Within a target distance of between 30 and 40 miles for an Intermediate ride most of the halfway tea stops have a familiarity which almost borders on the boring so the prospect of discovering somewhere new was an opportunity too good to pass up. With the forecast promising howling gales on Sunday many Sunday riders hedged their bets and came on this ride.
No such weather worries today as the sun shone and soon the temperature rose and the icy patches melted as we made our way through Rusper and on to Southwater where one of my infamous loops took us through Brooks Green to arrive eventually at Somners Pond in Barns Green.
This camping site and fishing lake has a new chalet style café which offers all kinds of home cooking at reasonable prices. Four of us settled for the vegetable soup which was absolutely delicious and came as a generous portion. Other goodies proved to be equally good value and the tea came in a pot large enough to service a football team. Definitely a destination to visit in future, even though the toilet facilities are somewhat primitive.
The more direct route home was through Broadbridge Heath, Warnham then Newdigate and so back to Woodhatch. A most enjoyable ride even though it was a bit longer than anticipated but that’s a feature of any ride I lead. Graham.
Event / Article Type
Intermediate club ride.