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BLETCHINGLEY
13 riders at the library on this cold, crisp morning. Normally we
dilly dally around quiet backstreets and river paths but by taking a
more direct route to Carshalton, we were able to get a little bit
further afield and visit Bletchingley. Roads aren't particularly busy
at that time on a Sunday morning anyway.
It's a hilly route. After Carshalton, it's a climb to the Telegraph
Track with it's black weatherboarded smallholdings, built for the
returning soldiers after WW1. The views from here are great and we had
ample time to take them in whilst a puncture was fixed. Then another
climb up to Woodmansterne with it's fantastic carved cedar tree and a
descent before the long climb of How Lane. All of this is the route
that the London to Brighton charity ride takes and How Lane defeats
most of those riders. We had a couple walking up but it rarely takes
more than a minute longer to walk so it's never a problem.
Chipstead was busy with rugby and football matches but we rode
straight past and onto the wonderfully eccentric Fanny's Farm for a
morning stop. At least 20 other cyclists were at the farm and the bike
racks were full. Instead of just tea and cakes, panniers were also
filled with chutneys & fudge from the farm shop. It's always worth a
visit.
Normally, our rides are very carefully planned but it dawned on me the
night before that I had no idea which pub we were heading for. A quick
look on the reasonably reliable Beer In The Evening website revealed
bad reports for all Bletchingley pubs except the William IV. I had no
time to check menus or bike parking but I put in a quick call just
before we left Fannys. Yes, we can accommodate you - we've just about
got enough seats. And indeed, it is a tiny cozy boozer, more suited to
the locals than a large bunch of passing cyclists. They only do roasts
on a Sunday plus an veggie option which was a lasagne. Some of the
meals were slow to come but we just about got away with it. Phew!
A little hill immediately after lunch was unwelcome but huge descents
awaited. We virtually flew all the way to Rocky Lane where another
climb reduced us back to walking pace. We turned off into the grounds
of the Royal Alexandra and Albert school, a new route for us, where
the North Downs Way has been conveniently covered with tarmac. It sits
in the grounds of Gatton Park, mentioned in the Domesday Book,
landscaped by the busy Capability Brown and once home to the Colman
family of English mustard fame.
Another new route was using the former Crossways Lane to get back up
to the Chipstead plateau. A steep stony track leads you to a tunnel
under the M25 and another steep stony track up to Crossways Farm. You
can see the broken tarmac where the lane used to be but now it's just
a bridleway. It's worth using this route as although it's hard to
cycle, it's your shortest route uphill.
It's easy to pick up speed as High Road gently drops you back into
Chipstead. Hazelwood Lane was signed as being closed for resurfacing
but we decided to take our chances. We've climbed that hill so many
times as it's shorter than How Lane but have never been down it. The
resurfacing was complete so we flew downhill on a very smooth road. I
felt we had earned that descent!
We popped into Oaks Park for an afternoon stop but the temperate was
starting to drop so we didn't stay long. Park Hill provides the
fastest route down, all downhill into Carshalton village and back up
to Pollards Hill. 32 miles, out for 7.5hrs.
Sunday 20th January
MUDCHUTE FARM CAFE
By the time we'd collected our last two riders at South Norwood
Country Park, this latest venture up the Waterlink Way had attracted a
healthy 19 riders. Even though we've ridden the route many times, the
size our of our membership means we still had people trying it for the
first time.
A tailwind helped us along the parks and riverside paths that comprise
the route, even blowing us up the incline to the morning stop,
off-route at Beckenham Place Park. We'd had our first of what turned
out to be a record 4 punctures before we'd even stopped.
Both lifts at the Greenwich foot tunnel were in operation. It took two
journeys to get us all down there. Our lunch destination, Mudchute
Farm, is just over the river on the Isle of Dogs. I'd emailed to say
we were coming but they hadn't received it. Even though they were
already busy when we arrived, most people had their meals within 30
minutes. It's great homecooked food, with good drinks and some nice
cakes.
The wind hit us coming back. We decided to skip an afternoon stop at
Crystal Palace which gave us a chance to ride more of the Country
Park. We got back to the library just inside daylight hours. 28 miles, out for 7hrs.
Sunday 13th January
SURREY LANES PHC+
From very early on, I've been asked if PHC could do a longer and
faster ride. I'd never felt it would work so early on in the club's
life. However, when I was asked again on our first ride of 2008, I
finally felt the time was right and so PHC+ was born.
12 turned up to give it a go although one new rider was only joining
us for a few miles before peeling off. Although the rain stayed away
and the weather was mild, the wind was ferocious. You can deal with
the rain if you have the correct clothing but the wind is a cyclists'
worst enemy. It blew against us all the way and made for very hard
work on the legs.
The morning stop was going to be Headley tearooms (if it's still
there?) but a puncture took an age to fix so we pushed on to Rykas,
the Box Hill motorcyclist mecca, for a swift coffee and toilet stop.
The wind had affected our descent of Lodge Bottom Lane by blowing us
back up but when we faced the steep incline of Punchbowl Lane near
Dorking, a couple of riders were completely defeated. I worried that
we'd never make it to the pub but a straw poll revealed a true Dunkirk
spirit to achieve our first PHC+ mission and we soldiered on, finally
getting to the Surrey Oaks at Newdigate at 1pm.
The pub had good food at reasonable prices but a few felt the landlord
was giving us a frosty reception because we hadn't rung ahead. That's
a tricky call on a ride like this as you never know if you're going to
make it to the planned venue or if you'll need to cut short. I'd
prefer to take a chance rather than book tables and not show up. It's
less of a problem on the regular rides as we only once failed to make
our destination (our first trip to Downe was a bit of a disaster...)
Coming back was a different story. We picked up the Surrey Cycleway,
lightly trafficked signposted lanes recommended for cyclists, and the
tailwind blew us along at 20mph with very little effort. Before long,
we were passing Reigate Heath with it's amazing windmill church and
into the town centre. An earlier suggestion to try Wray Lane instead
of riding up the A217 with fast traffic seemed a good idea. Despite a
1950s signpost proclaiming "Dangerous Hill", we chugged up, thinking
we were doing ok until the final push to the top which is really steep
and once again defeated one or two with no low gears.
We caught our breath at the Reigate Hill viewpoint cafe whilst the
wind nearly blew us over. There's a great poster on the noticeboard
that has a picture of the nearby Inglis Memorial and a caption
explaining that the North Downs Way runs through the car park. So many
people just drive up there and sit in their vehicles with a cup of tea
that they've no idea what's around the corner. Imagine how much they'd
see if they got out of their cars and actually got on a bicycle!
After negotiating the M25 junction roundabout and dashing over the
A217 dual carriageway, we got to the final stretch of the ride, a
wind-assisted descent along the Chipstead lanes that lasts for miles,
right into the heart of Carshalton. It was a real highlight and we
felt we'd earned it as the remaining riders picked up the road back
into Mitcham. Tough but we judged it a success. Next one is Feb 24th
when we go along the Pilgrims Way. 45 miles, out for 7.5hrs.
Sunday 6th January
THE YEW TREE WAY
22 riders converged on Oxted station for the first PHC ride of the
year. We'd offered it out to Central London CTC for a joint ride but
ran it as our own due to changes in CTC rules which means you can only
join 5 of their rides before you are required to take out annual
membership. That doesn't fit with our open house policy so in future,
CTC will simply be inviting people to join our rides.
A slight delay in departing due to one rider leaving items on the
train helped to kill the time as it's not very far to the pub. I
wasn't sure if we ought to go to Edenbridge for a morning coffee but
it would have spoilt the rural feel of the ride. As it turned out, a
second factor caused us even further delays - black ice. Obviously you
can't see it, so the first we knew was 2 riders slapping down hard on
the ground on the climb to the lanes. A third had their bicycle
disappear from under them so most people got off and walked. The sun
had got to most of the subsequent lanes but several riders were
understandably nervous for a few miles.
Once you leave Hurst Green, Surrey County Council's Yew Tree Way cycle
route offers 15 miles of signposted, quiet, rural lanes. We barely saw
any cars for most of the journey. We also didn't see the signposts
because for some inexplicable reason, the council chose to waymark it
anti-clockwise only, even though it makes far more sense to go round
the way that we did.
The best part is the really narrow lane that goes through the National
Centre For Young People With Epilepsy site. You could barely get a car
down there so we had it all to ourselves. At the end, we left the
route to go to the Old House At Home pub in Dormansland. They were
expecting us and had set a room aside. They have snacks as well as
full meals and although some are pricey, there are some good cheap
options too and everything is home-cooked. The steaks in a bap went
down well, as did the homemade beef burgers.
A short incline after lunch leads to a big downhill sweep, past Frith
Manor Farm with their fabulous Highland cattle herd. Another short
incline by Lingfield racecourse leads up to the village and back to
the Yew Tree route. Although the ride was advertised as having no
major hills, a few were surprised to find that it undulated gently.
The church with the famous yew was also at the top of a short incline
and we all pulled up for a look.
Thought to be over 2000 years old (some say 4000), the yew was already
well established when the church was built in the 12th century. It's
now hollow and a small door has been fitted. About a hundred years
ago, there used to be a table and chairs inside. Many of the outer
limbs are now dead and are supported on wooden props but the main
trunk is very much alive. It's an amazing tree and one of the Tree
Council's Top 50 trees.
We cut a planned bit of the ride out on the return to Oxted to make
sure we got the 15:09 train. Oxted station has refreshments so it also
served as the afternoon stop. Not a long ride at just over 18 miles,
out for 5 hours including a 90 minute lunch.
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