Thursday, November 16, 2006

Nov 15th

Hello Wayfarers and friends

Freewheel competition There was a good turnout at Dorking yesterday, from where Vic led ' A' group and I (Terry) led ' B' group to Norwood Hill for the annual free-wheel competition. Norman was chief pusher-off, and in reasonably dry conditions but with an occasional headwind, John Mason completed his hat-trick, winning by a considerable distance from David Aylett who narrowly beat Pete Barnard (last year's runner-up) into third place. Vic, Ray D and John Scott were also very close, very interesting from my point of view since the leader and runners-up kept changing. We then continued to The Greyhound/Hungry Horse at Charlwood, the only establishment which could cope with our numbers. Ed had carved a beautiful shield for the winner and I bought a not-so-beautiful inner tube for the r-u. Just after starting the return journey we thought we heard a rifle shot, but in approximately half a second I realised it was my back tyre. Norman led the rest in the general direction of Dorking, John M stopped to help (thanks John) and by replacing the tube and patching the tyre with some Gaffer tape we reached homes with no further problems. Meanwhile, I'm thinking of a different venue for next year.... Terry

Still quite warm and the rain held off. Phil was leading 'C' group from Claygate in the absence of Mark and his intended venue was The Bell at Walton on the Hill (bring your own oxygen!). Our number consisted of Ron, Dave, Fuzz, Harold, Roger, Roger S, Ed N, John K. and Dennis (who only came for elevenses). That`s eleven with me and Phil. Sorry if I missed anyone. There were no ladies present (shame). Since most of the ride was offroad I can only report Claygate Common, Princes Covert, over the Esher Bypass, Ashstead Common, soon after which the climbing started. surfaces varied from muddy tracks, no tracks at all, long grass and mole hills with plenty of wheelslip. pot holes and broken tarmac and always uphill. About a mile short of the pub when I had clocked over twenty miles, we had a bit of a rest while Dave mended a puncture and I got to wondering what route to take after after lunch. Two lady horse riders approached at this point and we stood aside to allow them to pass. One of the mounts was a nervous animal and began to rear. It seemed It was our bikes and not us that upset it so we did our best to make them less conspicuous. After lunch Phil declared his intention of making for tea at Ewell, so I left the others at Tattenham Corner in the hope of finding my way home via Leatherhead. The first sign I saw was to Kingston so I went via the bypass and Esher (where I needed to light up) and got home at five. The total distance was only 39.67mls. After all that climbing most of the way was downhill -------------------------------- Albert

No comments: