Tag: surrey hills

Lumpy Holmbury Ride

Newlands Corner

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.

Holmbury St Mary Church

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.

(C) http://www.peaslakevillagestores.com

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.

Spring cycling at its best

A rare photo of me in action

After a busy weekend of attending sporting events, I was grateful to my wife for letting me duck out of a family event to get on the bike on Sunday afternoon. What a glorious afternoon it was too. Whilst it was still a bit chilly – the arm warmers stayed on – it was nice and sunny the whole way round. It was good to feel the heat from the sun after even as mild a winter such as the one just gone.

Matt was up for another training ride and Nick managed to find some time to join us which was good as we haven’t been out that much recently. We weren’t planning anything large – just 20 miles or thereabouts. We sauntered up to East Clandon on the back roads and somehow persuaded Matt that it would be a good time to introduce him to Staple Lane (part of the 2012 Olympic Road Race route). He didn’t seem convinced beforehand, definitely didn’t seem convinced half way up but got to the top on his first ever attempt which I rate as a victory. Nick waited at the top for us to take some action shots.

The views from the top are fantastic. You can see most of London including the Dartford Crossing on a clear day. Sadly the construction site that is Woking is beginning to become a blot on the landscape as tower blocks go higher and higher around the station.

We dropped down the other side of the Downs and made our way back via Chilworth and Guildford with a coffee stop at the cafe in Shalford. Not the longest of rides but certainly a very pleasant one. I think Matt is proving to be a natural cyclist and I don’t see him having too many problems on the upcoming Paris ride.

I must remember to book the bike in for a service though – there’s way too much clicking and creaking coming from the bottom bracket area. It’s been like that on and off since it was replaced last Spring (needless to say it hadn’t been doing it before the new one) and I’m getting a bit tired of it. My ageing bones make enough noise going up hills without the bike joining the chorus in sympathy.

Friday’s Photo (15-03-2019)

Crocknorth Road, Surrey Hills

I think I mentioned in my introduction that one of my other loves is photography. I regularly stop as I’m cycling around to capture images that I caught out of the corner of my eye. To be fair, I have a better ‘eye’ than I my photography skills can live up to! I see things that appeal but often fail to capture them with a camera.

All of my photography is done with an iPhone – currently an 8. I do mess around with the pictures in Instagram or Snapseed to enhance them but it still amazes me how capable a camera can be implanted into a phone. It particularly suits my skill level – I could carry around an eye wateringly expensive DSLR with all the kit and still struggle to take a decent shot.

I think the key to photography (for me) is the basic essence of the picture and the composition. Is the picture conveying what you wanted it to? The picture above is a good example. I’ve often thought about taking a photo here as I like the ‘path’ your eyes take between the dark tree tunnel at the top down to the railway bridge at the bottom. The trees provide a perfect frame for the bridge which is the focus. In this case, managing to capture a local cyclist pushing his way up the climb (far too easily if you ask me) was a bonus.

Anyway, inspired by seeing Foto Friday post today by @pedalWORKS, I intend to regularly put up some photos that I’ve taken on this blog – I’m always happy to hear constructive criticism and tips for improvement. Hope you enjoy them.