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Date:
1st June 2008
Riders: Richard, Rob, Dave, Davebus, Lee, Colin, Mat, Neil, Jason, Gary, Ashley, and Sam Big 8 and Box Hill loop combined Weather: 17.0°C 
Another good run out with 12 riders including Sam who has dragged himself out of bed for an early start. I spent part of Saturday afternoon replacing my badly worn middle chain ring which was giving me trouble at Swinley last week and also changed the oil in the Fox Vanilla forks which was black and gritty and coming through the seals and wipers on the stanchions, always a sign that the forks are badly overdue a service. so back to Sunday and we set out from Dead Man's Bench at close to 9-30 a.m. and head up to Walton-on-the-Hill before crossing the many and varied trails on Banstead Heath and then across the B2032 and onto the singletrack alongside Walton Heath golf course. A fast pace at the front is leading to gaps in the group and Ashley and myself suddenly find ourselves stranded at a junction. I follow the normal 'Big 8' left hander but we have lost sight of the rest of the group. Despite a host of mobile phones it still takes us at least half an hour to hook up with the peloton, mainly caused by them waiting on the 'bridge over the M25' and me only knowing two of the bridges that we have ridden in the past and the group waiting on the 3rd bridge that was unknown to me. Back on track and there's a massive tree down on the North Downs Way before we cross over to Headley Heath and the hidden singletrack which is beautiful at the moment with the ferns making it narrow and the surface really smooth under our rubber. From here we make our way across Mickleham Down and then down the Alpine descent before the long climb back up Happy Valley towards the tea hut at the top of Box Hill. Here Sam suffers a mechanical as his crank arm comes loose and he pushes to the top before he limps home along the road with me escorting him after we have all had a lengthy tea break with the roadies out in force today, eating cake and duck-walking around the seating area.
Date:
7th June 2008
Riders: Richard, Chris, Nick, Olivia, James and Ivan Ranmore Common, Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill Weather: 20.0°C 
The group of riders I showed around the trails last month enjoyed it so much they are back for another session, this time with Chris's brother Nick in tow. I just had time before leaving in the morning to fix the broken spoke that I had spotted and then jumped on the 10-28 a.m. train at Epsom to meet the other riders, avoiding the many visitors making their annual pilgrimage to the Epsom Derby. So we follow a familiar route from Dorking statioon, heading appropriately onto Pilgrim's Way where we make a brief stop to fix James's gears and bump into Ivan, a lone rider who is looking for Westcott. We agree that Ivan should join our group and I will show him the fun route via Ranmore Common. It turns out rather unsurprisingly that Ivan is Russian hailing from Siberia via Kazakhstan. We agree to avoid any obvious jokes about cultural learnings and Ivan turns out to be a great hill climber. Once we hit Westcott he decides that he's having such a great ride that he sticks with us for the rest of the day. Even better, Ivan was familiar with DOMTB so that makes him alright in my book. Nick is a pretty confident rider too, just like Chris and needs to be as both of them are competing in the Megavalanche in a few weeks time. Olivia is gaining in confidence and much to our surprise and without any warning attempts a decent size kicker because 'it looks really fun'. Carrying speed into the kicker she pushes down as soon as the front wheel leaves the ground and cartwheels over the front much to our amazement. A few extra bumps, bruises and scratches for her this week. We pick up another couple of riders briefly at Leith Hill Tower. On decent bikes but didn't really know there way around and despite me getting temporariily lost and having an embarrassing off in front of them all, I showed them the parts of 'Chocolate Jesus' I could remember and then the Quarry trails before they turned back for lunch with their girlfriends as we continued on to Holmbury Hill. they agreed I had shown them far better trails than they had found on thier own and we will hook up again for a future ride. We repeat pretty much the same route as last time with a few tweaks thrown in here and there with the far point of the ride being Peaslake Stores after a swift descent down Barry Knows Best. Back up across Leith Hill and then via Deliverance onto Regurgitator, Summer Lightning and down the Rookery before a swift return via the road to make the 5 o'clock train.
Date:
15th
June
2008 Weather:
19.0°C A last minute arrangement sees three of us head out on the road bikes for a fast paced ride. Cas has finally bought himself a road bike, a nice looking Specialized Roubaix and he looks good in between Graham and my Bianchi's. We head up to Epsom Downs on a fine day before going via Langley Vale and some back roads to hit Ashtead High Street. From there we head down to Leatherhead and then up towards Bocketts Farm and then along the A246 and through Effingham before turning left at East Clandon to climb the deceptive Staple Lane and then down Combe Lane to the A25. I was really flying down Combe Lane and kept pace with a van and a motorbike in front of me. Along the A25, through Gomshall and then up and over Leith Hill before climbing up to Coldharbour. We spotted that Cas was in trouble because I never normally beat him up hills and he was way off the pace. He suddenly discloses that he hasn't had a carbohydrate for 3 weeks in an effort to lose weight and his body is literally eating itself. But we are close the the end of the ride and we take the ridge along Coldharbour and past the Landslip car parks before the frighteningly fast descent to Dorking. I don't have a speedo on my bike but I was very close to 50 mph. Again, we pause for Cas at the bottom and he has been touching cloth as the carbon forks started the old speed wobble which he is unused to and forced him into the wrong lane. Luckily for all of us the road was clear. Through Dorking then up the zig zags beofre stopping briefly for tea and cake and then home having covered circa 50 miles. A great workout but sadly no camera and no pics for you. Date:
21st
June
2008 Weather:
14.0°C The longest day of the year but unfortunately not the weather to match it. A new meeting place for me, the whimically named "Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower" in Ashtead. No, not a modern theme pub, it's been called this as long as I can remember. From here it's a short ride towards Stane Street and over to Box Hill and down the Alpine descent. It's quite early in the ride to hit this section which is quite testing in the wetand I'm not rerally on my game yet and I ride gingerly down it, the rear conti skidding on the numerous wet routes lying across the trail. From here we head up the chalky climb to the top of Box Hill. A mechanical leaves me stranded at the bottom and after loosening my granny ring to disengage the chain which has stuck fast between the chain rings I grind slowly to the top. My back which I hurt last week (gardening of all things) is starting to really ache now and the added drizzle on the long climb to the top has me thinking that I will sack off the rest of the ride and head for home. However a restorative cuppa at an eerily quiet tea hut gives me encouragement although I flatly refuse to take the chalky descent straight back down to the zig zags i.e. the one i just spent fifteen minutes climbing up, and we detour down Happy Valley and across the A25 up to Ranmore Common via Denbies. We return via Norbury Park where much to the other's amusement I pick up a discarded mudguard which sticks wildy out of my backpack. I hate people who leave trail detritus, they have no respect for the trails they ride. Do you know that I even found the skewer off a front wheel on Barry Knows Best recently; how the hell did that bloke get home? Onto Bockett's Farm and then onto Stane Street before dropping down into Ashtead after a circa 20 miles good ole' xc route.
Single
speeding
Date:
29th
June
2008 Weather:
21°C We haven't been to Pitch Hill for ages and a number of members on the forum wanted me to lead a ride round the more extreme sections. It's a great day, real cycling weather and as Sam and I turned out of the end of our road, two roadies passed in front of the car. It was none other than my mate Graham out on his Look and Duncan who rode the Sportive with us back in the dark days of February. Driving through Epsom and Ashtead, it seemed that everyone was out on thier bikes when who should we see sitting outside the Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower but Dave and Terry, all set for their ride. Along with Cas's road ride that makes three different rides for thi sweek all advertised on the ride diary and open to all-comers (but don't be late ;-)). Once at Pitch Hill, we were joined by Gary and his South African buddies, Carl and Steve, both of whom have ridden with us before a s well as Lee, Sam and a new member of the forum; Chuck. The weather is great, the trails are dry and dusty and to make Chuck feel at home on his P3 I have dragged the Specialized SX out of the garage. This normally only does Chicksands or the Alps and with the Maxxis DH tyres and tubes on I soon remember why. I am soon sweating like a terrorist as I drag it up the first long climb. Bu this ride is all about fun and so we session various kickers, drops, steep roll-in's and bomb-holes as well as Judges Seat where I tackle the larger drop successfully if a little untidily. We also find a new steep descent near the Quarry which is great fun. Sam takes a big tumble on the rooty descent after the ski jumps and ends up with grazes all down his side but he is good to carry on riding and we push on. Despite a half hour detour when I get lost around the back of Winterfold Woods we all enjoy the ride although Chuck did confirm that he and his P3 do not go up hills very well at all and despite being the only one with a chain device he manages to drop his chain at least a dozen times. We head back to the car park and the SX has taken a lot out of me as my legs feel like lead and I have to have a little sleep when I get home to recover. As
a
very
great
man
once
said
"We
had
joy,
we
had
fun,
we
had
seasons
in
the
sun
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