I woke up early on Sunday morning ready to head out on the bike and was greatly disappointed to see it was raining, albeit lightly. I didn’t remember that from the weather forecast on the previous night!
Still, no big problem. As it seemed to have stopped by the time I was due to leave, I didn’t bother with a waterproof or even arm warmers. I met John at the crossroads. He was a little late as he’d turned round at the bottom of his road to head back and get a jacket. As we started off, it was beginning to drizzle again and I was slightly envious of his decision. I nearly turned back from a jacket and my Ass-Saver but couldn’t be bothered.
The plan was to do a short but lumpy ride around Holmbury Hill. To get to Holmbury village requires going over the main ridge of the North Downs and we decided to go up via Beech Lane in Effingham. It’s not the steepest route over by any stretch but it does drag on a bit. From the foot of the climb north of Effingham it’s about 4 miles to the top on Whitedown Lane. We had a slight rest on the way up as Beech Avenue was closed for roadworks and we had to take a foot-borne detour round the footpath.
As we crested Whitedown Lane, we commented that we should probably take it easy on the way down as the road surface was getting greasy from the drizzle. As we approached the left then right tight bend combo I managed to lose my rear wheel as I scrubbed speed off to turn in. Fortunately, it was only for about two inches but it felt a lot worse and the rest of the descent was done with a lot more caution.
We crossed the A25 and went up Rakes Lane. This has a nice little kick on it towards the end, just before the steep descent to The Volunteer at Sutton Abinger where we picked up the main Holmbury Road again. I know Holmbury St Mary really well and have cycled up to it many, many times. It still amazes me however that the village is actually at a higher altitude than Newlands Corner. The climb up to the village is gradual – about 2.5 miles – so you don’t really notice how much height you’re gaining.
As we got to the village green, the rain started to come down a bit heavier so we took shelter in the bus stop for a few minutes, much to the disgust of a lot of passing cyclists who you could tell were judging us for our weakness. Either that or they were cursing us for getting to the dry spot first, I’m not sure. Still, there was a nice view of the church gate to look at through the rain.
Once it eased up, we headed up Holmbury Hill Road. This is a lovely undulating ride with lots of small, steep kicks interspersed with short flats and downhill sections. There’s some nice views to the south from this road as well. Oh, and a space laboratory. Obviously. Once you join Radnor Lane however, the gradient steepens and the legs start to complain as you (well, I) grind it out to the top.
Radnor Common is one of my favourite places to ride. I’m not sure why, it just fits my eye. The road is smooth, narrow (and slightly downhill in this direction) and surrounded by bracken and trees. It just feels more like you’re in Scotland or North Wales than Surrey. It finishes off with a steep descent into Peaslake and a junction at the bottom so acre is needed not to barrel through the crossing at the bottom.
You can tell that Peaslake is a popular cycling spot. There’s a well known mountain bike shop there, Pedal & Spoke, that caters for the hundreds of off road riders that do the many trails around Holmbury Hill but, more importantly, there’s the Peaslake Village Stores that provides an amazingly good cup of coffee and a selection of cakes and hot pastries. I opted for the sausage roll and it was just perfect. I may need to do more rides through Peaslake. Most of the customers get their food and drinks before heading back over the road to sit on the benches at the crossroads and watch the world go by for a few minutes. It is a glorious and quintessentially English spot. I love it.
We turned and headed for home via Albury Heath and Newlands Corner where we stopped again for a few minutes to enjoy the view and take the obligatory photo.
25 miles and just over 2,000 ft of climbing. Nice work for a short Sunday ride.
Fatsiclist 