Seven riders at Nonsuch today, with yours truly the first to arrive and head straight for the warmth of the Nonsuch Cafe. Half an hour later Bill Kent, Adam Domaingue, Ed Pegg, Bill Martin, Tracy Caudle and Trevor Kite arrived, persuading me back out into the cold. Today’s weather, not much different to last Saturday’s, hovering at 4°C, overcast and damp. Our route turned out shorter than usual, mostly due to the boggy, soupy trails we encountered, in my case due to parking in Cheam instead of Horton Country Park, and partially as our leader Bill Martin had been away on holiday for two weeks! In any case I wasn’t worried about the distance, I never am this early in the year, it’s all about fresh air and banter.
Our route headed out south to Nork Golf Course and across the busy A217 just north of Banstead lights then onto Banstead Common. Seriously boggy, deep stuff was encountered on the ascent towards Oaks Park, alongside ‘Her Majesty’s Hotel,’ and then we climbed up the back of Little Woodcote (Gallows Hill) before descending to the tea stop.
The tea stop is another little gem, with the owner of the Garden Centre very welcoming to cyclists. Our bikes can be wheeled through the shop and out into the planting area, so they’re totally secure within the premises. The food’s good and young staff are friendly.
After re-fuelling, the return journey had us dropping down the metalled small holding roads to cross the Woodmansterne Road. Then we had a very entertaining climb on an extremely gloopy trail at the back of Oaks Park Golf Course to access Banstead Common once again. After slipping and sliding our way over the Common we crossed an even busier A217 for the descent across Nork Golf Course and back into the burbs of Cheam via a few more liquid clay trails.
Good fun was had by all, and we all stayed upright the whole morning.