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| The first attempt at this ride |
I originally planned to lead this ride on December 10th, when I arrived in the snow at the Old Moat Garden Centre to hear a brass band playing Christmas carols. Today couldn't have been more different, with perfect cycling weather: sun with a gentle cooling breeze. A good turn-out at elevenses saw Alan and Bob plus Don and Lena joining us just for elevenses, while Jeff, Graham, Ed, Lilian, Theresa, Christina, Terry, Mike M and David Ward set out with me on the ride, skirting Epsom and then heading up Chalk Lane, fragrant after the overnight rain, to the racecourse, where we did a few furlongs across the course. Mike left us there to deal with some car-related problems, and nearly took David W with him, but we all regrouped to find our way to Banstead, down and up via Chipstead Bottom and along the top (is it called Chipstead top?) towards Mogador.
Once we arrived at The Sportsman I tried to tempt people to join me in the short ride to the viewpoint at Colley's Hill but several were more tempted by the pub itself. Christina was initally unimpressed by the view but then Lilian found a better viewpoint which received grudging approval from Christina. Back at the pub Keith joined us after making his own way from home, so we were again ten for a leisurely lunch taken outside in the garden.
After lunch, things went downhill in every sense. Keith, Jeff, Graham and David made their own way home: we sampled the ups and downs of Mugswell en route to Walton on the Hill, where Christina left us; Lilian left soon after, so our reduced group decided to stop at Leatherhead rather than risk losing more riders before the advertised stop at Stoke d'Abernon. Thank you to David Ward for back marking in the morning (back marker not necessary in the afternoon as I can count up to five!). A lovely day out - looking forward to many more days like it this year.
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