Snowdrops in Mud

And so it came to pass that he who hates the cold – your scribe no less – found on waking that it was not cold; plus he needed to ride because he hadn’t since those heady, warm pre-Xmas days (how memories of rain soaked rides fade!); plus, the ride began at Godalming Station – oh joy!

Present at Godalming were Clive, Nick, Martin and Heidi, and Chris B.

It wasn’t much of a day for photographs, but it turned out to be a great day for chatting – well I thought so anyway – so there was plenty of that. It must have been a good day for hills too, although Clive was somewhat co-erced into climbing the dreaded Bexley Hill, because there was no one present who wasn’t up for it – there definitely must have been something in the air today. By gum, what a grovel, but, oh, what sweet satisfaction on reaching the top! Coffee at Café Verdi never tasted better. To say Paul and Don looked better too would not be true, but it was good to meet up with them in Midhurst anyway!

We headed east to round Petworth by the south, then headed northwards via Little Bognor to climb Bedham Common (well done, Paul, on your fixie!) and so reach Wisborough Green for lunch at Luigi’s Old Mill Café.

The ride home took the usual lanes, with nothing of note to report about the ride generally other than the fact that Clive succeeded in getting a few suckers to muddy their feet in search of snowdrops. Yes, they were there in force and looked… well, just as snowdrops usually look: very nice, but perhaps not quite compensation enough for getting our shoes all covered in *&%$. A lovely day however – great route, great company and n’eer a shiver in sight.

For full details of the route: https://www.strava.com/activities/477501131

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35 mile Reliability Ride ~ 12 April 2015

Spring weather doesn’t come much better than what was dished out to us today; I trust everyone who didn’t take part in this event had something equally good going on – if you didn’t, you missed a perfect cycling day.

It’s a lovely route, tried and tested over the years, with the bonus in recent years of a good café stop at Kirdford. This is the route.

35 mile Reliability Ride Route

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Hilary (to coffee) and Laurie (the whole way) for your company, particularly Laurie for your excellent pacing. The headwind home was challenging, particularly when you haven’t ridden a 50 mile ride since last year; suffering has never been so pleasurable. And I did just manage to make it up my hill without getting off – hurrah!

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Guildford & Godalming Wayfarers Ride ~ 19 October 2014

It would have been difficult to find an excuse not to get out today. Mid-October and it’s shorts and short sleeves mode still – wonderful! That said, there was plenty of water around and care was needed on slippery roads. Nevertheless, the countryside was looking quite wonderful even though light levels were low, leading to some pretty fuzzy photos.

People out were Peter the leader, another Peter, Geoff, Hilary, Chris Jeggo and Roger; then at the Rural Life Centre cafe, we found Sue, Angela and David.

People went in various directions after coffee and giant slabs of fruit cake. After intending to go one way, I ended up going another and so endured the climb up Beacon Hill Road to Hindhead, to be rewarded by that lovely descent round the Punchbowl and down to Brook. A fabulous half day ride -only about 47kms in my case but just right; hope everyone else enjoyed the rest of their rides and thanks, Peter, as always, for leading.

Route

To view route or download track: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/3662876

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