Thanks to IanR for his clarifying comments - he's done the ride before and knows how it goes.
At the risk of being pedantic, my/Cyclechat arangements are as posted here. Tom's ride is separate for slower/younger types (though it also originates from Lewisham Cyclists and the same merry chats around a table at the Dog and Bell in Deptford) though of course we may see him.
I did think of making it 15 mins earlier but thought we may have problems getting folks out of bed.
Also, I kind of like the rather mad-dash atmosphere of racing from Greenwich via Forest Hill to catch the cars in Croydon, then the fun really begins as we join the throng.
In response to a couple of folks above, nowt at all to stop you riding by yourself of course, but I think doing it amongst a friendly bunch of cyclists rather adds to the atmosphere. Nothing wrong with a bit of sociability. And the ride starts at Cutty Sark Gardens (yes I know it's just over the border in Greenwich) as this began as and has always been run as a Lewisham Cyclists ride and I'm kind of loyal to them.
Lewisham Cyclists by the way have a new web site:
http://lewishamcyclists.co.uk
which shows the ride details under "events"