Four riders met at Cheam Station at 09.00hrs.
Bill Martin, Mick Curtis, Phil Bull and myself leading the ride.
The weather was mild for a change although overcast all morning with winds from the west.
I’d been working on an alternative route to East Molesey using OS Maps, memory of parts of old rides and some generous study of the ‘Street View’ option in the Google Earth program on the PC.
The first part of the ride took us out the usual way through the back of Ewell along the Hogsmill River and out to Chessington South via Horton Park and Castle Hill.
The route after crossing the Leatherhead Road then changed to a bridleway going under the A3 and coming out at the north east border of Claygate. After dropping west across Claygate Common we headed over the railway and onto Arbrook Common in a northerly direction towards Esher.
We crossed the Portsmouth Road at Esher and headed for the back of Sandown Park Racecourse taking us to the banks of the River Ember.
Various bridleways then took us north across Molesey Heath Nature Reserve and into the outskirts of West Molesey. After dipping through a couple of alleyway paths connecting Walton Road and Hurst Road we found ourselves popping out neatly onto the Thames Towpath just west of Hurst Park and about half a mile from elevenses at the cricket club cafe. At the cafe we met up with Barry Gregory and Bill’s brother Jim who’d cycled down from Shepperton via the towpath to meet Bill.
Our return journey saw Barry, Bill and Jim head west towards Hersham and Shepperton respectively, whilst Mick, Phil and myself headed back via the usual route along the Thames to Kingston and back to Cheam via the Hogsmill River.
It was interesting to note that despite using a totally different route on the outbound journey that the total mileage from Cheam turns out to be a difference of less than a mile comparing it to the usual there and back same route.
Mileage for me: 27.5
Time: 2h:55m
Paul White.