Finding Eric - Free Ride 39m

This is an impromptu FREE ride in honour of rock god Eric Clapton. Eric is a local hero who played at Richmond's Crawdaddy Club with the Yardbirds. He also played at Twickenham's Eel Pie Island with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. We are on holy ground where 'Clapton is God'.

A little known fact is that Eric is also an enthusiastic cyclist and is often found cruising the Surrey Hills where he lives. Indeed cycling is an addiction that Eric has had for decades. On tour with his band Cream Clapton was looking to buy a racing bicycle when his roadie Mick Turner said out loud "look it's got them Disraeli Gears", a mispronunciation of Derailleurs. That became the title of Cream's second album in 1967!

Our road trip starts at 10am from Hampton Court Station and meanders through Surrey to Eric Clapton's birthplace in Ripley. He grew up in Ripley, got married at the St Mary’s Church, and also held a funeral service there for his four-year-old son, Conor, who died after falling from the 53rd floor of a New York apartment building.
On our ride we visit St Mary's to find the grave of Connor Clapton for whom Eric wrote Tears in Heaven.

In the neighboring village of Chiddingfold Clapton famously played concerts at the Ex-Servicemen's Club, not to be confused with the Royal Albert Hall, in front of a packed 200-capacity crowd. These performances are available to view in their entirety on YouTube and are a glimpse into the past with sets from December in 1989, 2006 and 2007. Here's link to one of these concerts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ7tD5M1Z-s&list=RDEJ7tD5M1Z-s&start_radio=1

Our pilgrimage continues south but on the way we divert to visit the Lovelace Bridges which are a remarkable slice of Victorian engineering.
Built in the 1860s by William King, 1st Earl of Lovelace of Horsley Towers, they formed part of a private network of tracks and bridges built of brick and used to move timber across his estate by horse and cart. This is definitely worth the diversion as we head to
to Hurtwood Edge, Clapton's current home. As this is a discovery ride it is unclear how close we get to house but this is all part of the fun.

Our next destination is just up the road from Eric's home and is the William IV pub in Little London where we stop for lunch. This is a watering hole that Eric has been known to visit.

After lunch we head towards Guildford Station, our end destination, where we alight a train heading towards London.

CYCLING CAN BE DANGEROUS SO YOU JOIN US AT YOUR OWN RISk