The second of September, as everyone knows, is the first day of meteorological summer and who could deny Beginners the right to enjoy the warmth along with everyone else?
A good crowd turned up at Nonsuch Mansion on Saturday and Nigel kindly swapped rides with me so I took the "short" ride to Epsom Downs and he took the "long" one to Merton Abbey Mills. The inverted commas denote that nobody could be sure which was the shorter. We could all be clear, however, which was the flatter and thus only ten souls joined me when, weary of the incessant rabbiting, I announced the ride and wandered slowly off towards the edge of the park. In Beginners circles it is called "doing a Steve".
I did nothing to lower the average age of my group, a fact cruelly driven home when at the bottom of Chalk Lane I invited those of energetic bent to overtake their leader on the hill if they wanted. Mine was the ante-penultimate arrival at the top.
Such was youth's eagerness for hills that I took the roller-coaster Shawley Way route to Nork Park, where we had refreshments at The Lodge, a place I had passed on many a tired Wednesday return home but never sampled. What an excellent find; cakes and savouries and drinks in the sunshine overlooking Burgh Heath CC's cricket match. How summery can you get; leather on willow and the shouts of appeal as the wickets fell, by now warm sunshine, a wasp......
So keen were the youths to continue the excitement of climbing that while seven of us went home via Banstead High Street and Sutton Lane, they turned South West to go Boxhilling. Ah, the joys of summer!
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