We had an excellent turnout of fourteen riders and one passenger for the club ride on November 11 which had Wiston as the tea stop but with this venue closed the ride made for Dial Post instead.

It may be November but it’s sunny, dry with crispness in the air that says get out on your bike before winter comes along. So eleven members and guests, some sporting shorts, gathered at the Angel for the ride to Penshurst, which I had billed as 65 miles. A quick there and back ride to Penshurst is 50 miles so some extra miles had to be worked into the route and as it was such a lovely day I thought a tour around the North Downs would be appreciated. How wrong can one be?

I was pleasantly surprised to find four members waiting for me at the Angel at 9.00 last Saturday for the first of our monthly Intermediate Rides. These rides cater for members or guests who wish to ride at a more leisurely pace over a shorter distance and those members who cannot always make the Sunday ride.

The great thing about cycling is that there is a discipline for everyone. Be it off-road, time-trialling, road racing, audax, sportive, the track or hill climbing. I have had a go at all of these but I’m best at hill climbing. I expect its possible to train for any of the above but the fact that I’m pretty whippet like gives me a head start when going up.

Redhill CC – Leith Hill

The Inn on the Pond saw six RCC stalwarts turn out on a fresh sunny morning having spurned the charms of Wales in the wet. The ride to Chelsham followed the familiar N21 onto the North Downs Ridge with a variation through Caterham, Old Coulsdon and across Kenley Airfield to Whytleafe, under Wapses Lodge roundabout onto the Golf Course at Halliloo Valley.

The ride back took us into Marden Valley via the exhilarating swoop down the track from South hawk which had been newly coppiced opening out the track and views.

All back by about 1.15 having covered around 22 miles.

A new type of Club Run at a more leisurely and social pace on a Saturday morning for intermediate riders. Planned to be on the first Saturday of each month, starting 3rd November. Typically 30-40 miles, including a tea stop.

Starting at 9am from The Angel - check www.redhillcc.co.uk/road/where_we_meet/ for details, back by 1pm.

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As with all our rides both the destination and duration of the rides are at the discretion of the leader. For example last Sunday the ride destination was changed to Cranleigh in view of expected heavy rain.

Eight members set out in drizzle for what turned out to be a very good ride in the circumstances. We welcomed guest rider Scott William to the peleton which included three of our road racing fraternity who joined us from their training ride.

Happy pedalling. Graham.

The weekend in Wales kicked off on the Friday with the Cli-MachX ride with its undulating single track on the side of the hills. The climax of the ride is the black run of a descent on the unforgiving rocks with the awesome wiggles at the bottom.

The Saturday saw us master the Mach 3 with a few bits added in. The 500m peak was followed by the gnarliest, ugliest, sharpest rocky trail imaginable – the CHUTE, a rapid descent where only a few stay upright.

Togged up in all the winter woollies, it was somewhat cold as I set off from Reigate at 7.50am to get to Limpsfield. The sun had just risen and the mist was hovering over the frosty ground. The trails were quiet and the air had warmed up by the time I reached Limpsfield, 15 miles later, to find that everyone else had driven.

Alex’s rides are usually something special and this was no exception. There were just 12 of us as some were doing the TrailBreak ride at Gatwick and a couple had gone to Westcott ! (that was last week)