21 riders gathered at Godstone Green on a slightly misty but pleasantly warm morning for a ride in the glorious August sunshine. We crossed the A22 bridge and along the gravel track (where we won’t mention John Griffith’s fall because no doubt he’d be embarrassed about it!) and on to the familiar NCR 21 but we soon turned right and emerged on War Coppice Lane in Chaldon. After a short wait for Jed and Andrew, two late-comers, we continued along the North Downs Way and into Roffes Lane, straight on to the Green Lane bridleway, we passed the Surrey National Golf Course and turned right for a swift decent into Happy Valley. As the sun began to heat up, the climb out of the valley took its toll but we pressed on. Up and down through the freshly cut wheat fields, under the A23 and up onto Rocks Lane, over the A23 and up Harps Oak Lane to Fanny’s Farm Shop for a well earned break.
After the break we headed up Rocks Lane, past Mercer’s Park and onto the NCR 21 again but we turned right at Brewer Street towards the A25 at Bletchingly. We picked up the bridleway at Church Lane and after one more steep climb, headed for the car park via what Marcus described as a “peach of a downhill”. He was right of course the slight detour was well worth it. We picked up six punctures along the way so we were slightly behind my planned schedule but we made it back to the car park at 1:15pm.
As well as the usual suspects, it was nice to see Cheryl again, we hope she continues to ride with us. Thanks to Phil and Graham for being trusty back-markers for the day and to Frank and Marcus for showing me the routes.
Alan.
Event / Article Type
Alan's ride from Godstone