B Group Ride Report Surrey Hills 21st Oct

Francis starts his report with ……

My ride route was exactly the one some of us rode a year ago, 16^th Oct 2025 and on that occasion we were blessed by warm sunshine. But this year, the weather gods conspired against us, with long periods of cold and rain, making this ride more difficult than it already was.

A relatively high number of riders, 15 in all, signed up for the challenging ride in deepest Surrey Hills now in lovely autumnal colours. It’s quite rare we explore the eastern scenic, quiet lanes from Shere to Farley Green, Peaslake and Holmbury-St-Mary but that involves long steep climbs up Row Lane, Winterfold Heath road and Radnor road. The upside was beautiful scenery, much of it in woods and heaths with little or no traffic. 

Weirdly, instead of further rain expected in the afternoon, it was dry with glimpses of sunshine, though it remained cold.When we climbed back up the ridge via Hoe Lane, Pursers Lane and later via Combe Lane/Bottom to tea at Café Barbera, Stoke D’Abernon. 

My sincere thanks to my stead-fast co-leaders Mick A (and chief mechanic) and Tim G for undertaking the tiring recce with me and for supporting their respective groups on the day. A big thank you to all the back-markers for their diligent work keeping us in line at the back.

A special mention to my mixed group (more about this later in Mick’s report) Gill, Paula, Carolyn, Alan C, Julie, Keith, Bernard and Sabina who made the whole day fun and enjoyable 😊

Mick A continues …

Mick, Bernard, Sabina, Keith and Julie left Layla’s cafe in the rain and cold. 7 miles into the ride we came across Francis’ first group a short distance from Shere Village, fixing a puncture for Paula but was having some trouble removing the tyre as it was firmly stuck to the inside of the rim which unfortunately had residual glue left there when it was tubeless before Paula changed to inner tubes. Mick took over as the puncture repair was complicated and time-consuming.

We decided that Francis would continue with my group as everyone was getting very cold at this stage and that I would help with the puncture and then continue with his first group of Alan, Gill and Paula and we didn't arrive at the pub until 2 pm.

After a nice lunch at The Royal Oak, we set off again a little after 3pm for the afternoon ride. The rain had stopped and the sun even came out. As we approached Stoke D'Abernon, Gill and Paula peeled off to go home, Alan and I stopped for a cup of tea :-)

Tim G ends with ……

We all enjoy a challenge from time to time and today we had one. Our leader’s persuasive invitation on the blog did make mention of a few big hills morning and afternoon on the ride but still a sufficient number signed up to warrant three sub-groups. Surprisingly the number of cancellations was minimal despite the gloomy weather forecast.

Gathering at Layla’s cafe in Effingham a mournful number of wet and dripping characters assembled to seek temporary relief from what was to prove a challenging prospect ahead.

Brave and determined expressions were etched on each face as we faced our first accent up Green Dene to the top of Staple Lane. At this point, one of our company thought better of it and departed to seek drier and warmer conditions. I was very tempted to follow but overcome by an acute sense of duty continued and led the decent into Shere.

Another climb out of Shere and on through Farley Green, we experienced the further wet and autumnal wonders of Winterfold Heath and on to Jelley’s Hollow. The group’s appetite for storytelling and historical pearls of wisdom, by this stage, were in short supply so sparing them any further endurance we headed on and descended into Peaslake.

Our final climb of the morning led us up Radnor Road and around Holmbury Hill to reach our lunchtime destination of ‘The Royal Oak’ at Holmbury St.Mary. Groups had become a little mixed by this point due to an earlier incident with a puncture. Service was prompt and efficient and a welcome opportunity to take shelter and dry off a bit.

All suitable refreshed, we set out on our afternoon adventure up Hoe Lane, back through Shere to confront our final challenge up Combe Lane by which time the novelty of hill climbing was beginning to wear thin. At least we had the conciliation of bluer skies and drier conditions.

After a swift ride down Shere Road to West Horsley, up The Drift and on past Effingham Junction we were soon enjoying a well earned tea break at Cafe Barbara’s, Stoke D’Abernon giving our legs a rest and congratulating ourselves on completing today’s challenging but nevertheless enjoyable day out.

Tim G.