B Group - 5th August

Twenty riders signed up for the B Group Hilly 40 (km), which dispels the myth that B Group do not do hills. 

The weather was perfect, not too hot for climbing and dry roads for descending. We split into 4 groups led by Pete, Ken, Terry and Tim. 

The route took us from Cobham along Plough Lane through Ockham to West Horsley where we climbed up to Combe Lane via Shere Road. I like using this route to Shere as it is still relatively traffic free although it does have a couple of short steep sections.

Nobody opted to ride the ford at Shere even though the water depth was way down. From Shere to Peaslake and then up again on Radnor Road climbing Holmbury Hill mostly on a moderate gradient after the first steep section . The road was peaceful on Wednesday but at weekends it is a mountain biking hot spot, although I am informed that the trails are quite technical so I have not tried them. I think the climb takes us high in the Surrey Hills but as the route is wooded you do not get any vistas.

A long drop to lunch at Forest Green enhanced by the closed road sign. The Parrot Pub seemed to cope well and I think everybody got served in reasonable time. Mark Gladwyn left us after lunch to go South and find a few more hills

From lunch we went up to Leith Hill via Tanhurst Lane which is another quiet route, but admittedly it does have a couple of leg benders particularly immediately after lunch. We stopped at the top by the entrance to Tanhurst Manor for a group picture and to admire the fantastic view. Rumour has it that Dave Fixey had to walk a section!

Photo by Tony Hooker

Then a short ride to tea. I always find the undulations through Coldharbour harder than the climb up, but once through the village I think the the drop to Dorking is one of Surrey's best descents. Our route took us over Cotmandene Common to Denbies where afternoon tea was welcome.

Thanks to all the riders and especially to the group leaders.

Ken

PS Next year we can make this ride into a Hilly 50 by continuing to tea at Cobham via Chapel Lane.

_________________

Tim thinks, Oh no! not the dreaded Chapel Lane!

Tim writes:

We rode into a strong breeze as far as West Horsley but once across the A246 and into the hills and the woods we were not troubled further.

Though not everyone appreciates this sort of advice I had been fairly frank with the team about the severity of the hills we would encounter today. Fortunately for them and for myself I hadn’t done a recce so was blissfully ignorant about several of the steep bits in between the main events which therefore managed to surprise us. First up was Shere Road which I remembered as the one climbing to Combe Lane which I try to avoid if I’m feeling kind. However it is a beautiful route and one which invites us to tackle it every now and again.

We stopped in Shere for the joys of the open toilets then ascended Sandy Lane. Lovely lanes through to Peaslake then the next big one, Radnor Road with its strong scent of warm pine trees, to a lofty altitude of 750 feet before zooming down to Ockley Road and across to The Parrot on Forest Green.

It was a great day to be sitting outside The Parrot. Most of us had brought sandwiches but in fact we could have dined very well from their menu. They have only just reopened and staff were working hard to resume running their very good pub despite all the current complications. In recent years it has become a Price and Brunning establishment and has enjoyed a considerable investment in its refurbishment. We were very pleased to Help Out by Eating Out there.

Just as we trundled away from The Parrot Brenda announced that she had a flat rear tyre. We didn’t find the cause but changed her tube anyway though the very tight fitting Gatorskins on Bontrager rims were a big challenge for us.

We tackled Tanhurst Lane in full knowledge of what was coming. I always find it hard and sometimes imagine that a climb like that may one day turn out to be the prologue to my eventual ascent into the firmament. But today, with much huffing and puffing we got ourselves to the summit and looked about us to see that we were all present and still astride our bicycles with all the clouds safely way above us.

The lane is so beautiful when the sun is shining its dappled light onto the road and the tree lined banks, but I dared not stop to take photos. Near the top we were overtaken by a younger and more athletic cyclist who didn’t seem even slightly out of breath. He’d already done two or three of the local climbs and was about to drop down to tackle a couple more in what we realised was a version of the Octopus route on which Mark led our A Group in 2016. As this chap was the only person present capable of holding a camera still I asked him if he’d take a photo of us before he headed towards Coldharbour for the next

descent of his hilly itinerary.

When the road levelled out after Coldharbour I took a phone call from Dave Cullen giving us the welcome news that The Hatch at Denbies would be serving refreshments until 5pm. After the descent and navigating Terry’s Tiki-Tour route through Cotmandene we arrived in plenty of time to sit in the sun to enjoy our well-deserved afternoon tea.

Thanks to Ken for planning this ride. Thank you to our small but wonderful team (Steph, Gill H, Jacqui and Brenda) for being up for this hilly challenge, being such good company and remaining in good spirits throughout. Thanks to Steph for keeping the peloton together and for chasing us up to each of the summits. I think that everyone clocked up more than 3000 feet of elevation gain. Chapeau!

~ Tim