Karen writes
Ultimately,
eleven hardy souls braved the blisteringly hot conditions for the long, hilly
ride to West Horsley. Paul kindly
stepped in at short notice to lead the first group, setting off with such
promptitude and commitment that he got lost somewhere in East Ewell (but he's
not really sure). Paul’s report follows
- if he's still talking to me!
This left me at
Nonsuch waiting for my (now much reduced) group: Anna, Roger and Ken. We had a more leisurely departure, our route
taking us towards Epsom Downs via Longdown Lane, thereafter enjoying a cooling
breeze as we headed towards Tadworth. We
arrived at Walton on the Hill elevenses to find Paul's group still very much
glued to their seats. After some gentle
persuasion (and hovering) they finally gave up their table and departed for Box
Hill.
We followed soon
after, fighting our way through what seemed to be lunchtime rush hour in Walton
on the Hill. We enjoyed the benefit of
shade en route to Box Hill and a pleasant sunny zig zag downhill before heading
towards Denbies Vineyard for what was anticipated to be the most challenging
section, especially in the intense heat.
It was with some relief (and not a little exhaustion) when we reached
the flatter section of the North Downs Way, but we still had quite a lengthy
undulating section to cover, followed by an extended, steep downhill before we
reached East Horsley.
I can happily
report that our brakes were found to be in good working order and we all
reached the bottom of the hill safely, albeit somewhat tested by the some of
the drivers following behind (this is usually a fairly traffic-free section!)
Unfortunately,
we then had to follow a busy main road towards West Horsley for lunch, by which
time most of Paul's group had received their orders. So we were served quite promptly, and happily
the venue was able to offer lite bite options (a dying breed!)
Thereafter, it
was only a short hop to Cafe Barbera at Cobham.
Apart from a minor pannier malfunction on Anna's bike, we enjoyed a
pleasant ride via Downside. Paul's group
set off well in advance but again expressed some reluctance to give up their
position at the outside tables when we arrived.
Following some hovering (it worked earlier) and some not so gentle
persuasion, they departed for Ashtead.
After some
quality coffee, we enjoyed an uneventful homeward journey to Nonsuch Park,
parting company in Cheam Village. Thanks
again to Paul for stepping into the breach to lead the first (and by all
accounts faster!) group.
Paul’s version
of the truth.
Well, it was
certainly warm, and though the Denbies route up to Ranmore Common might have
been the obvious big test for Beginners, the route up to Tattenham Corner from Nonsuch
is also a fair old grind and the switchback to and then through Tadworth is
only a relatively easy ride if the traffic and your fellow riders leave you the
space to gain maximum momentum on the downhills.
For the leader,
this is no real problem, but the result is that if he gets carried away he begins
to stretch out the group. This leader
was invited to face his shortcomings at Walton and made a great effort to ride
inside Colin’s recommended average for Beginners (8 mph) thereafter. His Strava provides evidence that he
failed. We averaged 16.2 Km/h over an 80 Km
ride (my door to door) which included 730 metres of climbing, which is pretty
good going by Beginners standards. Well
done everybody! And, there were no
complaints within my earshot going up Ranmore.
The Zigzag and
Crocknorth descents cooled us down but it was not a day for Audax, but for
loitering in coffee shops and pubs and every time we got into that groove up
turned some impostors to turf us out of our seats.
Thanks to Karen
for doing all the hard work; it was a lovely ride.
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