Lost and found; report on B Group to East Grinstead 28 September

 

John Austin

 

Thank you and well done to everyone who joined our ride into Sussex.

I am sure we were all pleased that Agnes did not join us and enjoyed the almost balmy conditions. Some steep hills at the start of both the morning and afternoon rides but a good mileage for everyone, especially those who had to ride quite a long way even to get to Redhill. Thank you in particular to Paul and Tim G for sub leading.

In the second group out – thank you for your pleasant company and especially to Diane for back-marking, it is so reassuring for the leader to be able to hear the occasional ‘car behind’ or to look round and pick out the backmarker and know that we are all still together. A democratic decision took us via the Pixham flag back to Leatherhead rather than Dorking and we managed to survive a slow puncture.

Tim Gibbons

 

Despite the forecast of stormy weather in the west we enjoyed a bright start and fair conditions throughout the day. Our group welcomed Paul and Justine, two relatively new riders, who joined us for today’s escapade. 

 

The morning ride proceeded very smoothly as we headed south east, making a customary photo stop outside Outwood Windmill. Built in 1665 by Thomas Budgen, a miller from Nuffield in Surrey, it is Britain's oldest working windmill. Once having navigated East Grinstead’s town centre we arrived on time at ‘The Old Dunnings Mill’ for a welcome lunch. Service was prompt and efficient as we enjoyed a comfortable location outside and under cover. Our fellow riders soon arrived and before long the whole company was assembled. The morning mission accomplished without a hitch. 

 

The afternoon ride proved not to turn out not as expected. On leaving the pub and turning right we headed uphill but for some unknown reason Mick and Bob turned left and headed off to ‘who knows where’ and were deemed to be lost. Fortunately Mick’s skills of navigation were such that they were able to make their own way, independently, to our final destination. 

 

As we approached Horley Pete B suggested a few adjustments to the route to avoid busy traffic so our roles were reversed and I became back marker. Inevitably the pace increased as Pete rapidly led us through Horley and over the A217 to more scenic terrain. As Pete’s silhouette diminished and became more distant we managed to lose Martin who missed a left turn somewhere around the Wray area. Now down to four we took a brisk ride via Norwood Hill, Leigh and lanes south of Brockham to finally ascend Punchbowl Lane. Despite significant roadworks we were given permission to pass and drop down to Dorking for tea at the ‘Old Clunker Cafe’. 

 

Such was the determination of our lost souls that miraculously Mick, Bob and Martin managed to join us shortly after our arrival. All’s well that ends well !

 

Paul James

Despite the proximity of a hostile weather system we had a late September day almost perfect for cycling.  Perfection would have required a lessening of the stiffening breeze which, like all breezes, blew sometimes as a headwind and sometimes as a side wind strong enough to make the bike wobble but never perceptibly as a tail wind.

Due to a history of complaints I had over-egged my briefing about the hills so that my group would be pleasantly surprised at their brevity and inclination, and this worked well enough for the A25 climb out of Redhill.  Thereafter the outward journey went well; we had a couple of rehydration stops before we climbed out of Lingfield, we negotiated the slight awkwardness of the cycling-unfriendly A22 through East Grinstead and I stayed far enough ahead on the sinusoidal suburban thoroughfares of East Grinstead that complaints would not have reached my ears.

Lunch was pleasant enough for most of us, though one of our number got the wrong macaroni cheese and was accused of causing the problem herself.  This left two of us having seconds; Chris eagerly wolfing the wrong mac cheese and yours truly finishing off the right one when it proved a little too much for the original owner.

Our afternoon went remarkably well; the rain stayed off, we had no punctures and we lost no-one, though one of our number did get so far ahead on the hills that we wondered.  Once we reached Turners Hill village, three miles and a bit out of East Grinstead, the glimpse of the Surrey Plain and Box Hill told us that all our serious climbing was done and we only had twenty miles to tea.

Tea was planned for Dorking but as we pedalled with tiring legs into Brockham we were hailed by A- Groupers, lounging outside the tea shop at Strood Green and recommending the Victoria Sandwich.  Most were in no mood to go the extra miles to the Old Clunker Café, pleasant a place as that is.  We split outside Denbies, those who had conserved their energy like wise virgins cycling home, some as far as Mitcham, those who had been sprinting up the hills taking the train from Dorking.

 

In the end it was not the hills testing the thighs so much as the undulations testing the calves, and the wrists, and the bums.  But that is cycling, is it not?  A splendid day out; thank you John.