Sunday 2 June - all the hills and more

Ahhh!   Summer riding, at last.   The magic ingredient that our rides have been mostly missing for so long.  It was warm, it was sunny, it was dry, there were light winds.  It was wonderful.

Summer.  The view from Peaslake Road

I had planned a ride with quite a few hills, attempting to visit a lot of hills using gentle slopes to get to them.  The advance publicity may have put off some people but a decent number turned out for elevenses at a surprisingly empty Queen Stage in Effingham.   We were pleased to be joined by new (to us) rider Eric - welcome Eric!  Terry and Niall were just riding to elevenses, and Graham rode with us to the summit of Combe Lane before departing to do his own thing.   David W was unable to join us due to a cold - get well soon David.

The Queen Stage

I very kindly, and accidentally, took a short cut after Shere so we missed out a mile or two through Farley Green and Winterfold, but still did all the climbing up Houndhouse Lane to Pitch Hill as our second summit after Green Dene & Combe Lane.   Down Pitch Hill and across on the very beautiful Peaslake Road to a picnic lunch at Peaslake.   It was crammed with cyclists!   Mostly mountain bikers - they were overflowing the bus stop, they were on the verges, they were in the pub.   It was great to see.   We eventually found a shady and sunny place for lunch in the churchyard, satisfying everyone's requirements.   Peaslake stores was doing a brisk trade in pasties, cheese straws, sandwiches, drinks, everything a hungry cyclist could want for.

Peaslake

Picnic spot at Peaslake Church

After lunch there were only two hills before Dorking: Holmbury Hill and Leith Hill, so we conquered those along gentle and not-so-gentle climbs, but with beautiful dappled sunlight through the woods to distract us, before zooming down to Dorking.   Terry had imparted a vital piece of information at elevenses:  Ranmore Church is doing Sunday teas starting today, every week until the end of August.   But Ranmore Church is up a hill, as was my planned bonus hill - Box Hill.   We all had tired legs by this stage, so by a process which was part democracy and part pot luck, we ended up at Ranmore, for some lovely cake, and tea with free refills.   On a sunny day, there was no better place to be.

Bonus hill

Tea at Ranmore church

The cake menu

A very enjoyable day out in great company.  Thank you to all who came along, to Andy for back marking,  to Terry for vital cake-related intelligence, and to Keith and Andy for photos.