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MITCHAM LOOP As it had rained all week, I thought we ought to change today's route to avoid getting too muddy. 9 of us set off from the library, including 2 on the PHC bikes. Instead of heading over the common, we went to Cricket Green via the Cold Blows path and up to Mitcham Garden Village for a quick look. It's a beautifully secluded tiny private estate for the elderly of Mitcham but was originally built as cottages for the workers at the nearby Wilson hospital.
Next stop was BedZed, the UK's largest eco-village. Then it was Wandle Trail to Honeywood at Carshalton Ponds for a tea stop and back the way we came until we hit the Watermeads path. The vegetation is almost getting too dense to cycle past and the route out into Poulter Park was particularly overgrown.
Ravensbury Park is always stunning. We endured both sets of barriers to get the full length of the park in. Morden Hall Park has recovered well from the Country Fair earlier in the month when the vehicles turned the ground to mud. We rode through the wetlands and over the tram tracks to Merton Abbey Mills for a lunch stop. It was here that our luck with the weather ran out and it started raining.
We tried to sit the rain out but although it eased up, it wasn't going to stop. So we braved the drizzle to hit the old railway line through Myrna Close Nature Reserve and over Figges Marsh. Eastfields level crossing was completely closed for maintenance so we had to divert through Mitcham town centre. Out for 4 hours, 15 miles. See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 21st May DENBIES VINEYARD 5 weather-optimists at the library, 2 of whom were riding the new PHC bikes. One rider only arrived in the country yesterday from Columbia and opted to come straight out on a bike ride with us. We put the brand new weatherproof PHC GPS unit (thank you Moat Housing!) onto another rider's bike (no real estate left on the leader's handlebars) to see if it would record our route. No time so far to try downloading routes but it should make life easier for future leaders.
The grey skies looked like they were clearing and the rain held off along the suburban streets to Sutton via Carshalton Ponds and bits of the Wandle Trail but as soon as we hit the Mansion House cafe at Nonsuch Park the heavens opened and stayed open all day, making it possibly the wettest ride we've ever done.
I'd already said on the website that if it was wet, we couldn't go along the old Roman Stane Street byway because it would be too muddy. The long bridleway from East Ewell to Epsom had drained really well considering the amount of recent rainfall so I began to wonder if we could attempt part of Stane Street.
We spun the ride around to follow the route of two weeks ago onto Epsom Downs racecourse. Chalk Lane is a gradual killer of a hill so we took a breather by the Rubbing House pub on the actual course itself before riding along the busy Langley Vale Rd where a pedal fell off. Thread stripped but we forced it back on and it held ok.
At the top of Stane Street in the pouring rain we encountered two splattered mountain bikers. Very muddy down there they said. I remembered the first part as having a good, stony but chalky surface so we chanced it. The first incline beat every one of us as we had no purchase on the slippery chalk. The rest of the byway was fine, we crossed high over the M25 on the cyclists and walkers bridge and took the first opportunity to get back on tarmac before the byway descended into a muddy hell.
Charity Riders from the Children's Trust Wheels of Steel rides were limping along in the miserable weather. We decided to cut short and lunch at the Cock Inn at Headley. Busy, smoky and my food not so good so perhaps we'll try the tearooms in Headley next time.
The weather wasn't going to improve so we hit the long scenic Surrey Cycleway descent of Lodgebottom Lane and went direct to Boxhill and Westhumble station and hopped straight onto the conveniently arriving train. No Mitcham Junction today because of engineering works so we got off into an extreme downpour at Streatham Common. We'll try for Denbies again later in the year, especially as everyone enjoyed the small part of Stane Street that we rode. Out for 6 hours, 22 miles. GPS said top speed was 42.5mph but that must have been on the train on the way back! No rain damage to either our camera or GPS so I guess they both pass their waterproof test. See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 14th May PETTS WOOD 9 riders at the library including one who had cycled down from near Petts Wood so he could return with us. Grey skies but the rain held off all day. This is quite a suburban ride but it's tempered by a series of green spaces with pleasant traffic-free cycle routes. The first was South Norwood Country Park, home to Croydon Arena where the next Love Yr Bike is being held. Unfortunately, the Visitor Centre was closed.
We picked up the Waterlink Way, a Sustrans route from Greenwich to Eastbourne and rode through another couple of parks. Then it was up to the cafe by golf course at Beckenham Place Park for a mid-morning stop. Their cake selection was pretty poor but it makes a nice stop-off point. A puncture enabled a few riders to get a free impromptu puncture repair lesson from an experienced cycle trainer before we set off for the ancient bluebell woodlands, hoping last night's rain hadn't created too much mud. It hadn't.
Bromley has 200 unmade roads. I know that because I once asked the Council. Elstree Hill is a gravel track up a fierce hill. We all made it! Mavelstone Rd also has a rotten surface but most riders opted for the pavement. Then we rode downhill past the huge houses to Chislehurst Caves for a quick look before enduring another unmade road on the way to Jubilee Country Park and onto lunch at The Daylight Inn near the station at Petts Wood. Nice pub, good cheap food but out of veggie sausages!
Our rider who was returning back went home to grab his recumbent. A couple of us had a go in the car park. I found it really hard as you actually need to turn the handlebars to steer rather than leaning on an upright two wheeler. It's for sale if anyone fancies a more relaxed riding position. Drop me a mail if interested and I'll put you in touch with it's owner.
We returned through Normans Park and a couple of Millionaires Rows for an ice cream stop at the cafe in Kelsey Park. On nearly all the rides I've led I've been out to do a recce a few days before. Too much work meant I hadn't had the time to do this one so I was surprised to see the cafe had burned to the ground! It was replaced with an ice cream van and a temporary catering van. The 7 miles home from here went pretty quickly as we retraced our tyre tracks around South Norwood Country Park and back through the 'burbs. 28 miles, out for 7 hours.
See some photos from today on Flickr
Sunday 7th May THE MINT AT BANSTEAD The forecast said light rain but it turned out to be perfect cycling weather. 5 riders at the library set off for Nonsuch Park via the Wandle Trail and the London Cycle Network roads to Sutton and Cheam. The cafe in the park does nice cakes and is a great place for a morning stop.
We took the Warren Farm path out of the park, under the railway and picked up the long straight bridleway all the way to Epsom. It dissects many roads, including 'The Green', an intriguing place that has a real 1950s air to it. The first hill of the day was the long slow climb up Chalk Lane to Epsom Downs. We rode onto the racecourse by the Rubbing House but approaching it from this side doesn't have quite the same visual impact as when you come round Tattenham Corner.
The Mint is in a rural location, despite being just under half a mile from Banstead. They have a reasonably priced and interesting menu although a steak had to be returned when it arrived the consistency of a bike tyre. Nowhere sensible to put bikes either so we chained them to the car park gate.
We could have made the route home all downhill but it wouldn't have been so interesting. Instead, we went through Solom's Wood where the houses have helipads, up the ridiculously steep switchback at Chipstead Way and rested at the fantastic chainsaw carved Woodmansterne village sign. Then it was downhill to Oaks Park, former seat of the Earl of Derby and the source of the names of the two famous Epsom horse races and up the Oaks Track to the Little Woodcote Estate. The roads from here are all downhill to Beddington Park where we stopped for an ice cream and then completed our journey along the sewer path (has it got a name?) and across Mitcham Common. 26 miles, out for 7 hours.
See some photos from today on Flickr
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