9 March - A Group in search of Mr Blue Sky.

The forecast for Wednesday had not been good for at least a week. Apologies for absence arrived by email and text while many just left the country to find sunnier climes. Plan A of a trip to Dormansland was shelved and Plan B of a trip to Oxted was recce'd but Plan C (a train ride to Redhill to announce abandonment) was also considered.

Come the day, despite a very wet night, I left home without rain although a  headwind slowed my ride to Redhill. I arrived to find a group of valiant riders keen to take on the weather. Shortly after 11.00 seven of us got ready to leave just as John arrived to keep the numbers even.

Heading southeast we passed to the east of Redhill Aerodrome, over the M23 and on to Outwood. By now the rain was beginning to fall and I was riding like a meercat, looking out for the small areas of blue (or at least less grey) sky and heading in that direction.

This approach was not as successful as we would have liked and by the time we got to Horne it was raining heavily and I decided to turn for Horley and the protection of The Jack Fairman. However the rain soon abated and we turned south along Downlands Lane and Effingham Lane to pass Copthorne Prep School.

The smells from the kitchen extractor fans reminded us of lunch so we passed through Copthorne and Shipley Bridge to arrive at The Jack Fairman just before one.

All morning many of the lanes had been more like streams and many of the fields more like lakes. We had had to avoid lots of detritus and gravel on the roads and pass through flooded roads but arrived safely for lunch.

After lunch Simon, who was suffering from non-cycling pains, went in search of painkillers before heading for the station. The rest of us headed off for another session of shower dodging and fording.

After Meath Green and Hookwood we got held up by a traffic jam caused by fracking protesters trying to prevent an artic getting to a site on Horse Hill. After a short delay we managed to pass the traffic with cheers from protesters. We passed through Norwood Hill and Parkgate before heading north to Bunce Common, Roothill and Punchbowl Lane.

As we reached Denbies it was still raining so six of us went for tea while it all blew over. An hour later we all left for home in much better weather.

Thanks to Ken, Simon, Brian, John, Andy, Steve and Hans for a good day out despite the conditions.

About 30 miles from 11s to tea. Sorry no photos this week.