It was a day for small groups today, with only three of us meeting at Godstone for the early ride and only two of us actually making it to the main ride at Woldingham via lots of slippery singletrack. Our 'small for such a nice day' number of 12 able souls set off for the North Downs ridge, taking care to dodge the shotgun fire in a field next to the trail. We had miles to put in to open!
Our first descent was Titsey Hill, made particularly interesting by the tightness of encroaching undergrowth which grabbed at handlebars and succeeded in firing yours truly into a bush. No harm done, we powered on- crossing some fields, stopping to enjoy the iconic view that is Clackett Lane services from the motorway bridge, then one last muddy field before we hit the woods of Limpsfield Chart.
Once at the top of the Chart, we followed the indistinct trail through Purple Forest and on through Goodley Stock into the deep woods, where Rob was heard to reprimand someone not attempting to hop a log before dramatically failing to clear it himself. No photos, unfortunately! Well, the woods weren't that deep, because after a few tight and twisty singletrack sections we managed to find a very posh tea stop at Chartwell.
What with cream teas and slices of cake you could chock out an aircraft with it didn't feel like anyone wanted to move, but eventually inertia was overcome and we started the return leg. We called in at the Seagull, Amazon and the bombholes on the way out, then picked up the pace to get to the bottom of the plantation climb at Titsey. Nasty at the best of times, the mud on it today made it hard going and tired faces at the top seemed to ask me 'is that it'?
Fortunately it was and just one more fun descent took us back to the start. I didn't catch a mileage, but it was a good ride on miles, on singletrack and even on the weather with the sun making an appearance towards the end!
Thanks for coming
Mat