Migration of the overheated; Nonsuch short ride to Banstead, 1 August

The earth was dust, the trees were parched and though there was temporary respite from the searing temperatures a huge crowd had gathered near where the famous lavishly decorated palace of Nonsuch once stood.  They had no clear plans for where they were going; they just needed to escape the inferno and find somewhere where there was coolness and shade and where water was in abundance and fruit trees grew green.

We split them, the lost ones, into two crowds.  Steve took one crowd west to see whether the Stoke d'Abernon Oasis had not dried up.  I went for the mountains at Banstead to find coolness and solace at altitude.  A large crowd joined me, men women and children, and as we set out we found two more wandering the arid, yellow savanah, to join our migration.

Up we climbed, but there were no clouds to climb through.  Higher we went but there is no longer snow on the peak of Mount Banstead.  We found sustenance (at a price) but our search for an alternative land in which to live, a land that mankind has not messed up, of varied weather where sometimes there is drizzle and cool winds, a land where you occasionally need a hot sausage roll and a hotter cup of tea, was in vain.  And anyway the authorities in Reigate and Banstead might have called in the Army and had us escorted back to Sutton; migrants from the lowlands are not necessarily welcome.  

So down we came again, tired and desiccated, to try another day.  Perhaps world leaders will have stopped making war on one another and will have joined together to reverse global warming.  Or even just admitted that it exists.  Perhaps there will be snow and coolness in Caterham.  Perhaps we will, after all, have to organise that All Day ride to Iceland (the country, not the shop).  

On Banstead Common.  Karen (back marking), Joe, Tony, Beau, Mike, Roland (hiding), Marianne, Tom, Paul B, Katy, Anna, Kasumi, Roger, John.

Same group, different order, with a leader at Parklife, Banstead

Actually it was a big crowd on Saturday; I led twelve away from the Mansion and John and Kasumi, who had a mechanical and arrived late, joined us as we were leaving the park.  My son Thomas and his wife Katy came along as did Karen's friend Marianne.  New to us were Joe and son Beau, who was young to be coming out with us but behaved better on the road than do some adults and proved fully capable of keeping up.  

We had an enjoyable ride with regular drink stops and there was only one truly mad driver (of a single decker bus).  We had a pleasant coffee stop at Parklife in Banstead and split up going home, Roland taking the Cheam folk over Banstead Heath and me taking the Sutton and Wallington lot down the hill past the Royal Marsden.  Thanks to Karen for back marking and for everyone else for your company.