North Downs Nemesis- numbers down but spirits up.

Just 4 of us for this new ride.  Steve c  and I had a bit of a problem with a sat nav. Resulting in us going past the turn off to Hildenborough having to turn off at next junction and go back where we missed the same turnoff a second time , this is before we even got on a bike .

John S and Andy L were patiently waiting for us as we were half hour late.

A brief pause on Hubbard's Hill before the final three mile descent

It was a glorious morning but cold but it was clearly going to warm up in the full sunshine so better to be a little cold at the start rather than having to stuff things in pockets later. Andy had forgotten an important piece of equipment but we won't go into that any further , who needs 2 shoes anyway.

The terrain was gentle for quite a while and very different from last weeks special. The hills did eventually come including Toys hill which we have done before but this time up a different climb to meet it halfway ( the worst part ). There was a long flat stretch  after that and  John commented it was more like riding in France.

We stopped in Cobham for tea and cakes and I thought that is where Chelsea had there training ground but John corrected me that that was Cobham in Surrey.

We had 25 miles to go and the hills were steady climbs rather than steep and we had one really long descent on good roads which was enjoyable. We did have one steep climb 5 miles from the end but after that we had 3 miles down hill back to the start.

This was good ride which we think we would do again. Its always nice to try something different and riding in the sun is what makes a great day out.

We had no punctures and no mechanicals. Andy's very nice bike squeaked twice but otherwise no problems.

No more to say and looking forward to the report of the Audax on the same day which seems to be going up steep hills turning round and coming back down.  It's tough at the top !!

Derek M