A ride report: 5th August . Cobham - Rusper - Leatherhead

I'm not sure whether it was the forecast of cooler weather or the route but my guesstimate of numbers was on the low side with 22 signed up at one point though there were a couple of cancellations before we left Cobham.

My group left first (arriving last by some margin!) comprising Sue C, Jennie, Simon, Dave F and Geoffrey S.  Andy joined us at Bookham after Peter's group had passed us.  Clive's group also overtook before we reached the top of Whitedown. Here Geoffrey decided that the hills were too much and retired to make his own way home. We continued over Leith Hill and onwards to Rusper where we arrived shortly after 1pm just as the lunches were being served.

After an enjoyable ride back in cooler temperatures than recent weeks we had tea at Lucio's, managing to arrive in between B groups. 

My thanks to Clive and Peter for sub leading, Jennie for back marking, Andy for the photo and not least Dave F's tyre for not puncturing until after tea!

Peter's report: 

My group (Frances, Dave V, Dave W, Hans, Karl, Ged & Andy) left promptly at 10.45, after a 45 second rain shower - torrential in comparison to our new weather regime! Our only off road excursion was early in the ride, and, as a result of the dry weather, a bit tricky on road tyres. We caught group 1 here and, after passing/restarting, I noticed we had lost Andy to the first group. We got to lunch almost exactly 2 hours after starting and were greeted by the thickest sandwiches I have ever seen (as in height not intelligence!) Very nice. Dave W departed after lunch and the 6 of us cruised back to Leatherhead on a much flatter profile than the morning. Many thanks to Brian for his excellent route, my group for their company and, in particular, to Ged for backmarking.
 

 

 

 Clive's report:

My group was last off from Cobham and was made up of Steve D, Simon W, Patrick, Mike and with Dave B back marking. Brian had devised a lovely route through the Surrey lanes and we were blessed with great weather to show it off to its best advantage.  The route was generally uphill to Leith Hill via Critten Lane and Abinger Common. With most of the hills behind it was a relatively easy run in to lunch at the Star Inn at Rusper. We had overtaken the other two groups along the way so were first to arrive, but were soon to be joined by the others for our refreshments and refuel.
After lunch the only hill of note was Langhurst Lane so it was a fairly quick return to tea in Leatherhead via Brockham where we stopped for a photo by the church.

Upon arrival in Leatherhead we headed to Luccios but were beaten to it by some B’s so we had our tea and cake at Charlie and Ginger instead before heading home.
Thanks to Brian for organising and Dave B for back marking my group.