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NORTH DOWNS WAY No new people at the library on this fine autumn day, despite 40,000
people loving every minute of last week's mass ride around Central
London. We need to try and attract some of those who have no idea that
cycling can be enjoyable every week if you know the right routes. Even
our route down to Carshalton going over Mitcham Common and along the
Wandle Trail is thoroughly enjoyable, taking in some lovely views and
we're barely a mile from Pollards Hill at that point.
The rider numbers fluctuated at the Oaks Park morning stop with one
departing and two joining, leaving ten to ride along the lanes to the
Reigate Hill viewpoint. The hill after the park is a bit tougher after
a stop so we re-grouped by our favourite village sign, the carved
cedar tree at Woodmansterne and took a group decision on whether to
ride up the long slog of How Lane or to extend the ride past The Mint
but face the shorter but steeper climb back up the Chipstead Valley.
The latter won out and that gave us a chance to fly downhill on Park
Downs before the climb back up.
Once back up the valley, it's a fairly flat road all the way to the
A217 / M25 motorway roundabout. That's a fast dual carriageway but by
riding in a group, we were perfectly safe in amongst the cars as we
rode over the motorway and into the viewpoint at Reigate Hill. It's a
busy spot with lots of cars parked up but that's no surprise when you
see the view.
The refreshments kiosk is fairly basic but not too bad. Sandwiches
have inventive modern fillings on Italian breads as well as the old
staple - a bacon sandwich. We sat on the benches admiring the view
until something in the valley caught fire and the sky filled with
black smoke.
There's another short climb onto the North Downs Way just after the
viewpoint but once at the top, you're rewarded with more views. We
stopped at the newly re-opened Reigate Fort which puzzled us at first
until we noticed the information board that we had missed on the way
in, explaining that it was built in the 1890s to provide storage for
equipment and munitions to help protect London from a possible French
invasion.
Just along from the fort is the Inglis Memorial, a stone shelter
donated to the local borough by Lieutenant Colonel Inglis in 1909. It
was originally a drinking fountain but now houses a direction
indicator. Trees and shrubs used to obscure the view but a programme
of clearance took place only a couple of years ago leaving a beautiful
prospect towards the South Downs. We stopped off to enjoy the view
before continuing along the North Downs Way, past some relaxing cows
to the traffic-free bridge that crosses back over the M25 towards
Mogador.
The recent rain had drained quite well on the bridleway over Walton
Heath golf course but one or two large puddles remained. The cause of
a puncture just afterwards proved difficult to locate so we placed a
patch on the tyre to prevent the culprit puncturing the new tube. We
were still making good time so that allowed us to detour around the
City Of London Freeman's School to Pleasure Pit Rd and down the slight
hill to the bottom of Chalk Lane and onto the network of urban paths
to Nonsuch Park.
Those who don't live in the area may not be aware that Surrey County
Council are trying to sell Nonsuch Mansion House, the building that
houses the popular cafe. It's a completely disingenuous move for a
council who fancy themselves as 'green', to get rid of a facility that
attracts so many people out onto their bikes. I counted 40 parked up
whilst we were there, most of whom are attracted by the cafe. See www.savenonsuch.com for details.
After ice cream and cakes, we rode back towards Sutton and Carshalton,
dropping in to BedZED on the way back. They had launched their cycle
club today and it turns out 7 or 8 had participated on a beginners
ride around nearby Beddington Park. Hopefully those will also be
interested in the regular rides we've been running since June. They
have another ride soon which I believe will be a longer one. The more
people that organise rides, the more people we can encourage to cycle
for fun. Out for 7.5hrs, 37 miles.
Sunday 23rd September LONDON FREEWHEEL This week was all about the build up to the London Freewheel event.
Registrations had closed once the 38,000th person signed up but the
official advice was to turn up anyway. The organisation had been
patchy with welcome packs being sent out at the last minute. A
confusion with the system that allocated feeder rides meant PHC were
looking at 300 people starting at the library at one point. This was
reduced to a mere 30 not long after but it was actually 33 that turned
up, most with the red bibs that had been sent out.
The route to Clapham Common is fairly direct, crossing Tooting Common
on the cycle path and making use of back streets to reach the
destination. The organisers farcical idea was that a feeder ride to St
James Park would leave Clapham Common every two minutes. Obviously
that was ridiculous so we stuck to our plan of making our own way
there along the London Cycle Network route. Another 10 or so joined us
on the way.
St James Park was really busy as it was hosting the Freewheel
Festival, lots of cycling-related stalls and free Hovis sandwiches. As
we rode around the closed streets, the group split, mostly due to the
sheer number of cyclists on the roads. At various points, crossings
had been set up to allow pedestrians over the route and this caused
tailbacks. You were very much dictated by the pace of the other
cyclists due to the volume of bikes.
Everyone regrouped at St James Park after passing various iconic
London landmarks on traffic-free streets - the first time this has
ever been possible. 25 returned to Clapham Common for cakes at the
veggie-friendly cafe before riding back to Pollards Hill. Out for 7hrs, 27 miles.
Sunday 16th September MARK BOLAN MEMORIAL RIDE 16 cyclists (12 women / 4 men) were at Pollards Hill for the Marc
Bolan ride. We set off for the Wandle Trail via Figges Marsh, making
good time for a mid morning break at Wimbledon Park, where another
cyclist joined us. That made 5 men!
We rode back onto the Wandle Trail through King George's park and
along to Wandsworth linking up with the Thames Path on the way to
Putney. There's a good cut-through to Barnes which meant we arrived at
the Sun pub before 12 noon. Instead of going straight in, we rode to
the Marc Bolan memorial where about 20 people were already gathered.
It's on a busy road so parking the bikes in the road at the bottom of
the steps, leading to Marc's statue and plaque, proved the safest
option.
We then went back to the Sun pub for lunch. Advice: be careful about
choice of food e.g. thumbs up for 'chicken caesar salad' but thumbs
down for 'sausages and mash' - the mash being very 'lumpy'. Also be
careful about the 'vegetarian sausages' (yuck!) and lumpy mash with Meat(?) gravy!
After lunch, we crossed Barnes common using a path that passed the
cricket club and then went alongside the railway line to Rocks Lane.
Here, the leader made a right turn too soon to cross over the South
Circular - so instead of going up quiet but unsurfaced Putney Park
Lane we went up Roehampton Lane and then re-joined the cycle route
across Putney Heath to Wimbledon Common.
On the common, the recent dry weather meant the official cycle path
was very dry, stony and dusty ("horrible", "oh no" - 2 comments) - so
we diverted off onto a "No Cycling" path - keeping virtually on the
grass and then rejoining the main road to go down Wimbledon Hill to
drop off 2 riders at the Station - but they had already left the ride!
Those of us left decided to make for Morden Hall Park for tea; the
customer comment card, given out at the National Trust cafe, received
the comment 'too expensive here'. Still, Morden Hall Park looked
lovely and we had a decent break whilst the 2nd puncture of the day
was repaired. Let's hear it for our regular puncture repairer who
always helps with these things!
The ride home followed the Cycle Quest route before riders started to
disperse. Out for 7 hours - 28 miles. No pix today but instead, there
are some of Marc Bolan on the BBC website. Note: Marc Bolan was a pop star in the 70s. For details on his death, click here. Today was the 30th anniversary of his death.
Sunday 9th September TOUR OF BRITAIN Six riders met at the libray for the Tour of Britain Prologue being
held in Crystal Palace park. Support races started at around 09:00, but the main prologue wasn't
due to start till 15:00. We headed off in the opposite direction to the route we usually take
to Crystal Palace, with our first stop of the day at the Horniman
museum for breakfast.
The group rode up onto Streatham Common and then headed towards
Dulwich. The leader was trying to avoid Crystal Palace park and took
the group up a private road anticipating there
being access onto Low Cross Wood Lane. After a few minutes of looking
about! He found the path. A sign would of been helpful. I get the
impression the locals don't like to advertise the path
being there. Low Cross Wood Lane is a beautiful but steep path that
leads you onto Crescent Wood Road. Once through the Victorian kissing
gate we admired the lovely old lodges along there.
The sun was shining brightly when we got to the Horniman museum and we
sat outside at a table on the lawn. Another bonus was that the cafe
was deserted! As well as grabbing breakfast, some of the group got
some take away for the park. When we left the museum we doubled back on ourselves and once opposite
Crescent Wood Road we cut through Sydenham Hill Estate to the
beautiful Sydenham Wells Park.
From the park it was a very short ride to Crystal Palace Park itself.
We entered the park at the
entrance very near to the concert bowl. Part of the cycle track was
right by the entrance, and as we crossed over it to get into the
centre of the park the group were given hats by the sponsors. It appears that the sponsors anticipated a bigger turnout as by the
end of the day just about everyone had about three hats each!
The group headed off to find the dinosaurs. On the way one of our
group bumped into his friends from Lewisham cyclists. Cycling is not
allowed on the path around the dinosaurs which was just as well seeing
that the leader had been riding on a flat rear tyre for the last mile
or so!
The dinosaurs looked as though they needed a bit of tlc, but if you've
never been to see them before are still worth a visit.
The group then headed off to the main start /finish straight directly
in front of the remains of the
Crystal Palace. We watched most of the London GP, which was won by
Malcom Elliot.
Directly behind us was a mountain bike stunt team, which did a couple
of shows through the afternoon. The day belonged to Britains very own
Mark Cavendish from T-Mobile. Those guys who got T-Mobile hats at the Tour de France Prologue should
keep hold of them now that South Londons very own, Bradley Wiggins has
signed for them for 2008!
15 Miles. Out for 7.5 hours. No pix of this ride.
Report by Ross
Sunday 2nd September CROYDON'S BRIDLEWAYS 12 riders started at the library for a ride that ventured into
Croydon's green areas. It was quiet streets all the way into Croydon
before the first bit of off-road on the path to the wilder part of
Lloyd Park. This area is home to a Frisbee golf course and if you look
hard enough, you'll see the funny baskets with chains on to catch the
frisbees. The park then opens out into fields before you reach Oaks
Lane, a track that leads past Coombe Farm and out onto Oaks Road for
the morning stop at the Pond Tea Rooms. It's set in nice gardens but
it's a bit pricey. The 13th rider joined us here.
Straight out of the cafe is Conduit Lane, a bridleway with a steep
slope at the end which has recently acquired a lot of loose gravel,
which is a nuisance. A couple of residential roads leads you to the
bridleway through Croham Hurst. It's been a popular Croydon beauty
spot for years. There is even evidence of Stone Age man living on top
of Breakneck Hill. Unfortunately, this bridleway had also acquired a
lot of loose gravel that brought most people to a halt.
A shortcut through Selsden Park hotel brings you out at the top of the
hill on the Old Farleigh Road where at least one rider reported
downhill speeds of over 40mph before turning off into Kingswood Lane
for more off-road riding. At the end, the ride turned towards Crewes
Lane but the difficult surface on this track threw the leader off so
the rest chose to walk.
Lunch was at the Harrow Inn. It was busy inside but we sat outside
where the sun regularly darted behind the clouds. After a good rest,
we went down bridleways towards Chelsham Common and then Farleigh
church. They were just opening up for afternoon teas, so we went into
the church for a look round, but declined their invitation for tea and
headed on. We turned right into Farleigh Court Rd and then left at
Little Farleigh Green onto another bridleway to go down to Featherbed
Lane where a couple of riders peeled off.
At the bottom of the long descent, we went into Addiscombe Palace's
grounds and up the steep hill onto Bishops Walk, probably the most
exclusive road in Croydon. No one was sure which house Ian Wright
lives in but he's probably not the only celebrity living there. Ronnie
Corbett used to live around the corner.
After Bishops Walk, it was straight onto the Addiscombe Hills to the
viewpoint. It wasn't a perfectly clear day but we could clearly see
the Dome, the Canary Wharf tower, the Gherkin, Natwest Tower, Telecom
Tower, 2 x Crystal Palace masts, St. Helier hospital and possibly the
long ridge in the distance was the Chilterns (about 40miles away!).
We then went down Shirley Hills Road and left into Postmill Close to
the Shirley windmill, the proposed afternoon stop. We got on a tour
of the windmill immediately (tours are free, but they hope you'll make
a donation afterwards) with a couple of people who were already
waiting , starting at 3.15pm. No one realised the tours lasted so
long (5 sneaked out at about 4pm to get refreshments, the remainder
stayed to the end at 4.20pm - more than an hour)
Every off-road section seemed quite dry, but they all had one patch
which was muddy?! This could have been called a golf course ride. We
went through the middle of Croham Hurst GC, didn't see any of Selsdon
Park Hotel's GC (though we could have done if that had been our
theme?!), saw Farleigh Court GC, the two Addington Court GCs (either
side of Featherbed Lane), Addington Palace GC and Addington GC (either
side of Bishops Walk), and didn't see Shirley Park GC as we skipped
Oaks Lane on the way back because we were running late. That would
have been 8 golf courses! 28 miles, out for 8 hours.
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