%20cycling%20and%20transport%20in%\
20Sutton.pdf

===

MORE PHOTOS FROM LAST WEEK

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jezzer/sets/72157615770946172

===

NEXT WEEK

Saturday's ride around the Viking Coastal Trail will start from the
following stations:

East Croydon - meet 8:10 for the 8:28 to Victoria.
Victoria - meet 8:40 at the main ticket office (look for other bikes!)
for the 9:03 train
Mitcham Eastfields - meet 7:55 for the 8:10 to Victoria. If unmanned,
buy Permits to travel and upgrade to Group Save at Victoria.

You MUST arrive by the stated time at the absolute latest and then
organise yourselves so that somebody is in the queue to buy the
tickets. Ask for a Group Save and buy them all at once. You get 4
tickets for the price of 2. The individual price is on each ticket so
you know how much to pay the person who bought them. Take some change
with you! Expect to pay between £13 - £17 depending on numbers.

If you are making your own way there, be at Birchington On Sea railway
station at 10:30am. The ride is circular so please buy return tickets
to Birchington On Sea.

I think this well signposted route could well be the best circular day
ride in the country. It visits a series of historic coastal resorts, a
life sized viking ship, passes Minster Abbey and you have the
opportunity to buy fish & chips at the seaside. About 30 miles. Not to
be missed!

Sunday's ride isn't a full day one but instead will be a morning ride
up the Wandle Trail for elevenses at Cake Boy. It isn't a cheap
destination but it does sell the most fantastic cupcakes and the owner
makes cakes for royalty. There are plenty of snacks or sandwiches and
they do good drinks. As it's a short flat ride, it's particularly
suited to novices so if you have a friend who wants to get out more on
their bike, bring them along. Departing Pollards Hill library car park
at 9:30am, back for lunch.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

Hi everyone,

We're still having no end of problems with the website and many can't
open it at the moment. I know a lot of people check last minute
details so for those who can't read it, here's the website entry for
Sunday:


ROUTE 22 TO GUILDFORD

The weather was so bad last time we attempted this that no one came
out. We'll follow the National Cycle Network Route 22 all the way to
Guildford and then get a train back to Wimbledon or Clapham Jct. Not
all the route is complete but we've got the original maps. A lot of it
is traffic-free on upgraded bridleways. It leaves London on the Wandle
Trail, goes through Banstead and Epsom to Dorking and then skirts the
Downs to Guildford. If all goes to plan, we'll probably lunch at
Dorking and have an afternoon stop in Shere ("the loveliest village in
Surrey"). 33 miles. Led by Mark 07711 688189 mark at
pollardshillcyclists.org.uk

What will it be like? Hilly in places but walkable. Lots of tracks
that could be soft after heavy rain.

Where? Depart at 09:30 from outside Pollards Hill Library on South
Lodge Avenue. Back by 17:00pm. Bring lights (just in case!)



Details of next weekend will be on Sunday's email but for those
wondering what the Sunday ride will be, it's a morning ride along the
Wandle with a very special elevenses stop at Cake Boy, the upmarket
Thameside cafe run by Master Pâtissier, Eric Lanlard, cake maker for
royalty no less. Back by lunch unless anyone wants to extend the ride.
Starts at Pollards Hill at 9:30am.

The Viking Coastal Trail starting points for Saturday's ride will be
on the weekly update email.

Cheers
Mark
07711 688189

Paul Lowe
www.cyclinginstructor.com
paul.lowe@...
M.	07918672249
D. Line	0207 733 3070
D. Fax	0800 471 5321
S' board	0845 652 0421
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Here's this week's news & reports....

===

RIDE REPORT
Great Bookham Common 22/03/09

I hadn't given a second thought to the date when I planned the ride
but the 22nd is, of course, Mothering Sunday. That means that country
pubs fill up with people having lunch with their mother. Our preferred
pub was virtually fully booked a week before the ride. Before we
started, I polled the 17 riders to see who wanted to risk getting
served at a pub and who fancied a picnic. We overwhelmingly voted for
the al fresco option as it looked like it was going to be a lovely
sunny day.

The facilitate the picnic, we switched the morning stop to Starbucks
inside Sainsburys at Epsom. That involved a miserable mile of busy
road but it enabled everyone to fill their panniers for lunch. It's
probably not a stop we'll use again in a hurry as you're stuck in a
giant, souless car park. However, there's a traffic-free cycle path
running alongside that put us back on course. Unfortunately, it also
meant an unexpected footbridge over the railway so we all had to carry
our bikes, now much heavier than before with lunch strapped on the
back.

A bit of map reading confusion temporarily swayed us as we tried to
find the path past the old St Ebba's hospital site. It leads to a new
estate which we'll explore on a future version of the Mad ride as it's
one of the old asylums. Although it doesn't feel that you've climbed
any hills at all, there's a spectacular open view all the way to
Wembley opposite the estate. A shared use cycle path leads past the
entrance to Horton Country Park and all the way to Epsom Common.

The paths over Epsom and onto Ashstead Common are great for cycling.
We rode for about 2 miles, completely away from any road. At the end,
a short section of shared use pavement leads to the entrance to
Pachesham park, cleverly disguised as nothing more than a golf course,
presumably to discourage through traffic on this upmarket development.

The A244 at the end of Pachesham Park was unappealing after the rural
solitude of the Commons so I thought we'd cut a corner on the Rowhurst
Avenue bridleway. All looked good at first as it's a recently
gravelled track wide enough for a vehicle. However, it soon turns into
an impassible assault course of overgrown spiky bushes but we'd
reached the point of no return so those with gloves bent the branches
back to allow everyone to pass unscathed. No fun at all.

Lunch was on Fetcham Splash, an idyllic island on the River Mole. The
only problem with picnics in picturesque spots is the lack of
facilities for the female riders. Gentlemen can always utilise a hedge
but the ladies needed to wait until we'd ridden over Great Bookham
Common and reached the village where a handy pub provided relief.

The path onto Mill Pond Springs nature reserve was well and truly
blocked by East Surrey Water who had dug it up. The closure sign
claimed the work should have finished a fortnight ago but it looks
like they're months behind schedule. We picked another path through
lovely giant bullrushes and then made our way around Leatherhead's one
way system to the railway cycle path and on towards Lower Ashtead.

The houses on the private estate of Chalk Lane ("Enter At Your Own
Risk"!) are fairly substantial and presumably their offspring attend
the expensive adjacent City Of London Freeman's school. We chose the
dusty bridleway to descend Langley Vale and rode the tough climb right
to the top of Epsom Downs, busy with kite fliers and model airplanes
fliers and with another cracking view of Wembley and beyond. The Downs
Kiosk provided our al fresco afternoon stop and it's downhill all the
way back to Carshalton from there.

Out for 7.5hrs, 33 miles. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/3377147102/in/set-721576156808\
66141
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc034

===

ADVERTISING ON OUR WEBSITE

We currently have 2 affiliate links that make us a very small amount
of money on our website. I was approached in the week by an American
company offering $100 USD per year if we allowed a car rental ad on
the site. I thought it was highly inappropriate and politely declined.
They then offered a poker website for $130 USD but again I felt it
wasn't right. I've asked them to contact me again if they have
anything more suited to cycling. However, at those rates, it would
almost cover our annual insurance bill. I'd be interested in people's
thoughts of having advertising on the site. It's a text link, not a
banner.

===

ATTACKS ON OUR WEBSITE

You may have had difficulty viewing our website in recent weeks with
security software reporting it as hosting malicious software. This is
to do with the code that activates our counter being hacked. All the
code has now been removed and the hits are being counted direct from
the server. I've requested that Google re-evaluates the site and
removes it's warning. If you know of any other sites blocking access,
please let me know so I can request a review.

We're also under constant attack on the forum from spammers. I've
denying about 50 sign up requests a day because I don't like the look
of the chosen User ID. If you're signing up, please use a sensible
User ID that is recognisable as a real human / cyclist and not
anything obtuse or wacky as you'll get lumped in with the spammers. On
the plus side, we've not had any spam on the forum since I was first
alerted to the problem.

===

NEW RIDES

Assuming you can access it, the new rides will be on the website by
the middle of the week. If there's a ride you want to do or a
destination you want us to go to, let me know. And, as always, if you
want to lead one, let me know. I'll definitely need someone to do
April 26th.

===

NEXT WEEK

A lot of people were keen on this but no one turned out in the
appalling weather on our first attempt last year. We're going to
follow Sustran's National Cycle Network Route 22 all the way to
Guildford. It starts about a mile south of Pollards Hill on the Wandle
Trail and picks a series of paths and lanes all the way. Depending on
numbers of riders (and punctures), we may not get all the way.
Whatever happens, we'll be getting a train back, either from Guildford
(or Dorking). Although a lot of the route is now completed, we've got
the original maps to get us through those bits that aren't signed.
You'll be surprised how much ground you can gain once you've climbed
up to Epsom and over the Downs. All the hills are walkable but some
are off-road which is a bit tougher. Not ideal for novices but anyone
riding regularly will cope. Leaves Pollards Hill library car park at
9:30am. Buy single tickets at Guildford station to return.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

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

Paul Lowe
www.cyclinginstructor.com
paul.lowe@...
M.	07918672249
D. Line	0207 733 3070
D. Fax	0800 471 5321
S' board	0845 652 0421
Sign up for our Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust
Blog	Disclaimer

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