More news on Victoria Way Cycle Crossing

In my capacity as a Woking Council representative on the local Cycle User's Forum I attended a meeting on Wednesday.  Rather appropriately I cycled to the meeting at Quadrant Court (Surrey County Council offices) on Guildford Road., having come from a governors meeting at Horsell Village School.

One thing I learned at the meeting is that work will not continue on the new cycle crossing over Victoria Way until the forthcoming Chinese ceramics exhibition at The Lightbox has closed.  When I checked the dates for this exhibition I found that it doesn't close until December!  If work really is delayed until then I envisage a further delay when roadworks are kept out of the town centre in the busy Christmas shopping periods.  So that will be January then before work starts again ...

I first blogged about this crossing on 10 September 2010 when I saw a site notice on the post of the pedestrian crossing.  It is over a year ago now since initial work started on the site. As I previously threatened  I think it is time to got out there with a cake and wish the works a happy first birthday.

Pedal 4 Charity 2011

I was delighted to take part in Pedal 4 Charity on Sunday 11 September.  The event is a 22 mile cycle ride raising money for Woking and Sam Beare Hospice.

We set off from The Cricketers in Horsell and rode across Horsell Common, through Ottershaw and Lyne to Thorpe.  The half way point was the Rose and Crown at Thorpe Green,  The first half of the ride involved a few hills and a combination of an and off road and was a pleasant ride.  Having set off at 11am we reached the pub by 12pm.  Then for the return journey ...

We followed the same route to begin our return but then went through a different area of Lyne and on to Chobham Common.  That's when it got tricky.  There was a lot of mud.  A real quagmire.  There were long drags of hills and to add to the challenge some were surfaced with gravel.  Hard work.  But there were amazing views over Chobham Common,

At one point we followed the crowd down a muddy hill to the left, only to hear the cry "wrong way".  We turned about and took the only other available route, but there was still uncertainty.  The track ahead was narrow, punctuated by trees and roots and vey muddy.  We all paused and waited for a man with a smart phone who seemed to have links to a route map.  After a few minutes the decision was made to move forward.  A few of us had our doubts about the way but our worries were unfounded, a yellow arrow leading the way soon appeared along the path.

The return route took a lot longer and two and a half hours later we returned to the Cricketers, tired but satisfied.

The ride was really enjoyable but I would have liked to linger longer over some of the views.  I am sure we will be back next year.

Congratulations to The Cricketers for organising the event and to all those from the hospice, Horsell Common Preservation Sociey and others who gave their time on the day to make a succcessful event.

If you would like to help in my fundraising for Woking and Sam Beare Hospice you can subscribe on my Just Giving page

How many county council workmen days do you need to cross a road?

An awful lot apparently.  You may have noticed various stages of work next to the crossing of Victoria Way between Brewery Road car park and the Lightbox to the town centre.  This is intended to be a cycle crossing.

Work started last year in October, then had to pause during the Christmas period and then was set back by the refusal of the police to agree to change in the level of the road - so that had to come out.

Men in high visibility jackets were spotted examining the site a few weeks ago but I am not aware of any activity since that time.  News in August was that work was to start again in September. Its early in the month so you never know ...

If the whole long strung out project makes its first birthday in a few weeks time I plan to head out with a birthday cake to mark the occassion.