Before Denbies we turned right between the big stone posts at the beginning of this section of the North Downs Way which starts out as a nicely paved cycle way but soon degenerates into a rougher and steeper path. After the hard bit the path meets the paved route up from Denbies which Mick chose to explore, arriving at the intersection at the same time as the rest of us. We had to get off the route to let the Denbies ‘train’ pass and, thanks to all the gates being wide open, we soon arrived at the top of Ranmore Common Road to find A Group catching their breath.
We fast forwarded along the top of Ranmore Common Road and whizzed down the White Downs road until just past the bridge over the railway line. Then we turned West onto Route 22 through the Abinger Roughs, apparently passing close to a Memorial to the Bishop of Winchester who was thrown off his horse in 1873 and died from the accident.
Our route led on through the Broomy Downs to emerge on to Hackhurst Lane for a quick descent to Abinger Hammer. We endured about 100 metres of the A25 before escaping into Felday Road then Horsham Road for nearly twenty minutes of easy and scenic touring to reach the Royal Oak at Holmbury St Mary. Peter C had missed my warning on the blog concerning the terrain and had found his own on-road route to lunch on his trusty red Peugeot and was waiting for us when we arrived. The pub now has new owners and has been spruced up. The new proprietor is Sue who some will know from the Crown in Capel. They reopened just a couple of weeks ago and, forewarned that we would be coming, she took on a brace of Traceys to help prepare and deliver our orders. With a couple of exceptions we were served very quickly. The food was good and I am happy to recommend the pub for future visits.
After lunch we turned into Pasture Wood Road which has a very steep section for about half a mile. This wasn’t at all welcome so soon after lunch but it brought us to Abinger Common and the pleasure of zooming quite quickly down Hollow Lane until the A25. Here we negotiated some 0.03 of a mile of this often busy road, regrouping on the bus stop before turning up West Lane towards Deerleap Wood, riding through the trees until we reached the point where we had turned onto Route 22 earlier in the day. Knowing that a ride up White Down would be unpopular we turned East onto a rather narrow section of Route 22 until Park Farm when the route becomes a fairly respectable access road for the farm and a few other residents.
We eventually reached Balchins Lane and turned off onto the cycle path towards Milton Court and Dorking. Here word reached the front that Toni Zoella had punctured and was being assisted by Terry and Brian. However they were happy for us to proceed to Tea while they dealt with the puncture. While we carried on to Bike Beans in Ashtead they decided to take Tea at Pilgrim Cycles in Westhumble.
Unfortunately I lost several people in Leatherhead, for which, humble apologies. A good number of us did arrive at Bike Beans for Tea however, although with last orders at 4:30 we had to get our orders in quickly. We also had to share the café with A Group who had arrived ahead of us and were ensconced in front of the telly watching the Tour de France.
Thanks to Terry for being back-marker and thank you everyone for the spirit in which you rode the rough stuff. Despite the intermittent rain, and the somewhat careless leadership through Leatherhead, it sounded as if everyone had a pretty good day.
~ Tim
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| We all stop so that Toni d'Italia can assess the weather |
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| Ray looks bewildered after the Big Bike Beans Bird swoops down and eats his scone |
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