An excellent route, a visit to a place of interest, wall-to-wall sunshine and an excellent tea place.
Many thanks, Hilary
All,
Kindly note change of café destination on Sunday morning for the Guildford & Godalming Wayfarers, as previously notified by email.
This advice is for those not on the GGW email distribution list, and who planned to go directly to Haslemere for coffee on Sunday (as advertised in The West Surrey Cyclist).
The ride on Sunday starts at Godalming at 09h30, and will now go to the Orchard Barn Café, Hale House Lane, GU10 2LU (near Churt) for coffee.
Kind regards
Laurie Mutch
+44 7887 650777
All,
Reviewing the very poor weather conditions throughout today, we have taken the decision to cancel today’s ride.
Kind regards
Laurie Mutch
+44 7887 650777
We have received the following request from Susan Keywood, the CTC Cycling Development Officer for Surrey and Hampshire, who is looking for people to help set up a club in the Ash area, would any of our members who live in that direction like to help?:
About me
My role is to set up community cycle clubs in the Blackwater Valley, as part of a funded project and Ash is one of my target areas. I have started to offer taster rides in Ash, to engage with residents and weigh up the interest. Well the interest is definitely present, so the next step is find people to lead the club, lead the rides, etc. As mentioned I have funds to help with start-up costs, for equipment, training people, etc.However, a cycle club needs people to run it, so I am keen to reach out to experienced cyclists who might live locally, who might like to help build a club, coach others to do so, take locals on leisurely and fun rides, etc.
Wanted – Experienced cyclists for NEW leisure cycle club in Ash.
Set up by CTC, the club offers fun, leisurely, social cycling that is good for health and wellbeing.
Rides should be local, off road, on quiet roads – short routes at a slow pace.
This club wants to get people back on bikes and offer family rides too!
In return – I can offer training in leading rides, bike maintenance and much more.
Interested – please contact Susan on:
T: 01483 238 306
M: 077 17 696 672
Susan Keywood
Cycling Development Officer, Hampshire and Surrey
CTC, the national cycling charity
Louise Gagnon writes…
Sipping tea on a glorious September Sunday morning at the Seale coffee shop I met a gentleman who is likely to become the newest member of our Club. Very early in the conversation, Johnny mentioned that after a challenging period in his life he had ballooned to 19 stones (266 pounds). He vividly remembers that fateful morning of May 2014: “I felt awful going up a Surrey hill on my bike. My legs were hurting so badly that I climbed off my bike and had to stop”.
“I was disappointed with myself and knew I had to do something about losing the weight as otherwise I would have to stop cycling. So a few weeks later I exchanged my hybrid for a road bike with drops and got on a strict diet that still enabled me to gradually increase my mileage”. Superbly determined, Johnny kept that daily routine and magically saw the weight come off at a steady rate of one pound a week. The whole time he rode on his own and would have certainly appreciated company but admitted “I wasn’t going to go out with a group until I was satisfied that I could ride at a decent pace”.
After 15 months of training, Johnny woke up one morning in August 2015 and said to himself “this is the day I am going to do it. It just felt right you know”. And so he set off from his house in Woking for the longest ride he had ever done: 100 km (62 miles)… non-stop! No coffee break, just snacks and drinks on the way. Cruising steadily along in the Chobham area he looked down at his GPS and suddenly noted with excitement that he had clocked 105 km (65 miles) at an average speed of 23 KPH (14 MPH). “I just threw my arms up in the air and even rode no handed for about 50 meters: I had done it!!”
Even more amazing than the distance covered (his longest ever), Johnny had also lost a full 6 stones (84 pounds) since April 2014. “I am very proud of this”, he says; “it shows what an older man can do if he pushes his mind to it. I’ve lost the weight and now I can go up most hills and they don’t scare me!”.
After this achievement Johnny felt ready and proud enough to join a group: “Group riding appeals to me. It’s also a chance to meet some nice people. You know it is hard to train on your own, really hard”.
And so he sat as his computer one day and started Googling for cycling groups in his area; the West Surrey CTC link appeared and Johnny clicked on it: this was the start of the watershed. “I’ve cycled 3 times so far with Rico [Signore] and I’ve found this other group on the website: the Woking Midweek Wayfarers which has 3 levels, the 2s, 3s and 4s and rides on Wednesdays. I am very keen to join them in October”. To which I asked “why not meet with them this Wednesday 9th September. They have rides every week you know.”
And so, stand by to meet Johnny in the very near future at a Club ride start near you!