A Group Ride from Cobham, 1st July.

The start of our route took us through Effingham, up to Ranmore, down Whitedown and up to Abinger Common. The Bs had the same idea - with some late changes. Tim Court had warned them that each of their groups might be overtaken by elite squads of A Group riders. Was it just meticulous route planning, carefully staggered departure times or pure luck that the 8 combined groups of As and Bs avoided each other on much of the same the roads? You know the answer!

We assembled 4 groups of 18. (Hans was stung at being inadvertently omitted from his normal place in the fast group: apparently he had a 'bee-in-his bonnet' about it later!). See Dave Bs report below.

We welcomed Lena, guesting from Kingston Phoenix, Steve Wiltshire, and also John Bassett, who joined us for elevenses.

First away was Brian.

Having stood in at the last minute I was leader of a mini group of 3 with just David 

and Jennie. We left promptly though progress was briefly halted at St. Theresa's 

when I realised that the niggling rattle was not the usual front mudguard but one of my 

bottle cages working its way towards unscheduled departure. After Whitedown we 

came across the Road Closed sign in Raikes Lane and quickly discovered a truck 

filling most of the road with two unwelcoming workmen unhappy about us continuing. 

After messages sent to the following groups we rerouted along the A25 and Hollow 

Lane to pick up the route at Abinger. We were caught in a couple of brief but heavy 

showers which cleared by Peaslake so we didn't have to sweat it out in jackets up 

Pitch Hill. A delightful run across Winterfold and down Shophouse Lane led us to 

lunch at Albury. A rare visit to Guildford Road and the path to Newlands Corner 

finished with the hills and we then had a fast run up the A246 to Effingham and 

back to Cobham. 

Next came Dave Ferrett on his first lead ride. (Report to follow).

Ged's Group

We'd just left the Medicine Garden when alerted to the impasse at Raikes Lane, but 

welcomed the smooth road surface up Hollow Lane to Abinger Common. Mike 

collected his modest picnic hamper - a sandwich, at the Peaslake General Stores, 

and we then swapped positions with Dave F's group before lunch. Monty's plinth, 

commemorating his address to Canadian troops was found amongst the bushes at 

the cricket ground, (opportune, being Canada Day, as pointed out by Patrick). Our 

route into Effingham was via the 'Ray Dare' path from E. Horsey, expertly navigated

by Simon. Thanks to Mike for back marking.

Dave Bartholomew's Report.

As the 4th and final one of Ged’s sub-groups, we left the Medicine Garden just after our scheduled start time of 11.10am and were looking forward to getting on our way. We had gone no further than a few hundred yards before we created the rarest of cycling headlines…..”Peloton halted by bee”…..ask Hans for details when you next see him !!!!. It’s not known if the bee suffered any injury !!!

After the climb and descent of Whitedown, we tried to go through the closed road of Raikes Lane but were advised not to by the workmen as they had just laid new tarmac, so we took the diversion via Hollow Lane to come back on to the original route at Abinger Common. The rest of the morning ride passed without incident and we arrived at the lunch spot with all other groups still there, which certainly had not happened for the groups that I was in on the previous couple of COVID-era rides……it was nice to see everyone, (socially-distanced of course), if only for a short while, before the separate groups began to make their way off again for the afternoon return to Cobham.

One more “nasty” after lunch…..Guildford Lane (St. Martha’s Hill)…..short but oh-so-steep !. Then it was a good, fast run down from Newlands, along the A246 and across Bookham Common and we were back in Cobham before 3pm for tea. A really good ride, enjoyed by all in my group, and the smaller groups certainly keep things moving along at a decent pace. Well thought out and planned by Ged. Thanks to Hans for back-marking.

Thanks to all for joining me on this hilly outing. An enjoyable day - despite the wet finish home.