DENBIES VINEYARD - 21/05/06

5 weather-optimists at the library, 2 of whom were riding the new PHC bikes.
One rider only arrived in the country yesterday from Columbia and opted to
come straight out on a bike ride with us. We put the brand new weatherproof
PHC GPS unit (thank you Moat Housing!) onto another rider's bike (no real
estate left on the leader's handlebars) to see if it would record our route.
No time so far to try downloading routes but it should make life easier for
future leaders.

The grey skies looked like they were clearing and the rain held off along
the suburban streets to Sutton via Carshalton Ponds and bits of the Wandle
Trail but as soon as we hit the Mansion House café at Nonsuch Park the
heavens opened and stayed open all day, making it possibly the wettest ride
we've ever done.

I'd already said on the website that if it was wet, we couldn't go along the
old Roman Stane Street byway because it would be too muddy. The long
bridleway from East Ewell to Epsom had drained really well considering the
amount of recent rainfall so I began to wonder if we could attempt part of
Stane Street.

We spun the ride around to follow the route of two weeks ago onto Epsom
Downs racecourse. Chalk Lane is a gradual killer of a hill so we took a
breather by the Rubbing House pub on the actual course itself before riding
along the busy Langley Vale Rd where a pedal fell off. Thread stripped but
we forced it back on and it held ok.

At the top of Stane Street in the pouring rain we encountered two splattered
mountain bikers. Very muddy down there they said. I remembered the first
part as having a good, stony but chalky surface so we chanced it. The first
incline beat every one of us as we had no purchase on the slippery chalk.
The rest of the byway was fine, we crossed high over the M25 on the cyclists
and walkers bridge and took the first opportunity to get back on tarmac
before the byway descended into a muddy hell.

Charity Riders from the Children's Trust Wheels of Steel rides were limping
along in the miserable weather. (Don't forget we maintain a list of local
charity rides on our website - at the bottom of the Rides page.) We decided
to cut short and lunch at the Cock Inn at Headley. Busy, smoky and my food
not so good so perhaps we'll try the tearooms in Headley next time.

The weather wasn't going to improve so we hit the long scenic Surrey
Cycleway descent of Lodgebottom Lane and went direct to Boxhill and
Westhumble station and hopped straight onto the conveniently arriving train.
No Mitcham Junction today because of engineering works so we got off into an
extreme downpour at Streatham Common. We'll try for Denbies again later in
the year, especially as everyone enjoyed the small part of Stane Street that
we rode.

Out for 6 hours, 22 miles. GPS said top speed was 42.5mph but that must have
been on the train on the way back! No rain damage to either our camera or
GPS so I guess they both pass their waterproof test.

Not so many pix today because of the weather but there's a few at the
new-look Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72057594141066945/
http://tinyurl.com/q22x8

They still haven't fixed the slideshow so you can see the descriptions so
don't bother with it. Click on each frame instead.

===

No ride next Sunday but it's the family-friendly loop of Mitcham on
Saturday. 10:30 start - no hills. Supervised kids welcome but not a
necessity.

I've got hundreds of Croydon Bike Week flyers at home. It's approaching
fast. Let me know if you can distribute any flyers or posters.

Any technology geniuses out there who can load some GPX files onto our new
GPS? I've got the MapSource CD but I use a Mac and it needs a PC to work. Be
good if we can try it one evening this week.

Cheers

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.croydonbikeweek.co.uk
07711 688189