Ride Report B Group 1st May

 Francis begins with….

The promise of a warm and dry day (albeit with an afternoon threat of light rain) saw a bumper number of 31 cyclists at RBL Cobham for Elevenses, with birthday cake and coffee courtesy of Ken Day. Thank you Ken!

My first group left pretty bang on time at 10.35am heading through Great Bookham Common towards Chapel Lane, a short climb and descent, to Westhumble. Then it was time for the steady climb up “Little Switzerland” to Headley, followed gratefully by a steep and windy descent down Pebblehill road to Betchworth. Soon we arrived at The Surrey Oaks in Parkgate for a wonderful and sunny alfresco lunch and ale (for some at least).

With dark clouds gathering overhead and some distant thunder, we made a hasty exit and were soon riding at pace on familiar undulating roads through Norwood Hill and Leigh before arriving at “Charlie and Gingers” in Leatherhead, having only had a small rain shower on the way there. Somehow, the last group had miraculously beaten us to Pixham, even though some of them were still waiting for their food orders when we left the pub (see Tim G’s subtle explanation below)

Steph, astute as ever, noticed there were rather a lot of roads we rode on with the word “hill” in it – Juniper Hill, Bagden Hill, Pebblehill road, Snowerhill road, Stan Hill, Norwood Hill, Smalls Hill road, Trumpets Hill road, Gimrack Hill and I hadn’t even noticed, honest Gov !

My back-marker Diane was superb, especially at herding one or two stray riders back to the group.

A big thank you to John A and Tim G for their sterling co-leading and their back-markers for supporting them.

 

John A continues with ….

 The second group set off into the glorious Surrey Hills. Personally, I was spoilt by the route that Francis put together because I particularly like the area around Dorking and this week we criss-crossed quite a few roads to the north and east of the town.

In fact on three occasions, part of our route was covered both in the morning and the afternoon, a bit tricky on an e-map, if the subby has not done a recce and the blue line shows a double arrow!

Thank you to one and all for your company and to Bernard for back marking.

And Tim G ends with ….

 A large number of B group riders gathered at Cobham RBL to enjoy 11’s and celebrate Ken D’s birthday. Happy birthday Ken !

Our group of ten cyclists left promptly at 11.05am and made our way via Downside and Great Bookham towards our first climb up Chapel Lane towards Westhumble. We also welcomed Karl who was riding with us for the first time. The second (more challenging) climb up Juniper Hill was met with surprising vigour as everyone overtook the leader who was left gently pedalling with the back marker. 

 

A controlled decent down Pebble Hill Road took us via Betchworth and Dawesgreen to our lunchtime destination at the Surrey Oaks’ at Parkgate. Everyone opted to enjoy an alfresco lunch in the beer garden although the delivery of some food orders was rather slow. 

 

Given that we were running behind schedule and with the prospect of gathering storm clouds we decided to curtail our afternoon ride and head straight up to Brockham. Paul J was also struggling with a leaky tyre valve and thought it wise to get the train home from Dorking. 

 

It came as some surprise to the other two groups to find that we were ahead of them as we approached Westhumble without ever passing by them on the way. The combined company finally descended on ‘Charlie and Gingers’ for tea and cakes and to reflect on the day’s proceedings. 

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed towards making today’s ride an enjoyable experience. Very much appreciated.