Elmbridge Cycle

This Sunday our Valentines Day ride will be a loop out to Richmond Park and back. The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station, and will be about 25 miles.

We will head over Walton Bridge then turn towards Hampton, then Teddington and Twickenham. Over Richmond Bridge and across Richmond Park, heading back through Kingston and Hampton Court.

The ride will be 25 miles with a lunch stop at a cafe in Kingston. The route is almost completely on-road so should be suitable for any bike.

The full route map is here: https://www.strava.com/routes/4120777
If you want to come on the ride, you can just turn up.

Our next ride will be on Easter Sunday 27th March and will be our traditional Easter Egg Hunt. There might be prizes.

This Sunday our ride will be heading south and then west around the back of Woking. The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station, and will be about 25 miles.

We will head down Redhill Road and then Pointers Road towards Downside. Then we change tack and head through Ockham towards Send. Then Old Woking, Mayford and Knaphill then turning north towards Ottershaw and Addlestone and finally back to Weybridge.

The ride will be about 25 miles with a lunch stop at Fairoaks. The route is almost completely on-road so should be suitable for any bike.

The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/956751903

If you want to come on the ride, you can just turn up.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 14th February 2016.

This Sunday will be our December ride followed by Christmas Lunch. Anyone who has enjoyed one of our rides this year is invited to join us for this lunch.

The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station.

The route is a loop that heads out from Weybridge through Chertsey to Virginia Water, then up to Chobham Common before heading back through Chobham and Ottershaw to Weybridge. The ride will be a little shorter than normal, about 20 miles, so that we are back in Weybridge for Christmas Lunch at 1pm.

The route is totally on-road so any bike should be suitable for this one.

The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/936056635

If you want to come on the ride, you can just turn up. If you want to join us for Christmas Lunch can you please let me know by Tuesday so that I can confirm the reservations. The cost will be around £25 depending on how much you manage to drink.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 10th January 2016.

This Sunday our monthly ride will be a 25 mile jaunt towards Ascot.

The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station.

We will head west to Ottershaw and then towards Sunningdale and Ascot. From there we loop south to Windlesham and then back through Chobham and Ottershaw. Lunch will be at the very popular cafe at Fairoaks Airport.

The route is totally on-road so any bike should be suitable for this one.

The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/912889377

If you want to come, just turn up, no need to let me know in advance.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 13th December and will include our annual Christmas Lunch. I’ll send out more details about this shortly, but mark your calendars for this now anyway.

This Sunday our monthly ride will be a 25 mile loop towards Kingston and Teddington.

The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station.

We will head east towards Esher and then through the back streets of Surbiton towards Kingston. From Kingston we sneak through Richmond Park to Ham and then across the River Thames at Teddington Lock. Lunch will be at the Anglers pub here with a great beer garden and riverside views. The return leg will cross Bushy Park and then follow the towpath all the way back to Weybridge.

Quite a lot of the route is on the Thames towpath so a hybrid or off-road bike might be best.

The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/883114427

If you want to come, just turn up, no need to let me know in advance.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 8th November.

There’s some recent talk on the Singletrack forum about wires being placed maliciously across trails in the Surrey Hills.

Be careful where you ride: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/redlands-surrey-hills-wires-alert

This Sunday our monthly ride will be a 30 mile loop out through the Crane Valley and back through the Colne Valley.

The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station. We will head east towards Hampton Court, through Bushey Park and then pick up the Crane Valley Park in Twickenham. Heading towards Hounslow we will skirt Heathrow to the north where we come to the Colne Valley. Turning south we will cross Staines Moor and return to Weybridge via Chertsey.

The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/774317273

The distance will be approximately 30 miles at a relaxed and steady pace. The route will be on a mixture of roads and paths, some roads will be quite busy. A road-bike or hybrid would be most suitable for this ride.

If you want to come, just turn up, no need to let me know in advance.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 9th August.

Elmbridge Cycle Strategy

Elmbridge Borough Council have recently resolved to develop a cycle strategy for the borough. This is an excellent initiative which should lead to a more joined up plan for cycling infrastructure and facilities in this area.

A cycling task group has been formed of county and borough councillors and they met for the first time on June 24th. They have chosen Weybridge as the first town to look at and will use that as a template for creating a strategy for the other towns in the borough.

I have been seconded to the task group as representative of the Elmbridge Cycle Group. I intend to keep the group informed of progress and canvass input when required. If anyone is interested in helping with this please contact me. And if anyone has any suggestions or ideas for strategic routes, blackspots and problem areas, or other ways of improving cycing in the borough then please let me know.

This Sunday our monthly ride will be a little different from the normal pattern. We will be piggybacking on a ride organised as part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend in central London.

We will be meeting at 10:00am at the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens / Hyde Park. From there we will take a circular route around west London visiting 10 or 12 gardens and squares that are normally closed to the public and hidden from view. Full details of the ride including the route and a list of the gardens to be visited are here: http://www.opensquares.org/activities/cycling.html The ride should finish by about 5:30pm.

The ride itself will be free, however to visit the gardens you will need to purchase an Open Garden Squares ticket which is £10 in advance or £12 on the day. Details here: http://www.opensquares.org/tickets/index.html

Some of us will be riding into central London from Weybridge before the start. If you wish to join us please contact me directly for details of the meeting point. It’s about 20 miles and we will be starting early, about 7:30am. The pace will be brisk.

If you want to start at the Albert Memorial, just turn up, no need to let me know in advance.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 12th July.

The theme for our ride this Sunday will be bluebell hunting. We will head out towards Hatchlands Park looking for the best bluebell woods. They should be at their peak this weekend.

The ride will start at 10:00am outside the Hand & Spear pub near Weybridge Station. We will head south to Redhill Road and then across Wisley airfield to Ockham. From there we head into the woodland trails until we reach Hatchlands Park at East Clandon. We will then aim for lunch at the King William IV in West Horsley. Our return route will take us back to Ockham and then across Wisley Common into the back of Byfleet and then through Brooklands back to Weybridge station. The full route map is here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/702304067

The distance will be approximately 20 miles at a relaxed and steady pace. The terrain will be quiet roads and quite a bit of off-road trails and paths. If it’s wet then these could be quite muddy. A mountain-bike or hybrid would be most suitable for this ride.

If you want to come, just turn up, no need to let me know in advance.

Our next ride will be on Sunday 14th June.

Our next Elmbridge Cycle Group bike ride will be this Sunday 12th April at 11am.

Instead of a normal ride, this month we will be holding the fourth annual Vaguely Interesting Easter Egg hunt. Starting from the Hand & Spear at Weybridge Station at 11am on Sunday our Easter Egg Hunt will take you on a tour of the area looking for hidden easter eggs. In teams of two or three cyclists, and using a map and a clue sheet you will have 2 hours to find as many answers as possible. En-route you may see some of the less frequently visited parts of the area and might notice some nooks and crannies that are, perhaps, vaguely interesting.

You can ride in a team of two or three. Don’t worry if you don’t already have a buddy to ride with, you can be paired up with someone suitable at the start. There will be no fixed route, but expect to cycle around 20 miles or so depending on how many short-cuts you know or can find.

The start will be at the usual place, outside the Hand and Spear pub near Weybridge Station at 11am (an hour later than our normal start time). We should finish back at the same place by about 1pm, for a late lunch.

If you want to come, just turn up.

The next ride after this will be on Sunday 10th May at 10am.

Cycling 4 Autism

On Friday, April 24th, County Care Independent Living are holding a 5,000 lap sponsored bike ride at Sheerwater Athletics Track. This is to raise money for Surrey Wheels for All and the Friends of Freemantles. If you would like to help by cycling a few laps, or if you’d like to volunteer in any other way please contact Jess at jessica.steege@countycare.co.uk.