Leading a ride involves a number of skills… but which exactly? I turned to a veteran leader for some advice and met up on a wet February morning in their favourite café. After a couple of hours of chit chat and mid-way through a generous slice of chocolate cake the advice came, “Keep them happy!” “You mean tell them jokes?” “No… (munch, munch…swallow…pause) know their minds…a rider is not just a pair of legs, arms, torso and a head stuck on top. Within each spheroid there is a unique universe; you need to make each and every spheroid align with each other but most importantly with yours (more munching followed by a swallow…the cake was no more).” At that point my companion rose “Gotta go…got some shopping to do.” I stared at my chomped vanilla and gooseberry tart (my favourite since childhood), but my appetite had gone. My mind had for as ever as I could recall been a jamboree of all sorts of odds and ends becoming ever more cluttered as the years passed with no discernible order. If I couldn’t even organize my own mental attic how was I going to, what was it…align it…with all the others’. (At this juncture in her proof-reading Sabina said I might have to get to the point because people might not want to read a whole book about my cake eating habits! And so dear reader I’ll skip forward fast to make some progress…)
By the morning of the ride I was confident. I had read the titles to various self help books (I have found that the title to most self help books is a good summary of its contents saving you the trouble of reading the book itself); ‘Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway’, ‘Think and Grow Rich’, ‘The Mountain is You’ and so many others. But above all I had purchased a yellow Tour de France Leader’s jersey for the occasion and my mind was in order with one aim…to get everyone to the end of the course. How hard could that be? And then I took in the throng of my fellow riders… each spheroid resting aloft shoulders containing a unique universe unto itself. Some smiled, others laughed, others chatted, others limbered up and so on. I had no idea what was going on in anyone’s mind…and with this realization any hope of aligning any mind with anyone else’s was fast fading.
This is where the benefit of having top rate co-leaders works wonders. It genuinely filled me with confidence and enormous gratitude that they were there in that room ready and willing to support me on this ride of mine. And with that the alignment began…I looked over at the veteran adviser who gave me the thumbs up. Everyone, including me, was there to have an enjoyable day out cycling…we were all…all of us…at one!
And so, the groups took off from Redhill Methodist Chapel’s café staffed by really nice people who made us so welcome. The sun was out, a chill in the air to add a bit of spike to our cycling and we made our way to the Surrey Hills. We pedaled along familiar roads which were like old friends; Trumpets Hill, The Street and Old Reigate Road to name a few. We had to ride along the busy A25 for a couple of miles or so but soon we were over into Pixham Lane and into Westhumble. It was all pleasantly flat until what I call ‘The Brute’ came upon us…no way of avoiding…more commonly known as Bagden Hill. This is a hill which you do well to walk up never mind cycle. On the plus side it was just before lunch and we soon arrived at the Vineries where we were all accommodated most warmly by the restaurant manager to whom I am most indebted, bearing in mind that this was already a really busy time for him being half term.
It was then a straight ride into Cobham where one or two riders peeled off and then finishing at The Old Moat in Horton Lane, which is always a great place to go being superbly staffed by volunteers and helping those with mental health issues…a really great cause.
Having volunteered to plan and lead this ride, it forced me to get to grips with RideWithGPS which is superb for planning rides and to link this up to my Garmin Explore 2 which is equally good. If anyone wants any help with either or both, I will be very happy to share my knowledge (which is not by any means comprehensive).
A very big thanks to my co-leaders, Julie and John A, to my back marker Steph and to my co-riders, Su F, Sabina, Terry, Keith and Mick A (who joined after lunch). Sabina recced this ride three times with me…advised about dangerous roads to avoid and partnered me to make this ride as best as could be. Three recees because the first was much too long and hilly, the second too short and the third which was the actual ride.
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