As Ian our usual G3 leader was away cycling around the M25, I volunteered to lead a G3. I warned everyone before we set off that it was going to be slightly more hilly than normal but they were happy with that. We headed out towards Edenbridge and our first climb was Hever Hill after which we dropped down into Chiddingstone and then headed up to Sevenoaks via Hubbards hill which kicks up at the top.
We were about to tackle our last hill before tea when Stuart Metcalfe got a puncture but I think everyone was happy for the short break before next the climb. Once his puncture was fixed, we headed up the back end of Ide Hill where we enjoyed the great views with our tea. As we were about to get started again, Stuart discovered his tyre was flat once again. As he was pumping it up he noticed his tube bulging out of the tyre. But we didn’t panic as Ide Hill community tea stop sell quite good road bike tyres for £15. So once that was all sorted we headed down Ide Hill, where Rob hit a pothole and his water bottle went flying. As he had ridden over it and smashed it, he had to ride back without water.
So after a fairly eventful day the eight of us got back safely to Redhill with 55 miles and about 3000ft of climbing under our belts.
Michelle Lariviere