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ELTHAM PALACE Following a recce of the route on the Friday, the route needed to be
changed drastically to avoid getting bogged down in mud. The original
idea was to follow a small part of the Waterlink Way from South
Norwood Country Park and then pick up the Green Chain. Whilst the
former is a well established cycling route, the Green Chain is
primarily a walking route.
8 riders in total braved the weather. We revisited a neat shortcut
first shown to us on a joint ride with the Clarencourt that avoids the
dreadful surface of Barnmead Road. First stop of the day was at
Beckenham Place Park at the cafe in the old mansion house. After that,
the mud began and continued to crop up throughout the day, not helped
by the regular downpours. Many of Bromley's roads are unsurfaced and
this can also make for tough cycling.
The woodland walk on the Downham estate was less muddy. This mile long
innovative piece of town planning, keeping the ancient footpath
intact, provides a green corridor right through the middle of
suburbia. Local children have laid mosiacs into the surface.
A couple of footbridges over the railway were a mild inconvenience but
good views were soon on offer from St James walk. We bumped into
Southwark Cyclists on their explore of the Quaggy river.
Eltham Palace is a spectacular sight. Whilst only the great hall
survives from the days of Henry VIII (the rest was build 70 years
ago), the adjoining yellow timbered Lord Chancellor's houses and the
ancient tilt yard formerly used for jousting provide a good sense of
the history of the site.
Lunch at the Tudor Barn was a disaster. The chef wasn't working!! That
left bacon and sausage sandwiches on the menu.
The return used different parts of the Green Chain before diverting
to Crystal Palace park for an afternoon stop. Most people peeled off
to make their own way home but the few returning to Pollards Hill got
to enjoy the huge downhill sweep that carries you almost back to the
library without needing to pedal. Out for 8hrs, 28 miles and a quarter of the ride in the rain. Report
relayed by John. See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 18th February HAMPTON COURT
Good old Henry VIII featured heavily in today's ride. We stopped off
at Merton Abbey Mills, site of the former Merton Priory which was
destroyed by Henry, although the reclaimed bricks were used to build
Nonsuch Palace. The cycle sign at Abbey Mills claims it is only 4
miles to Kingston. Whilst that isn't strictly true, it doesn't take
long using the quiet backsteets, traffic-free paths and a stretch of
separated cycle track along Coombe Rd before you're slap bang in the
middle of Kingston town centre with it's confusing array of cycle
routes.
A quick nip along the pedestrianised high street put us back on track
and after being overtaken by a couple of teenagers on skateboards (the
shame!) we turned onto the Thames Path and rode all the way to the
back gates of Hampton Court where you have a very clear view of the
Henry's former palace. The group shot of the 2006 ride was recreated
(see the Flickr galleries) and we discussed whether to cycle around
Bushy Park or turn up at the pub at opening time.
We opted to go direct to the pub which was a good move as The Albion
gets busy very quickly. It's a chain pub and has a standard but
reasonably priced menu with swift service. No beer garden so our bikes
were tied up outside by the pavement.
The original idea for the return was to head towards Morden Hall but it turns out the
cafe is closed for refurbishment. Instead, Lynda took over led us
through the parks and quiet streets to Nonsuch Park which only added 2
miles to the ride. The whole park is under threat so we signed the
petition against the proposed council sell off.
We've ridden back from Nonsuch quite a lot recently so we followed the
same route out past the wooden houses and the Whitehall into Sutton
town centre and onto Carshalton Ponds where we picked up the Wandle
Trail to Mill Green and back to Pollards Hill. 11, riders, 30 miles, out for 6.5hrs. See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 11th February THE ALL NEW EPSOM EXPLORER We had an interesting start to today. A representative from the Kate Evans Casting Agency came down to photograph us as we've been asked to appear in the forthcoming TfL TV advert for the Tour de France. 16 people at the start but three had other committments and had just come to have their picture taken. We'll know next week who has been chosen to feature in the ad.
The fallen tree is still across the Wandle Trail but that was our only barrier on the way to Carshalton as we've found ways to avoid the rest of them. A new route through Carshalton Park and Stanley Park provided a pleasant way to climb up to the Telegraph Track and onto the Oaks Track. A couple of hundred yards along busy Woodmansterne Lane takes you to the large, independent and award winning Woodcote Green garden centre where we bumped into the Central London CTC one star riders in the cafe.
A pleasant run through the 'Millionaires Row' of The Drive took us steadily upwards to William Webb's 'model' village. Now a private estate, it has giant mansions on either side of the road up to the village green with it's quaint post office. Those who have done the Croydon Cycle Quest will also know that it was formerly a temperance inn.
The tarmac track through the Woodcote Park golf course pops you out in the heart of Clock House, a world away from the riches of the past couple of miles. The Hatch Lane bridleway was slightly muddy but it's a good way to get to Woodmansterne village where we stopped the admire the village sign carved from a fallen cedar tree and bumped into the CTC riders again.
The road leading away from here is also called Woodmansterne Lane but this is a rural road with great views of central London glimpsed through the trees. It leads to Banstead where a nifty shortcut through a park brings you to a crossroads on the A240 and the road down to Tattenham Corner. With only a mile to go, the heavens opened and drenched us! It spoilt the great view as you round the corner near the railway station and the Downs open up before you. The view became secondary to getting inside the pub and out of the rain.
Whilst we dried off and ate lunch, the skies cleared and that turned out to be the only real rain of the day. Epsom Downs is criss-crossed with rights of way and we chose to ride adjacent to the horse racing track towards the Rubbing House pub and then straight down Chalk Lane, a nice quick descent that sure beats coming up it the other way.
We used a series of urban bridleways to get us to Nonsuch Park. Our back marker took a tumble on the slippy mud but generally we'd got off pretty lightly considering the amount of recent rain. Nonsuch was busy with cyclists, mostly families. We stopped off for coffee and cake at the Mansion House. As the threat of rain had subsided, we took time to weave through back streets to Sutton and onto Carshalton using a different route back to the one we came out on. Out for 6.5hrs, 28 miles. See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 4th February MITCHAM LOOP We're often out for the majority of the day on our rides so it's nice to have a half-day local ride. It also gives cyclists from further afield the chance to come down and see the area and still get back at a sensible time. No new faces today though. We started with 5 and almost instantly bumped into another 2 as soon as we set off. 2 more on the way so we all agreed to meet up at Merton Abbey Mills.
Just for a change, we were doing the ride in reverse. Out over Figges Marsh and along Myrna Close nature reserve which pops you out at Abbey Mills. The live band were just setting up, stallholders were fixing their displays and customers were starting to arrive. After a quick coffee, we set off through Morden Hall Park towards Ravensbury Park. Instead of negotiating the barriers, we rode past the mill and used the wide open access in Wandle Road. There's a lot of work going on at the moment with a new jetty at the pond being build and a tarmac path half laid but the best surprise was a missing fence panel on the second set of barriers so we didn't need to dismount.
Instead of using the normal vehicle access to Poulter Park (it's great how the Wandle Trail just links park after park!), we went through the daft swirly barrier and along the footpath that runs the length of The Hub, home of Tooting and Mitcham United. This comes out on the same river path and in winter, you've got wide open views of the river.
A tree had fallen in the storm the other week and still hasn't been removed from the path that leads from Goat Rd. We had to duck underneath it. It doesn't take long to get to Carshalton and we mused over which pub to try. The Fox & Hounds got the vote and it turned out ok. Cheap n cheerful pub grub and tables outside that we locked the bikes to.
The return through Beddington Park doesn't take too long and so the group rode to the top of Pollards Hill to check the view. Yes - there really is a hill here! On a clear day, you can see Windsor Castle. Out for 4.5hrs, 15 miles. See some photos from today on Flickr
Click here for ride reports from 2008
Click here for ride reports from 2007
Click here for ride reports from 2006
Click here for ride reports from 2005