All Day Ride to Newdigate 11th October

 

All Day Ride to Newdigate, by Karen

 

One of my favourite routes, if not THE favourite, although I still remain unconvinced of the appeal of Pebblecombe…..

 

Steve kindly agreed to lead the faster (and farther) group, first out of the blocks, accompanied by Pablo, Justine, Vanda and Connell. Steve's plan was to crack on to Brockham for coffee.

 

Anne and John led the second group of Lorraine, Jacqui and (from Walton on the Hill), Dawn.  I followed shortly thereafter with Ken, Sue, Domenika, Maggie and Paul.  It was Domenika's first all day ride and she was having some difficulty with her gears initially - thanks to Maggie and Paul for helping out and leading an alternative easier option to Tadworth,  rejoining the rest of our group just before the coffee stop.

 

The advance party at Walton was already tucking in when we arrived. Dawn had already eaten her cooked breakfast and was chomping at the bit.  We managed to distract her with a couple of well-placed cute dogs for a while.

 

We enjoyed the advantage of small groups, not becoming too strung out, and Paul was on hand in my case to keep me apprised (unless there was an appealing steep downhill when it was every man for himself!)

 

Steve's group was enjoying the ride so much, a decision was made to have lunch at Tan House Farm, while the rest of us met at The Surrey Oaks. It was just starting to brighten up so my group opted to eat in the beer garden.

"Yes, we have no bananas"....... No traffic incident on the return leg this year, but we did happen upon a lone cyclist struggling to release his wheel. Paul was able to assist with an allen key set and commenced a deep search of his saddle bag, to find...... a week's supply of bananas! The bananas weren't any help, but eventually the key set was located and the wheel duly released.  Once the groceries were fastidiously re-packed, we were again on our way. 

 

Happily,  the roadworks leading to Old School Lane had cleared, so we managed to avoid the part-gravelled bridleway route. Instead we were greeted by a delightful herd of cows heading in for milking.

 

Domenika was enjoying the ride so much, she declined the offer to peel off at Dorking.  So we cracked on towards Leatherhead where we met Anne and John's group as they were finishing their cake at Lucio's.  I received an update from Steve that they'd decided to take a shortcut home via Box Hill!

 

Anne reported later that she had a lovely day and a great group.  I echo that, and I should also report that no bananas were hurt during the course of this ride, except possibly some slight bruising.