Despite the clocks going forward and losing a hour's sleep twelve of us managed to remember to adjust our alarms and headed out to Edenbridge - Phil, Peter, Ron, Paul, Iain (over from South Africa), Sam, Nigel, Chris, Darren, Del, Le Nick and yours truly. Lovely day for the end of March - crisp and sunny then really quite warm by noon.
incident packed first half of the ride:
Le Nick nearly had a 'chute' when a stick tangled in his front wheel. He nearly went over the bars and only superb handling skills kept him upright. I was right behind, saw it all, and had to avoid his sudden dead stop! Wow!!
We were confronted by an irrate motorist at the top of Bletchingley - old boy stopped his car and leapt out shouting at us. Le Nick got the blame for this one but he'd done absolutely nothing wrong - the driver was at fault turning into the road just as we were setting off. I thought he he was going to have a stroke - just get the feeling he didn't like cyclist.
And we had to stop for a herd of cows to cross the road (one of which was in leg irons - I kid you not!). What excitement!!! what thrills!!!
Nothing open in Edenbridge so we rode back to Priory Farm for coffee and cake. As it was getting late and we had a leg of lamb roast waiting for us Sam and I bailed out at Redhill and left the rest to get back to Coulsdon.
Really enjoyed the ride - thanks everyone - great morning. I clocked 65 kms at just over 25 kph (or 40 miles @ 15.5 mph) and given the mix of abilities and fitness levels and the lumpy nature of the route was very respectable.
Another Sunday CR next week - be there or be square.
Cheers
Captain Jon
