B Group to Holmbury St Mary - 31st March

Thank you to the 13 riders who joined the three leaders for the first group ride of 2021, a bit strange making that statement on the last day of March!

Very pleasant warm spring weather in the beautiful Surrey Hills and with more rides to look forward to. A new coffee stop was used in Holmbury St Mary and that worked well for our small groups.

 

Thank you Tim G and Tim C for sub leading.

~ John A

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Our group was the last to leave Great Bookham and we were on the road at 11:15.

Fortunately, for the terrain which John had prescribed, our team was in good enough shape to tackle the Surrey Hills but after White Down and only a small number of miles we were pleased to pull into the Heartwork Coffee Bar for a cuppa, catching a glimpse of Tim Gibbons' group heading out along Pasture Wood Road as we arrived. This is a very popular place, thanks I suspect to the excellent coffee, and there were a number of other cyclists, walkers, and local people coming and going, all giving the place quite a buzz. To be Covid compliant there was an absence of furniture but some of us managed to improvise in order to enjoy our sandwiches and coffee. The absence of loos was addressed a little way up the road afterwards.

After the sharp little undulations of Pasture Wood Road we took Balchins Lane and Route 22 towards Dorking. When we reached the Llamas corner we decided to investigate the horrible noises coming from Christina's brakes and discovered that her brake blocks were totally worn out, down to the metal. And she realised that her tyre was deflating. After replacing her tube, something she is getting very good at, she agreed that we should call in to Westhumble Cycles for some replacement brake blocks which Dave at the shop installed for her, despite being very busy. He noticed that the bracket on the mudguard under the fork crown had detached so we decided that it would be safer to leave the mudguard behind.

 

We dispersed, Brenda headed for home, Christina and I were ahead of Tony and Grant as we headed up Headley Lane and I learnt from Tony this morning that Grant's chain had broken, causing him to fall off near Juniper Hall. Fortunately Grant had the tools and a spare link to reconstruct the chain and eventually made it home via Leatherhead.

Thinking back at my own recent problem, discovering as I rolled into Cobham for coffee on Saturday that my left foot was locked on the pedal, caused by the cleat on my shoe not being screwed in tightly, it dawned on me that at the beginning of this new cycling season we should be double-checking our bikes for all the usual causes of grief, worn brake blocks, badly adjusted brakes, stretched chains, poorly adjusted derailleurs, worn tyres, wheels out of true or with badly worn rims.

Thanks to John for having the audacity to take us into the Surrey Hills on our first ride and for planning the stop at the café in the trees near Holmbury, a new one for me and many others. Thanks too to my team, Brenda, Christina, Tony and Grant, for your good company.

~ Tim