Group 4 Ride - West Surrey Cycling Club

Woking Midweek Wayfarers Group 4 Ride ~ 7 June 2017

By Mark Waters on 8 June, 2017 / Blog posts

Those chasing dreams rode all the way from home to the south coast and back, and well done to them – a good 100 miles probably. And not without problems either: Don broke a spoke but was saved by Petersfield Cycleworks who sold him a new wheel – and still he, William, Martin and Matt arrived before the train-assisted bunch (yours truly included) made it to coffee at Stansted House.

This is a ride eagerly anticipated by many each year. Why, you may ask? The answer is easy: we all love the Bosham Ferry crossing. And it wasn’t long before we reached it.

We weren’t entirely sure how much spray might land on our bikes during the short crossing, since it was really quite windy, but there was no need to worry – it wasn’t that bad. As you can see, it was a glorious day, if a little chilly in exposed places.

On the other side we set off again, with John Murdoch choosing an excellent route as ever. It’s nice and flat round here and we were lucky to have the wind behind us for most of the ride. After riding through Birdham Pool we soon arrived at our lunch stop, the Crown and Anchor at Dell Quay, where we enjoyed crab sandwiches and other delectables.

View from the bar

Getting to Dell Quay from Birdham Pool

Lunch

… or maybe waiting for it!

We followed the delightful Centurion Way northwards until we could go no further – unsafe tunnel, so we came off it and back on to roads, at which point the group split, some heading for Petersfield and their cars, whilst others headed homewards intent on cycling all the way. These were those who had cycled down plus one – me!

The tailwind greatly enhanced our journey homewards through Singleton, Cocking, Selham, Lodsworth, Lickfold, Wormley, Hambledon (and a welcome cuppa at the shop) after which we went our separate ways. It was a great day, all in all, and how fortunate we were to enjoy excellent weather following two days when you just wouldn’t have wanted to go riding.

Below are a few shots taken on the ride home, followed by a map showing my ride.

A reviving cuppa at the Hambledon Village Shop

To view the route in detail, please click on this link: https://www.strava.com/activities/1025387614

Wednesday 20 July Ride to the Coast

By Mark Waters on 23 July, 2016 / Blog posts

The day after the hottest day of the year so far came the second hottest and we were bound for the coast. Whilst some opted for some assistance, others opted to ride the full distance and here are some shots from the group which started riding prior to meeting at Rowlands Castle. In case you don’t recognise them, we have Tim and Debbie, Anne, William, Patrick, Nick, our great leader, Cap’n H, and yours truly, embarking on his longest ride of the year (so far, he hopes).

South Harting

The day didn’t start as bright as forecast and almost looked like it could rain a one point; but by the time we reached the coffee stop, the sun had come out for good and we enjoyed fine, sunny weather for the remainder of the ride. The route began by climbing up over Hindhead before running down through South Harting and on to Rowlands Castle, where we enjoyed some delicious eats at a historic house there. Remarkably soon after, I thought, we reached Bosham to find the spring tide very high, with the road round the shoreline covered in at least a foot of water.

Peter then led us along a cunning succession of tracks and paths, which involved passing some attractive yacht havens and even making a ferry crossing to Itchenor.

Bosham

Approaching the ferry

The Itchenor Ferry

Lunch was taken at Dell Quay where the pub really is in a perfect position next to the water. Sadly the crab sandwiches had all been consumed before we arrived.

Lunch at Dell Quay

After lunch we took the Centurion’s Way to West Dean (almost), from where we rode to Midhurst for yet more refreshments at the Cafe Verdi; these proved useful as we then climbed up and over Bexley Hill before taking the usual lanes back to Witley and Godalming.

A great ride: thanks, Peter, for your usual expert leading.

Here is the route we took. Further details may be obtained from this link:

https://www.strava.com/activities/647598230

Wednesday Wayfarers ~ the Petersfield Ride (8 July 2015)

By Mark Waters on 9 July, 2015 / Blog posts

A minor accident, numerous punctures, a little rain and a lot of wind, an ‘undulating’ route and over twenty out on the Group 4 ride alone: it all made for a day’s riding that made the run-in to Amiens on the Tour today seem almost dull by comparison!

No fewer than 40 West Surrey riders turned up at 10am at Heidi’s in Petersfield ready for a good bike ride and half were up for the hard one: were we mad? Was there something in the air? Had we all had drugs for breakfast?

About a mile out of town and we had a man down – fortunately nothing serious, but a warning to all: the route, the weather and the numbers made it a day to be taken moderately seriously. John Murdoch, as usual, was the man doing the leading and a good job he did, particularly since he had to change the lunch venue no fewer than four times from his original choice: with the delays we had there was no way we would make it to Amberley for lunch. In actual fact we made it to Sutton and the White Horse, where we all enjoyed sandwiches and some much needed grog, alcoholic and otherwise; it had been a long and lumpy morning with certain people needing to spend much time at lonely junctions acting as ‘human signposts’. The system worked perfectly. What a clever chap our President is to have invented this fool-proof method of avoiding losing people!

After lunch about half the group headed north and homewards unassisted by the train, whilst the others returned to Petersfield. The journey home was uneventful thankfully, but into a strong headwind. I don’t think anyone was sorry when we finally reached our destination.

Here’s the route:

For a closer look try clicking on one or other of the following links:

https://www.strava.com/activities/341852579

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/827397492

The route was 55 miles long and we ‘enjoyed’ an elevation gain of 1179 metres.

Here then are some more images from the day. Thanks, John, for a great ride – again!

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE