Saturday brought the inaugural bikes, brewery and beer ride for the RCC MTBers, which meant a steady ride into the North downs followed by the opportunity to sample some fine local beers at the Surrey Hills Brewery later in the afternoon.
A throng of 12 riders made it along to Reigate Hill for the later than normal start, which meant an opportunity for a relaxed coffee while the group assembled. The intention was for a steady-paced ride out to Bocketts for a sandwich stop, and then the group could split up as those heading to the brewery would forge onwards, and the remainder would loop back to their cars and other Christmas related activities (or chores).
Initial route finding was occasionally a little vague as we made it up as we went along, but along a lovely section of tight woodland (which would look very much like a grotto in the snow), Cheryl chose to lower the tone and make obscene observations about Mark's large 'lock'. Following that, the tone remained pretty much in the gutter for the rest of the ride ;-)
The heavy rain on Friday night had made many of the trails quite greasy and hard work at times, but the sliding around was quite fun. A group split took place at Headley Heath to try and balance the pace a little better, with a view to join up for a late elevenses at Bocketts. Unfortunately the riders on the longer route picked up several punctures which caused a few delays, so the groups failed to meet as planned. Following the brief stop, three more riders took their leave, although we did gain one more in the shape of Alex - nothing like leaving it until December for your first RCC ride of the year eh?
And so the remaining six ventured onwards to the brewery, delayed again by several more punctures (it really was one of those days). As time ticked by, Mat checked if we still had time for "two minutes of singletrack", which was a nice fun reward to finish the ride on, and well worth the detour.
And so to Denbies for the finale, the brewery tour. Some of our motley crew of 'athletes' took the opportunity for a cheeky taster ahead of the tour, which proved to be both informative and good fun. After availing ourselves of several more pints of locally brewed ales, I don't think any of us can be called an expert but we did learn some interesting facts about making beer, and it's something we will definitely repeat when the weather warms up.