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OAKS PARK Three people at the library for a shortish spin to Oaks Park, on a day that started with a hint of snow. After following the route of yesterday's ride by passing down Watneys Rd over Mitcham Common and behind the Beddington Lane Tramlink Station, we rattled down the rough path alongside the sewage farm (avoiding various joggers/walkers en route) and passed through Beddington Park, noting that many parents of footballing offspring do not park at all considerately ie. too near an exit route for cyclists/walkers!! A short stop was made to check for a puncture which (fortunately, on this bitter day) did not stop us for long as it was a false alarm.

After improving our knowledge of Croydon's underpasses/viaducts etc etc we got to the coffee stop at the Wyevale Garden Centre, formerly the Croydon Lido, only to find it closed (due to a bereavement.....the food?) A decision was made to try our luck nearer the A23. Fearing a longish wait at a hotel just for coffee, it was decided to try what we thought looked a forlorn McDonalds ie - few customers - on the Colonnades Retail Park just on the East of the A23. When we arrived it was quiet but soon the footballing tiny tots and their Dads took over the place!!

By the time we departed, a fierce headwind was blowing all the time so it was heads down through the Purley Way Industrial Estate and then along Woodmansterne Lane and The Oaks Track to the Lunch Stop at Oaks Park which (fortunately) boasted a cafe that was open (nobody had died ...). There were no takers for the Craft Centre, so we left the park at 1400 hrs to climb back up the hill we had descended earlier (ouch!). By this time we were acclimatised to the weather and made good time through Carshalton and along Mill Lane and the Wandle Trail to reach Mitcham via a short tour of the Willow Lane Industrial Estate. We missed the bridge in error but improved our knowledge of every nook and cranny (including Mitcham Tramlink Station!), to arrive back at base at approx 1500 hrs, total of 18 miles.

Report by John See some photos from today on Flickr

Saturday 25th February

GODSTONE VINEYARD After two very wet rides, it was a pleasure to wake up to clear blue skies and with the leaves still on the ground, it felt more like autumn than winter. 6 of us set off over Mitcham Common, behind the tram stop and down the track to Beddington Park where we picked up the Waddon branch of the Wandle Trail and a couple of quiet streets to the former Croydon Lido where we met our 7th rider and stocked up on sustenance at the cafe for the climbs ahead of us.

The road to Riddlesdown, just south of Croydon, is a long hard climb. The incline isn't too bad but you're riding uphill for over a mile. Once at the top, the view makes it all worthwhile. We then dropped down on the stony bridleway, crossed the A22 and followed the line of the railway to Manor Park. If you've only ever driven down the A22 you have no idea what you're missing just a few yards to the left and right of you. On this side, there are beautiful houses and a very rural feel with a few farms.

We crossed back over the A22 just south of Whyteleafe and hit a strong headwind as we left the road and made our way uphill along the lengthy tarmac bridleway that leads past the Catholic boarding school and onto the North Downs Way. From here it was just a short ride to the vineyard.

Godstone Vineyard is an excellent destination for cyclists. It's surrounded by lots of beautiful routes and has plenty of cheap options on the menu. We bought a couple of bottles of fresh apple juice to accompany our meals and stayed well over an hour.

The hills straight after lunch weren't too welcome but they do lead up to the Caterham View Point which has spectacular views out to the South Downs. We rejoined the North Downs Way where we got bogged down in sticky mud but again there were spectacular views, this time of central London and Croydon.

Chaldon church has an 11th Century wall painting that we wanted to see. But it was closed for electrical work. We can come back in the summer. It wasn't too disappointing as we were soon on the road over Farthing Downs, an unfenced road on a ridge with cattle roaming freely. It's so beautiful you'd think you were in the Lake District instead of a couple of miles south of Croydon.

A little detour to avoid the roadworks at Coulsdon took us into the lanes of Chipstead where we headed straight to Oaks Park for an afternoon tea before heading home through the rural Little Woodcote estate and a short part of the Wandle Trail. Out for 8.5 hours. 35 miles. One of our best ever rides.

See some photos from today on Flickr

Sunday 19th February

GREENWICH 7 cyclists ignored the weather forecast to meet up at the library for our joint ride with the Clarencourt Cycling Club of Cheam. We snaked through the backstreets, past Selhurst Park and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's old house and along the Dickinson Lane path to South Norwood Country Park where we met up with 9 members of the Clarencourt on mountain bikes, resplendent in their club colours.

Bob from the Clarencourt led us along the muddier paths out of the country park and into the park-with-no-name. A neat diversion under the railway meant we didn't have to negotiate the unmade Barnmead Road, probably a good idea after the Residents Association sent us a letter of complaint because we described their road in a previous report as 'unkempt'!

The Waterlink Way from Croydon to Greenwich links a series of parks together. Before we knew it, we were in Brookmill Park at Lewisham where it is just a short journey on quiet roads to the Cutty Sark at Greenwich. It was only just after 11am so the Clarencourt guys decided to plough on to Tower Bridge for lunch. We said our goodbyes and decided to add in an excursion to the Dome along the Thames Path. It's starting to look a bit rundown, even though it is supposed to be reopening soon as a concert venue called The O2.

After lunch at the pie and mash shop in Greenwich (£3.80 for 2 courses!), we saddled up and had got about a mile before the rain started. We left the Waterlink Way at Kent House and rode up to Crystal Palace Park in the hope that the rain would ease up whilst we drank tea and ate cakes. It didn't. And then we discovered a puncture. But at least the 3.5 miles home from the park are nearly all downhill! Out for 7 hours, 32 miles (against the advertised 26)

See some photos from today on Flickr

Sunday 12th February

EPSOM EXPLORER II Central London CTC had asked us to lead a ride for their Spring programme so we decided to resurrect the Epsom Explorer ride from last September. What we didn't manage to repeat was the weather - instead, it rained all day. Undeterred, 4 PHC riders met up with 5 CTC at Mitcham Junction and set off to pick up part of the Wandle Trail and head off up the hill to the Little Woodcote estate of black weatherboarded houses, generously spaced along a rural, surfaced bridleway.

We made a welcome stop at Oaks Park - it's quite a climb from Carshalton. It's the former home of the Earl of Derby - hence the names of the two famous horse races. Suitably refreshed, we tackled the last part of the climb to Woodmansterne and along the ridge to Banstead. Aside from a byway that runs through a park, the route from here sweeps down through suburbia until you get to Tatttenham Corner where Epsom Downs racecourse open out right in front of you. No houses to be seen - just a huge expanse of green and the art deco grandstand. It's one of my favourite views.

We lunched at the reasonably priced Tattenham Corner pub. The greasy spoon Downs Lunchbox kiosk isn't so appetising in the rain.

I'm no real fan of the rain so I've invested in a multitude of items to keep me dry. My Goretex jacket was the best purchase I've ever made and I've been pretty pleased with my quirk Rainlegs. But a chink had appeared in my armour and my neoprene overshoes had let in so much water that my shoes and socks were drenched. I didn't fancy the original route across the commons with wet feet so I opted to find the long paved bridleway that leads to Nonsuch Park from Epsom. And what a find! A particular delight was The Green, a road that looks like you've been transported back to 1950.

A chain broke. Fixed in about 10 minutes. Even though it's only a couple of miles, we opted to have another cake stop in Nonsuch Park, originally built by Henry 8th. I wanted to get back now, it hadn't stopped raining and my feet were swimming in water. So we opted for the main roads from Cheam to Morden and then through Ravensbury Park and those hideous barriers. Out for 6 hours, 25 miles.

See some photos from today on Flickr

Sunday 5th February

SCENIC ROUTE TO DULWICH We could have called this ride The Great North Wood Ride as pretty much the entire route used to be part of South London's ancient woodland. We used quiet streets to get to the Rookery on Streatham Common. Most people think the common comprises one huge tract of grass as that's all you can see from the road but hidden in the trees is a cafe and behind that, the Rookery with it's huge cedar trees and White Garden, copied from the one at Sissinghurst Castle. This is the site of the old mineral wells that made Streatham famous as a spa town.

From here we nipped along the Copgate Path to the adjacent Norwood Grove with its beautiful gardens and white manor house. Originally built by Arthur Anderson, the guy who founded P+O Ferries, it is now owned by Croydon Council. A tricky descent down the unmade Gibson Hill and subsequent climb on Covington Way bought us to one of the few remaining parts of the Great North Wood, Biggin Wood. The tarmac path cuts through to the continuation of Covington Way where we began the climb to Crystal Palace.

The park at Crystal Palace has a cycle route around the perimeter so we rode past the site of the Crystal Palace itself (burnt down in 1936), past the concert bowl where one of our number had been at the legendary Bob Marley gig in 1980, past the Maze and fishing lake to the cafe where we parked our bikes up and went for a look at the dinosaurs in the world's first ever theme park. On the way out, we stopped for a quick look at the model car racing where the radio controlled vehicles reach huge speeds.

We left the park near the campsite which is currently under threat of having houses built on it and rode along Sydenham Hill to Crescent Wood Road, former home of John Logie Baird, inventor of the television and then down the steep and fast (32.5 mph!) traffic-free Low Cross Wood Lane. This pops you out on the Dulwich estate which has another-worldly village feel to it. I've heard it described as a bit Stepford Wives around there! The magnificent college is always a pleasure to cycle past before turning into Dulwich Park where we lunched at the cafe and bumped into the editor of London Cyclist.

After lunch we detoured to Hope and Greenwood's 1950's sweet shop and then climbed back to Crystal Palace for the swift 4 mile downhill ride along quiet streets back to Pollards Hill. No takers for the optional ascent of Pollards Hill itself! 17.5 miles, out for 6 hours

See some photos from today on Flickr

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