Longest ride so far in 2008 – 95.5 miles 1500 metres of Climb

It was a cold sunny day Saturday – cold being the word.

I arrived at M’s at just after 10:00 AM after getting my chores accomplished. Neither of us felt great, and M was a bit anxious having got in very little riding lately.

The planned ride was Bury Hill (on the A29 Bognor Road just before Arundel) which we anticipated to be a 80-90 mile ride.

We rode out through Esher and Fetcham, Effingham, Leith Hill and on to Mole Street that runs parallel to the A29. It was a slow start and we were suffering as we arrived at the top of Bury Hill.

The plan was to stop for lunch at a roadside café about 8 miles back up the A29 the other side of Pulborough from Bury Hill, but tiredness got the better of us. With the computer already showing 52 miles we stopped at Hikers Café at the top of Bury hill. There is no inside to Hikers Café as it is a kiosk (and don’t ask for tomato or lettuce in your cheese sandwich as you will be told in no uncertain terms “we don’t do those vegetables thingies”) so we had to drink our coffee outside in the cold.

We were not looking forward to riding back against the cold headwind so agreed to take the A29 all the way back as it is the flattest and fastest route. It was hard work. After Ockley we turned off the A29 and headed up into the Surrey Hills through Coldharbour. At Dorking we agreed to miss out Ranmore (will we pay for this lapse in the season to come?). We went up Mont Box at a steady 8.5 mph and stopped at the top for another coffee.

At this point we knew we had 12 miles to go giving us a total of 95 miles back to my house. It was getting dark so we set off. Four miles from home M had a puncture!!! It was getting dark, we were on a main road (A217 at Banstead junction) and our hands were freezing. We could not find anything in the tyre that might have caused the puncture so we put in a new inner tube and kept our fingers crossed that there was nothing in the tyre that would cause another immediate puncture. In the dark with only one rear light between (and no front lights) us we set off for home. Fortunately there were no other incidents.

I think after about 75 miles, once we got to the top of Coldharbour we began to feel better and by the time we got home we were moving well (it may just have been that we could smell home).

A good 95.5 miles and 1500 metres of climb.

No ride tomorrow (Sunday) as I have a "List" to try to complete, including a trip to Sainsburys, before I have to be at Gatwick at lunchtime to pick up my wife and son.