B RIDE REPORT - Weds 6 August 2025

Perfect weather for a cycle and a great route lined up for the 18 riders signed up! Not a day to wake feeling decidedly unwell and hoping it will pass after a cup of tea! It didn't, so, after some early morning rearrangements, I had to pass the reigns over to our two sub leaders and to Dave F who stepped up as third leader. It was his route we were due to follow so who better? Thanks Dave! Thanks Paula and Christina!  Gill 

Here are the reports…. 

DAVE

I was keen to join  Gill’s ride which borrowed a route I had led  month ago, when poor visibility obscured the several delightful  views that I had advertised.
It would also be nice to be a passenger rather than a leader. However when Gill contacted me early Wednesday to announce she was unable to ride, I happily agreed to sub lead a group, with Paula taking Gill’s. So our compact residual  group including Fixie, Francis, Neil W and urban Pete ( not to be confused with the suburban variety), set off punctually. We decided we probably did not need a back marker.  We made a great few hundred yards before we had to stop to help solve a potential lost keys problem with a rider in another group, but thankfully the problem was resolved without much of a delay. 
It was well trodden lanes to East Horseley before the first of 3 major climbs up Chalk Lane and GreenDene. We then switched onto the less frequent section. This included gentle decent along North Downs way to Newlands corner and other bridleways to seldom visited Pewley Down. We were then on fast tarmac all the way to lunch, apart from an eye bulging ascent of Farncombe  hill to Charterhouse school, the Genesis of Genesis. From there we were in lovely shady lanes , and after a final more gently hill we arrived at lunch. Thanks to the preorder system service was incredibly efficient but certain riders weren’t impressed with the garlic chips. The landlady apologised and remarked next time say you don’t want them seasoned, but it might have been an idea to mention they were serving garlic chips on the menu. The pm route equidistant but much faster in nature. The last grunt up to the footpath to the hogs back was followed by a long fast decent before a bit more off-road along the Christmas pie trail. It was then more familiar territory back to Cobham. Many thanks to my group for being great company  and cheerfully maintaining a slightly brisker B group pace. Big thanks to Gill for all the hard work in organising, but not benefitting from it.

PAULA

The day started badly with a text from Gill to say she was poorly and gutted that she wouldn’t make the ride. Some quick thinking and a few texts switched Paula (who was leading the first and faster group) to lead the second group, and Dave F (whose route Gill had stolen 😂 but needed to be home early) filled in to lead the first group. 

So Nigel, Brenda, Jane, Alan, John, Julie (trusty back marker) and I set off on schedule but were fairly quickly caught up by Christina’s group. We stayed ahead until their slight error and arrived at the pub for a delicious and speedy lunch. Some of the group might have used one of those words to describe their leader 🤭 but we didn’t loose anyone and the sun shone ☀️ so the day ended well and I’m pleased to say Gill is on the mend 😊
Paula

CHRISTINA

Gill H choose a great route for our ride from Cobham on 6 August. The route was followed on 2 July for A/B ride, designed by Dave F with 2/3 sections of off road both before and after lunch. My Garmin Connect informed me that 12% was off road and 88% on road for yesterday's ride.

Dave F reminded me at the 11s what a glorious day it was becoming with sunshine throughout the day and ideal low 20s Celsius temperature. Indeed it was fantastic weather throughout the day.

My group consists of Tim G, Mick A, Terry, Mags and Grant. 

Thanks to Tim G for being a reliable back marker, he is always leading, subleading or back marking. He is good at navigating too. 

It was my 3rd time riding this route, buoyed by the good weather, an effective "training ride" at Richmond Park the previous day, and a "pacy" lead ride to 11s on the day, I was leading at a fairly "speedy' pace, only to be slowed down by navigational mishap nearer to lunch.

Terry left us at Green Dene due to knee pain, he never intended to go the whole way to lunch in the 1st place. Hope you enjoyed the 11s and got back home safely.

Lunch was served efficiently with good grubs and drinks in the pub garden.

Mags left us at Wood Green Lane to ride to Guildford station for home.

We made our way back to Cobham around 4.30pm for tea.

I would like to think everyone in my group enjoyed a challenging ride in the sunshine.