Post ride wash

A small but determined bunch made this ride. It was wet, muddy and cold but we all finished with a smile, pleased that we had braved the elements but grateful to be back in cars with the heaters set to max and thinking of a warm shower.

There was a break in the rain as we assembled  bikes and got ready; however we had only gone 50 yards when the heavens opened and we braced ourselves for the next 20 miles.

On the first climb I was accompanied by two punctures which slowed things down a little, after my frame crunching escapades on our last ride I’m beginning to think I may be cursed. A professional movie crew were filming with Hugh Dennis in attendance, much smaller and weedy than he looks on TV, we gritted our teeth and rode past in the pouring rain.

The mud was the slurry kind rather than the sticky South Downs stuff that rapidly reduces a bike to a lump of earth, this meant that gears and brakes kept functioning without any hassle. The climbs were slippery while the descents were mud splattering affairs that brought laughter and grimaces in equal measure. A short section of singletrack brought us to Bocketts Farm where we ignored the signs and marched straight in for tea and coffee accompanied by energy bars and homemade sarnies. Getting back on the bikes required a minute of inner strength as the cold saddles made themselves felt!

The river Mole was engorged with water and with visions of Cumbria in our minds we hurriedly crossed the raging torrent before the bridge had chance to colapse. The climb up onto Box Hill was a drag but oddly today it felt shorter than usual. Another puncuture to repair and we were off down a series of short fireroad descents, each one ending with a large puddle. At this point even Pete’s feet were beginning to get wet, a fact that cheered the rest of us up as he was regularly mentioning how warm his feet were. A singletrack descent followed by a rooty climb and we faced a long fireroad section to the road and the carpark. All except Jo were mud splattered and got to the bottom with sparkling eyes in a mask of mud – great stuff. A mile of road and we were at the cars.

We found a tap at the carpark that came in handy for washing the slurry off the bikes as well as the mud from our legs and clothes. A quick change of clothing and we were off with the heaters set to max and thinking of a warm shower.