Solo Ride

Today, I took my 'exercise' as a local loop ride.  It was a lovely day to be out, and I'd have liked to have gone further, but there we are.  Lucky to be out at all.

I went up through the Oaks Park (very useful cycleway there now), over past Woodmansterne, over the top and down Markedge Lane past where Fanny's used to be, then across to Rockshaw Lane and Spring Bottom Lane. This brought me to the gravel track that leads across the face of Gravelly Hill to the North Downs Way at the top.

Conditions were very good, but I was surprised to find that the grassy viewpoint at the top was quite busy, with many families taking advantage of the sunshine.  I dodged away from the happy throng pretty quickly,  along War Coppice Lane and Pilgrims Lane to open country beyond.

Very good going here, with the patch that is often wet, even in Summer, having good dry strips along the side making riding very straightforward.  The combination of sun and wind has dried things out very nicely over the last few days, despite a very wet Winter.

There's a new chalk track at Tollsworth Manor, of good width to allow large farm implements to get around, then the old farm track back to the road.  

Past the church at Chaldon, over Farthing Downs, down to Coulsdon and back home over the hill.

A decent little ride and good exercise in the sunshine.  A lot of people were doing the same; walking, cycling or horse-riding.  Everyone seemed pretty cheerful, but the Social Distancing rules were carefully observed, which is the best we can do, in the circumstances.

Mark

Author: Mark G

1 Comment:

Dave F 27 March 2020 at 14:02 GMT

Thanks Mark, you raise an interesting conundrum, which you have considered.
What length of time for a daily exercise such as cycling is consistent with the core message of "Stay at Home".
Watching the news coverage over the last 24 hrs about what is considered "non essential" - such as visiting beauty spots and walking in splendid isolation in the hills and policemen clearing public spaces proclaiming it is a lockdown not a holiday, there are clearly many different interpretations (individual moral compasses) about what one form of daily exercise a day means in practice. Is it to pop out briefly for half an hour or so or license to do a much longer activity in the open air provided we avoid others?
People are currently behaving at both ends of this spectrum believing that are complying with the current advice.
My own interpretation is similar to yours in that a degree of moderation is currently the order of the day. Lets enjoy our reasonable exercise breaks whilst they remain available.