Nine riders met at The Angel for the clubs Intermediate ride. The Team was made up of a few new faces including 9 years old Nicholas who was 'stoker' for his Dad Bruce on the tandem. Rob Pace who has taken up cycling after purchasing a very fast looking Planet X carbon frame bike through the cycle to work scheme, joined us for his first club ride-look out for him on Sunday rides soon.
The route took us East through Outwood, Horne, Lingfield through the pretty lanes of Dormansland and Cowden before turning into the wind and heading for the Tea Stop at Lingfield after 28 miles and approx 2.5 hours. We had a little longer tea stop to allow for a puncture to be repaired with the aid of a toothpaste tube-things people carry in a saddle bag!!
A more direct route was taken back to Reigate although mostly with a strong head wind. The sun shon on us all morning and we covered a total of 40 miles arriving back just before 1pm.
The Intermediate ride runs every first Saturday of the month with an average speed of about 12.5 mph. The next ride will be on 5th April all welcome.
Mark Vincent.