Well I don’t know whether it was the sunshine or just the attraction of this ride, which is the first ride building up to the Brighton ride later in the year, but whatever it was it worked.

Meeting for the start of our ride

So many people turned up for today’s ride that we had to split into two groups, with around 20 people in each.   We made our way up to Keston and then up a few challenging hills through the country lanes to Downe,

A stop at Downe in the sunshine

around the back of Biggin Hill and on to The Spinning Wheel at the top of Westerham Hill.

The sun shone throughout and the layers were soon coming off, stopping fairly often to take in the views or simply for a drink and a chat.

From here we made our way to Knockholt and Cudham, and after a few more hills we reached Christmas Tree Farm, where we took on some drinks and cake and waited for the second group to arrive.

As we cycled back to Hayes some of us realised that a bit more training might be required before our ‘big ride’, but everyone had survived the day and were now talking about the second ride in a couple of weeks’ time.

Very many thanks to Adam for arranging today’s ride and I for one can’t wait for the next one.   If you couldn’t make today’s ride, don’t worry, come on the next one.