Margaret Squirrell

It is with much sadness that I announce the passing of  Margaret Squirrell. Margaret had a massive stroke in the early hours of Friday morning the 22nd and passed away in the early hours of Saturday the 29th.

We will keep you posted about funeral arrangements and anything else relevant as soon as we know.

Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with Bill and the family,

A lovely lady, always had a smile and a joke.

Tony..

Annual Lunch 7 March 2018

Following comments received and discussions at the AGM and in the Committee we have decided to hold next year's Annual Lunch at a new venue.

RISTORANTE SORRENTO
379 Ewell Road
Tolworth Surrey
KT6 7DE

www.ristorantesorrento.com

The location is reasonably accessible to most of us, and there is plenty of space for cycle parking in their garden at the rear.

For our lunch they are offering a fixed price 3-course menu for £15 including service, but excluding drinks, with a reasonable choice of mostly Italian dishes. In order to speed up service, the restaurant have asked us to pre-book our menu choices.

Simon and Tim have kindly offered to collect your menu choices and payment, and will be approaching you in the New Year.

With good wishes to all for a very happy New Year

Invitation to enter the Photographic Competitions

Further to the great success of the photo competitions since we went digital we invite you to take part again this year. Please submit your photos before the end of January.

Remember that there is now a category for the Best Group Photo to cater for the many photographers who have taken good photos of a mixed group of cyclists.

Please use this method for sending photos to us:

• Visit this website:

Competition Dropbox

• Follow the instructions to deliver your photos.
• Enter your name and email address.
• With this method you can select multiple photos or just a single photo for each submission.

N.B. When using this website to transfer photos it is not necessary to sign up to or log into Dropbox even if you are invited to do so.

Send an email to me, Tim, to provide this information about each photo:

•     the filename (e.g. P1040276.jpg)
•     the competition category for which the photo is being entered
•     a short, descriptive caption

The rules and categories are simple.
Note that the full 'Competition Rules' document is available under the 'Information Hub' heading on our website.

Competition Period: Photos taken during the 2017 calendar year.

Your photos must all illustrate a connection to cycling by depicting a bicycle for example, or other cycling association.

You may submit a photo or photos for every category.

    6.1. Person or people (male)
    6.2. Person or people (female)
    6.3. Action
    6.4. Scenery/landscape
    6.5. Building/buildings
    6.6. Humorous or funny
    6.7. Best group photo

Note that the award for a winning photograph in each category will be given to the photographer who took the picture, not to the model(s).

If the method for submitting photos described above does not work for you, or if you don't use a digital camera, please let me know so that we can address the problem.

~ Tim

Cold and wet Wednesday the 27 December

An unplanned event really as there was nothing in the events calendar.  But the day after boxing day was sure to inspire some to start shifting the Christmas pounds. It most likely would have been the case had the weather obliged, 3C an icy wind and snow didn't deter a few from getting to Squires at Long Ditton. I left home late having dressed feeling like Mr Blobby. The snow abated and turned into drizzle and had stopped as I reached 11's. David Ward, Brian Bent and David Vine and Sue were all seated drinking coffee and eating short bread, provided by Sue. David still recovering from the Black ice mishap and now also a chest infection came by car.

A long leisurely chat and festive banter, more short bread and the time was heading towards 12 o'clock. We said goodbyes and headed into the weather, slight drizzle gain now and a cold 10 miles home but nice to get some fresh air after 2 days of alcohol fumes.

A happy new year to all.

Tony..

Ron Powney

I'm very sorry to pass on this news, from the Kingston Phoenix Facebook page:

It is with much sadness that the Powney family have to inform you that Ron Powney passed away at 2pm on Christmas Eve.

As many of you know Ron had several health issues, the latest of which had required him to be admitted to Intensive Care 4 weeks ago. Whilst the latest operation was successful and he was recovering, he contracted an infection on his lungs and passed away peacefully.

The family will provide further details in due course as to the arrangements.

Our love and thoughts are with Doreen and the family.

Boxing Day Morning

Happy Christmas

Annual Mileages for 2017.

Please Remember, don't Forget.

For those who may have only recently discovered the beguiling pleasures of cycling with CTC South West London, as well as the old lags, there is a tradition to report and record our annual mileage. There is a 'mileage' tab on the MWW blog page that reveals all. The column for 2017 is blank. It can be revealing to see the annual ebb and flow of our cycling dynamics. Not only that, but there is a gong to be won for the lady and gentleman (if any), reporting the greatest annual mileage, as well as the greatest increase over the previous year's reported mileage.

Now is the time to check your current mileage and decide how many miles you would like to add before the witching hour of 11.59.59pm on Sunday 31 December 2017. The qualifying period is unsurprisingly from 1 January to 31 December 2017. However modest your mileage may be, do not yourself be too modest, but please send it to me to populate our 2017 spreadsheet.

For that increasing number of members for whom I am an unknown quantity, please send your mileages to: jeff.tollerman@lineone.net and then check that I have successfully recorded your mileage on the spreadsheet. You cannot record it yourself .

To all those that I have not recently seen, may I wish you a Very Happy Christmas and an exhilarating New Year.

Jeff

Easy Riders Wednesday 20 December

Robin, Sandy, John Bellamy, Don E, Bernard P, Brian B and I crossed the river after leaving Walton Day Centre and reached Sunbury via the quieter back roads of Shepperton and Upper Halliford.  After a short stretch of main road through Hampton, we entered Bushy Park, emerging at Hampton Court after having done a lap of honour of the Diana Fountain!   Brian left us here before we crossed back over the river and had an easy run to Ye Olde Swan at Thames Ditton.   Our table was in a slightly gloomy corner (soon brightened by our presence!), but the manager and staff gave us a very friendly reception, and the menu choices, range of beers, and prices did not disappoint!  We'll call again!  No takers for tea on this gloomy afternoon so we all went our separate ways home.   Thanks to all for your company and see you again in the New Year!

Dave (W)

Annual Lunch 7 March 2018

Following comments received and discussions at the AGM and in the Committee we have decided to hold next year's Annual Lunch at a new venue.

RISTORANTE SORRENTO
379 Ewell Road
Tolworth Surrey
KT6 7DE


www.ristorantesorrento.com

The location is reasonably accessible to most of us, and there is plenty of space for cycle parking in their garden at the rear.

For our lunch they are offering a fixed price 3-course menu for £15 including service, but excluding drinks, with a reasonable choice of mostly Italian dishes. In order to speed up service, the restaurant have asked us to pre-book our menu choices.

Simon and Tim have kindly offered to collect your menu choices and payment, and will be approaching you in the New Year.

With good wishes to all for a very happy New Year

A Merry Christmas from Brian Bent

A Brian Bent original:

The Angel Inn, Thames Ditton

Some things never change....

A Group ride 20th December.

Some of A Group in Windsor, and some winter colour from Squires Garden Centre below.

B Group - 20th December

Although we didn’t have the balmy weather which I expected the forecasts to deliver it was pleasantly warm by recent standards and a few of us felt that we were wearing more layers than necessary for much of the day.

Eighteen of us left the Walton DC. Our guest from A Group was Brian who wanted to get a few miles in before heading for The North. He peeled off at Woodham. Unfortunately Vic punctured during the morning and decided to mend his puncture and head for home. As there was no serious ride planned for the afternoon Steph rode with us to the Jovial Sailor but carried on home without eating. New member Steve Palmer came out with us too although we may lose him to A Group in future.

We went along Walton Lane to Weybridge and meandered through to Ham Moor as we usually do. Then Addlestone, New Haw and Woodham and on the small path around Fullbrook School to Woodham Lock on the Basingstoke Canal. The short 2.72 km stretch of the canal was the highlight of the day for many people, despite being a bit mucky in places. But Pyrford Common through to Send Marsh was enjoyable too.

Thanks to a couple of people from the staff of the Jovial Sailor being off work, after succumbing to a Winter lurgy of some sort, it took some time to deliver our meals for which they were quite apologetic. But the food was good, very affordable, and this close to Christmas we were in a very relaxed mood and enjoyed being there.

Thanks to Pam for this photo

We emerged from lunch and Peter Tiller discovered a flat tyre but was content to mend it in his own time without 15 of us looking on and giving advice. Half of the group headed directly for home while the rest of us cycled to Cobham where we split. I called in at Giro for a coffee and 10 minutes later Peter turned up for a cup of tea. Good to have his company.

I sprung a request to be back marker on Tony during elevenses and was grateful that he agreed. I do normally prefer to brief the back marker about the route but today I just gave Tony a somewhat blurry map and he did a good job.

I was impressed that so many people came riding today. Thank you all for your good company. In lieu of a Christmas card here are some Christmassy photos taken during our holiday in The North last week.

~ Tim

A Group Ride - Walton-on-Thames, 20th December.

The highlight of today's ride was Pete Betts's polite, courteous and very measured response to White Van Man's rant about cyclists blocking his progress - not least his careful explanation about why we shouldn't ride in the gutter but at a distance of 1.5metres out from the kerb. I doubt whether Egham man fully understood these finer points of cycling safely. However that's the way to deal with these nutters!

The rest of this ride was fortunately quite uneventful: from Walton to the Thames path at Chertsey and Staines, and then Egham (where my Garmin had a senior moment), to the only serious exercise of the day up Tite Hill and on to Windsor for lunch. Despite minor inconveniences of missing gloves and bike computers we were away well before 2.00pm.

Half of the Group made it to the new tea-rooms at Squires, Upper Halliford and didn't linger long, being keen to get away in the lengthening winter's gloom. Twenty seven miles on a pleasantly mild day - the day before the winter solstice, seemed about right.

The usual credits - Simon for back-marking and Geoff for photos. (to follow).

Thanks for your company.

Happy Christmas - more miles in your wheels in 2018.

A Group 20th December

Grey and mucky for Ged's ride today, but a cheerful lunch in good company at Wetherspoons Windsor and a brisk ride back were just the ticket for late December.

Shortest day tomorrow - soon be Spring!

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, and thanks for another enjoyable year with the Wayfarers.

Mark

Easy Riders - 20th December

Irene has asked me to lead today's ride on her behalf.   It's almost the shortest day of the year (and also pretty miserable looking weather!), so the planned lunch stop is close at hand (Ye Olde Swan at Thames Ditton), but we'll take a roundabout route through nooks and crannies, drizzle permitting!

Dave (W)

A Group ride - Wednesday 20th December from Walton-on-Thames

We'll be having a shortish ride on the (nearly) shortest day of the year: from Walton-on-Thames to Wetherspoons in Windsor for lunch and thence onto Upper Halliford for tea. Approximately 30miles will get you home in plenty of time for your evening Christmas revelries.

Beside the Seaside

A sunny day today, and good for a ride, but, chastened by Dave's mishap, I thought I'd give the Surrey Hills a miss.  Instead I popped the Brompton on a train to Brighton and rode along the seafront to Shoreham.  Lunch at the Bridge Inn, with happy memories of summer rides,

then back over the Shoreham locks taking a few minutes to watch the City of Chichester going through.

Bright sunshine and the tang of the sea, with the smell of pine from the timber-yards along the docks. Dark by the time I got home, but a good winter's day out.

Mark

Just a few from 2017

A Hard Landing

Yesterday seemed like a nice day for a recce. I prudently waited until the sun was well up and the temperature rising.

Descending Old Malden Lane my front wheel found some black ice and I went down hard, cracking my helmet. From here my memory is a little hazy. I think I had decided to return home, and started to walk back until I found a patch of sunlight where I tried to sort myself out. I next remember talking to a couple of police officers who decided I was too confused to be left, and took me to Kingston A&E, with sirens & blue lights. The memory of driving through New Malden scattering cars and pedestrians was one of the highlights of the day.  The other highlight was the care at Kingston, where my confusion gave way to recognition of various cuts and bruises, the worst being to my ribs which makes breathing a bit painful, and laughter out of the question. 

The hospital and police were outstanding both in their professionalism and kindness.
Not sure how the bike is, but definitely no riding until I get a new helmet. 

Take care everyone.