Royal Wedding Avoidance - Road Version

[Wanderer]

The Wall. Oh goody. Are you thinking of posting a map just in case demand is so high that we go out in more than one group? Otherwise I'll come with an OS and you can give me the route on Friday, in case there's a bunch of us slowcoaches holding up the rear. I did the Woldingham / Godstone bit with you a couple of Sundays ago.

I'm so sad to be missing that first glimpse of Kate's dress though. Isn't she lovely? And he's so dashing.

[Del]

I'm going to check out the route tomorrow and decide whether to stick to the original route out or alter it so that we go a bit further to the west to reach Kidds Hill.

Either way, we'll end up at the foot of Kidds, but it's a question of trying to get the distance and amount of climbing right!

I'll update the route tomorrow.

[simon Lythgoe]

I'll be along for the ride and will bring a pocket TV so as to not miss a single second of 'that dress'.
Kidds sounds good (in a bad way) to me.
Simon

[Mike I]

Avoidance is going to be even more difficult than I feared. It seems that [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/apr/28/royal-wedding-street-parties]road closures[/url] are going up all over southern England.

Never mind, I'm sure Del has checked each and every one in his route-planning .

Embarrassed of Wandsworth

[Andrew G]

Coulsdon is a bit of a royal wedding street party hot-bed.

Carlton Avenue
Hillcroft Avenue
Nineacres Way
Tollers Lane
Cator Crescent
Hook Hill
Nursery Close
Torridge Road
Coulsdon Rise
Howley Rd – cul-de-sac only
Oakwood Avenue
Tower View
Court Avenue
Jesmond Road
Page Crescent
Vicarage Road
Covington Gardens
Junction Road
Parkside Gardens
Wharnecliffe Gardens
Dunley Drive
Keens Road
Portnalls Close
Westleigh Avenue
Edward Road, Coulsdon
Kenmore Road
Shaw Crescent
Woodcrest Road
Greville Avenue
Lexington Court
Sissinghurst Road
Hamond Close
Lismore Road
The Glade, Old Coulsdon

[Del]

[quote="Andrew G"]Coulsdon is a bit of a royal wedding street party hot-bed.

Carlton Avenue
Hillcroft Avenue
Nineacres Way
Tollers Lane
Cator Crescent
Hook Hill
Nursery Close
Torridge Road
Coulsdon Rise
Howley Rd – cul-de-sac only
Oakwood Avenue
Tower View
Court Avenue
Jesmond Road
Page Crescent
Vicarage Road
Covington Gardens
Junction Road
Parkside Gardens
Wharnecliffe Gardens
Dunley Drive
Keens Road
Portnalls Close
Westleigh Avenue
Edward Road, Coulsdon
Kenmore Road
Shaw Crescent
Woodcrest Road
Greville Avenue
Lexington Court
Sissinghurst Road
Hamond Close
Lismore Road
The Glade, Old Coulsdon

[Greg]

Thanks for the response Del - although I am going to pull out at the last minute. Sorry, have a great ride

[Del]

Ok.

Here's the route, which is viewable at mapmyride at the address:

[url]http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/32892754/?open_ive_done=1[/url]

108kms/68miles in length

Briefly:

From CSS, Farthing Downs, Chaldon, down Hilltop Lane to Warwick Wold and on to Bletchingley.

Along A25, right on to Rabies Heath Road, Tilburstow Hill, left at Fox and Hounds and along to A22.

Cross A22, through Crowhurst. Lingfield, Dormansland, Old Hollow and continue to A264 to Holtye.

Cansiron Lane at Holtye, Hartfield, popular diversion via Upper Hartfield and Colemans Hatch to foot of Kidds Hill.

Up Kidds Hill!

Turn right on top of Ashdown, then left and follow road to Groombridge, "Col de Groombridge", and then continue to Penhurst! Rest, coffee, cake, beer. whatever........ Ask locals about progress of Royal Wedding! Start impromptu Addiscombe CC street party???

Back home via Chiddingstone Hoath, Mark Beech, Marsh Green, Lingfield, Newchapel, Outwood, Nutfield and Merstham with options for additional stops at Priory Farm, or Fannys Farm (or pub) if wanted to fuel up or delay re-entry into world of Royal Wedding!!

See you all tomorrow at CSS for 09:30 depart!

[Lucyap]

Home safe! Thanks for a great ride and I'm sorry I had to bail out early.

Not been feeling "right" all week, dizzy and bit off balance, but had managed to train through it . . . Coming up to Edenbridge we went through a bumpy section of road, and I started to wobble round a bit. Stopping and calling for a lift seemed the most sensible thing to do. I hope you all managed to find each other again?

So the plan now for me is . . . throw the training plan out the window for a couple of days, and get some well needed rest (not something I'm good at doing!)

Lucy.

[Del]

[quote="Lucyap"]Home safe! Thanks for a great ride and I'm sorry I had to bail out early.

Not been feeling "right" all week, dizzy and bit off balance, but had managed to train through it . . . Coming up to Edenbridge we went through a bumpy section of road, and I started to wobble round a bit. Stopping and calling for a lift seemed the most sensible thing to do. I hope you all managed to find each other again?

So the plan now for me is . . . throw the training plan out the window for a couple of days, and get some well needed rest (not something I'm good at doing!)

Lucy.

[Amy]

Hope Jamie wasn't too long coming out and that you found a nice spot to wait. Have a rest! Seems to be something going around - I had something similar last Friday.

Must admit I was a bit worried how I would do on today's ride as I've been horribly catarrhy down the back of the throat and my legs ached even riding from home to CSS But I wasn't too bad, kept up most of the way round, just fell off the back on the hills but not so far that people had to wait overly long - AND I WASN'T ALWAYS THE LAST!

Route pretty much as Del outlined it above except we missed the turn for Marsh Green and Del decided to turn in Edenbridge instead along the Haxted Mill Road. Managed to make them wait for Lucy but as seen above she decided that it wasn't a good idea to carry on. As she was at the back of the group and we'd just set off again after regrouping only two of us stopped with her to wait and see whether she would get her lift (sounded a bit touch and go...). I suggested the other rider (sorry, name?) go and catch the others to let them know what was happening. Unfortunately he missed the Haxted turning but Del was just coming back to find us, chased after him. I'd seen Del come out of the road having left Lucy with the knowledge Jamie was on his way so made the turning and came up with the rest. Meanwhile Del went back to check on Lucy as we hadn't managed to get the message to Del about what was happening. Never mind, we tried

After that it was no mercy and we clipped along at about 20-22mph for awhile. John had already told us not to wait if he fell off the back and Del seemed to disappear after Blindley Heath too. I declined an offer from Ben to push me up the hill and let the group ride off without me up Tilburstow. A short regroup at the top and we started splitting up to make different routes home. A few seemed to be taking the easy route up through Godstone... I could see the rest in the distance but didn't see them again so considered my options and decided to ride back up through Bletchingley, turn right at the top of the village on the reverse of our route out then into Warwick Wold Road and bailed out of climbing all the way up to Chaldon, dropping down to the Merstham drag and then up through Wallington.

Again, I was rendered invisible just before the railbridge at Hackbridge with a tw@t cruising in his open top just about scraped past - I really don't think I registered on any level in his brain cell Is it just me who gets these @r$eholes but that's four over the last few weeks - 3 of whom I am sure never even registered that I was there (ok, one did when I thumped the side of his car and the 4th one definitely saw me... ) It is really getting to me - making me jumpy whenever cars come up behind me - and in this area that's a lot of cars...

[jon avery]

A really good ride today! Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than watching the Royal wedding , a scenic and hilly ride, but very enjoyable, well done Del, It made a nice change to ride with some people I do not normally have the pleasure to ride with, It was a shame about Lucy (you need a good rest girl!) , We waited by the Oxted turnoff, but I had to get a shift on due to getting back for dinner. I made the choice of going via Oxted ( Amy knows I'm not to clever at route finding ) and went via Tipsy hill I finished with 68 quality miles miles on the clock, thanks again to everyone who came for the great company, and especially to Del for organizing and planning the route.

[Del]

Here you are. The Official Royal Wedding Avoidance - Road Version Souvenir Report! Something to put aside for your grandchildren and tell them that you were there (whether you were or not!).

I think I speak for us all when I say that the crowds at CSS were truly amazing. Some people had been camping out since 9:20 to see us set off, people had travelled from as far and wide as Purley. Merstham and Chipstead to see our procession and in places the crowd was at least 1 deep.

11 noble riders and 1 commoner (soon to be ennobled) set out on this fairytale ride through Surrey, Sussex and Kent. They were:

The Baron Ant Redchain
Prince Ben von Filthybike
The Lord Jon Avery of the New Den
Princess Amy Caketin
Count Ron (wearing his Kate and Wills badge all the way round the ride)
The Earl Phil Hawkes of the Pie Factory
Lady Lucyap of Kidds Hill
His Royal Highness Mike Ingram
Duke Simon Goldchain and Cassette (hewn from Welsh Gold, as is customary on these occasions)
The Marquis Rob of slightly un-coordinated cycling kit
Sir John white Giant bike

and the commoner Del!

We pulled out of CSS to a sea of yellow and black flags and hundreds of journalists and reporters relaying the details of our clothing, energy drinks and power bars to a nationwide audience glued to their TVs.

Soon, we were crossing Farthing Downs. Rob still had his front light on! He was prepared for a long day. Through Chaldon, a fast descent to Warwick Wold was followed by the short climb to Bletchingley and then we turned along the A25 to Rabies Heath Road, Tilburstow Hill and a left turn that brought us to the A22.

Across the A22 and the early chill was easing as the sun broke through and the rays glinted gently off Simon's cassette and chain as we carried on through Crowhurst and Lingfield before climbing up through Dormansland and up Old Hollow. At the top, the sheer excitement had become too much for some of the riders, as Ant, Ron and Mike dived into the hedges to bless the ground with spent (and processed) energy drink.

We joined the A264 for a while before turing off for Hartfield and carrying on to Coleman's Hatch where we were greeted by loudly tolling church bells, celebrating our visit. We re-grouped at the foot of Kidds Hill to much grumbling about what lay ahead, before Lucy accused us all of being a bunch of girls. This caused no offence to Amy, but the rest of us sped off to show just what raw testosterone can do when confronted by a large hill...... basically sweat and swear a lot!

We regrouped at the top and Jon removed his arm warmers to impress me (a Palace fan) with his Millwall tattoo. He failed! Still, we had a nice chat about how run down Selhurst Park is, which it felt hard to argue with really. Still, at least we had one rider from the Palace on this great day.

We descended from Ashdown to Groombridge, up the "Col de Groombridge" and then on through Fordcombe before arriving at our planned stop, the tea shop in Penshurst......... which was closed!! Still, no problem. Into the pub next door instead. Ant, Mike and Jon, the hard men of the ride got by with just a packet of crisps. Lucy had "Today's Quiche" and wondered why she couldn't have yesterday's. Simon and John had giant bowls of chips. I had a Croque Monsieur (that well known hi-carb food) as did Amy, Ben and Rob. And surprisingly, Phil had a huge pie!

At this stage news came through of my elevation from commoner. Word came through that club captain Jon had recognised my efforts on this day, and decreed that henceforth I would be known as Baron Sore Arse. Following this brief act of ennoblement, we headed home via Mark Beech, Edenbridge and Lingfield to Blindley Heath. Lucy was tired and waited at Edenbridge for Jamie to pick her up. The rest of us continued with Ant powering along at the front.

There was a further fracturing as we climbed out of Blindley Heath as Rob and I both fell back and headed for our homes. The rest of our regal procession disappeared over the horizon as they made their way up Tilburstow Hill.

Great ride today, and the nation's prayers were answered as it stayed dry. Hilly countryside and some great views and the usual Agreeable company made it a superb day.

Got home with around 72 miles on the clock and found my wife watching the back end of some wedding.

Anyone know what that was all about????

[Wanderer]

Yes, thanks Del for getting that organised. Apart from the telly in the pub, I think we just about escaped with our Roundhead credentials intact. Nice hot bath, then it's a choice between the edited highlights, or Kristin Scott Thomas in "Leaving".

Sorry Kate, it will have to be another night.

[Andrew G]

Brilliant Del, absolutely brilliant .