A group 2 April: Cobham - Warnham - Denbies

Ahh, cycling shorts!   Well, that could be misunderstood by some people but after a long winter of bulky long clothes, it was a real pleasure to don the shorts on a lovely warm day yesterday.   A good turnout at Cobham provided 22 willing riders for the A ride, although Ray punctured almost immediately and decided to make his own way to lunch.  

Turning south to avoid the worst of the air pollution in the Midlands, we flagrantly flouted Dr. Kelly's rule with a biggish hill in both morning and afternoon.   Steady cycling via Effingham to White Down, and then back up through  Holmbury St. Mary, followed by the glorious descent to Forest Green.  The taste of polluted air was replaced by the scent of wild garlic, and ... other farmyard smells.  The route south to Walliswood was plain sailing and seemed more down than up; and a little loop via Rowhook took us to the Sussex Oak at Warnham, where we found another large party had arrived just before us.   Nonetheless good food was served reasonably promptly for most, and we enjoyed sitting outside with good company.   Janice and Mark had to leave us after lunch for afternoon appointments, so a round 20 of us made the return journey.

Returning via the level crossing at Warnham and Brookhurst Wood (well it sounds pictureque but doesn't mention the large landfill site, now being covered and landscaped).  Rolling countryside to Ockley and a little way up the A29 before turning onto Broomehall Road which took us up to Coldharbour for the run down to Dorking. A final detour took us along St Paul's Road and over the little green hill of Cotmandene, from where you could see all the way to, er, Dorking.  We arrived at Denbies around 4pm and several decided to head straight home, so a dozen of us stopped for tea and cake.

36 miles, 2700 ft of ascent, one puncture, and none lost.  A good day out and hopefully many more to come as summer approaches.   My thanks to Colin for doing a great job as back marker and keeping us all together.