Report for B Group ride to Ockley, 3rd September

10:40 Pete B writes:

I had the task of leading the 1st group out at 10.40hrs and to my surprise the group was all female. Crumbs I thought, I’m going to have to be on my best behaviour and no rude remarks!!😂😂 

Anyway we all had a very enjoyable ride up Staple Lane and into Shere (ignoring all the road closure signs) and onto Peaslake whereupon we stopped at the village store for me to purchase a very yummy pork & leek slice. (I highly recommend them).

Once we had climbed Radnor Rd the heavens opened up and by the time we reached our lunch venue we were all soaked to the skin. 

After a very nice lunch those who were left in my diminishing group decided to let the train 🚂 take the strain from Ockley to Box Hill and then finish the remainder of the ride.

At The Inn on the Green, Ockley 

Thank you ladies for your delightful company; most enjoyable and we had a good laugh too.  

x Pete

 

10:50 Steph writes:

My cheery quartet set off into Scotch mist and a southerly breeze, later to gust.  Up Hungry Hill we were fortunate to catch the tail of two battery bikes and after a bit of chat settled in behind this windbreak for a bit.  By the time we reached Sussex Barn they were pulling away and Bob asked if I intended to regroup.  Thinking he meant our piggybacking behind the batteries I said they were too fast, then I turned to look behind and realised the benefits had only applied to me.

We passed the batteries at Horsley sitting on the kerbside, no they weren't going up Staple Lane.  We ploughed slowly onwards admiring the views across fields afforded by recently cut hedging.

Spirits picked up downwards and an easy gradient up the back of Shere and we felt like we were within reach.  Then the wind stiffened and the deluge began.  It seemed a long way now to lunch but persistence paid off and we were soon inside refuelling.

 

About to set off again but another heavy cloudburst delayed us.  Eventually sunshine, blue skies and ...a tailwind.  I was so buoyed up I sailed straight past the right turn to Capel and was at the big roundabout at Beare Green before I knew it.  Carolyn, Garmin proficient, had turned at the right place and we re-grouped at Pixham Lane.

A great day out and a great run home with the weather playing ball, social Tea at Leatherhead with the As but the weather had not finished with us yet;  Davie and I passed Alan with a puncture uphill from Epsom and then we were rained on again as we approached Nonsuch.

A great route by Tim and hats off to Carolyn for her Garmin routing, Bob for his shepherding but most of all Martina for clocking 76 miles from Chiswick to Chiswick.

~ Steph

11:00 Tim C writes: 

Not having planned or led any rides for over a year I decided to clone a route from 5th June last year. That one was a hard and long ride so I thought I should tone it down a bit. However the result involved a climb up Radnor Road after Peaslake so in terms of making it easier I wasn’t really successful.

After a couple of cancellations and thanks to Martina squeaking in with a very welcome late booking we ended up with a similar number to last year. Some were seduced by Steph’s offer to lead a team over a modified route which avoided Radnor Road. 

At the RBL we all marvelled that we had arrived without getting very wet. After the customary welcome from David and Noreen, and Sue presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Simon, our three teams, led by Pete B, Steph and myself, headed for the hills, maintaining our optimism about the weather until after we had climbed Mt Staple and descended to Shere. A little later we all got royally rained upon. Uphill from The William Bray we encountered a road closure, as seen on our recce, in force for several weeks for a crew to perform major repairs on the high stone wall which is protecting the road from landslides. But there was no problem getting through this one.

Road closures were a significant feature of the morning ride. Comparing notes at lunch we learned that Pete’s and Steph’s teams had ignored the notice at the top of Jesse’s Lane while our team’s more law abiding riders agreed to stay on the main road down to Peaslake. Later, after descending from the summit of Radnor Road in The Hurtwood we all negotiated another closed section without gleaning any notion about the reason for it. A local resident seemed equally mystified.  

The Inn on the Green is a great venue for our groups, with decent food, friendly staff, and the conservatory room set aside for us. We were in good spirits and in no hurry to leave.

Mercifully we had a relatively easy and rainless ride in the afternoon, through Capel, Newdigate, Parkgate and a descent of the Freewheel Competition hill, with Tea at Charlie and Ginger in Leatherhead where we found A Group already well into their cake and coffee.

Thanks to leaders Pete and Steph, to our back markers, and to all riders for being up for the challenges of the terrain and the weather. It’s nice to go cycling in the Surrey Hills while the weather is still lovely!

~ Tim

Map showing our routes through the rainstorm

 

In the Land of Orth