by Nuno Luz
Before moving to Surrey and joining the FCCC last December, I used to join the rides of a local Kent club called Medway Cycle Club, or MCC for short.
Over the 2 years I rode with them, I was lucky enough to get to know some amazing people and share with them some of the finest trails and landscapes that Kent has to offer (oh and pubs and coffee shops too 😀).
From rides to Bregdar (which left me with two broken hands in one ride – yes, really), to Bluebell Hill, Ranscombe, Farningham, Aylesford and others, I was able to join this witty and spiritful group of riders, from all ages and backgrounds, on some of the best riding moments in my MTB riding career.
After joining them on a ride here in Surrey, since they have a few “away” rides throughout the month, the thought popped in my head to try and convince Donna (FCCC) and Adam (MCC) to plan a joint group ride, where Donna could show the MCC gang some of the nice tracks we have around here from a local’s perspective.
After a bit of back and forth with Donna and Adam on WhatsApp, a date was put down and a route agreed.
Donna was going to lead this 45km ride, which started off from Guildford train station and then headed up the North Downs Way, cutting down to Peaslake. The route would then go up Pitch Hill and down the MTB trails back to Peaslake and then back across the heathlands.
Just before 9:30h in the morning, I joined Donna and Robin from the FCCC side. Just a few minutes later the MCC gang joined us, bringing the number of riders up to 11!
With 4 riders on “acoustic” bikes and the remaining 7 on e-bikes, this would prove an interesting 45km especially for those on non-assisted rides. But – spoiler alert! – we all got to the end, as no one gets left behind!
The morning started cool, but the low twenties soon started to turn into the mid-twenties and reached a scorching 30 degrees!
After initial intros, Donna officially started the ride by leading us through Bridge Street, and then following Millbrook Road, past Shalford Park, then into our first climb, with a scenic stop at the top of St.Martha’s Hill.
Once we conquered our first climb, it was time to take in the beautiful view just behind the church and take some photos. We even had time to see to a technical issue, where someone’s seat post was misbehaving.
As we enjoyed the scenic view, we also noticed that the ground had in fact turned into the fine sand that you can see in the photos. And so it was most of the way down, making it challenging but fun at times to ride on what reminded me of a beach ride, only a bit far from the coolness of the sea …
The next stop would be a few miles later at Peaslake, after some challenging climbs and a steep downhill. That almost claimed our ride leader Donna, courtesy of a massive rut with an inconspicuous boulder, laid there to trap Donna’s front wheel and project her over the bars.
Having witnessed the ordeal first hand, given that I was riding just behind Donna, and nearly hitting the same obstacle myself, I feared the worst. But luckily Donna made a great recovery, and she showed everyone the quality of rider and leader she is by staying strong and continuing until the very end of the ride, even though battered and bruised! [Donna’s note – bruises are almost healed now!]
After a few minutes, we were all back on track and heading to Peaslake. Once we got there, we went up Pitch Hill where some more photos were taken, including a nice group photo taken by an innocent bystander. It was a much needed hydration break and allowed some to have more intimate moments with their steeds 😀
Trails at Peaslake were dry but quite nice to ride – being a Sunday it was busy but we didn’t meet many riders when coming down the trails.
The highlight was definitely the trail of “St. John the Baptist” which was, in my opinion, the fastest and most fun track of the day, with a few small jumps and nice berms leading down to the car park.
Once at the car park, before leaving Peaslake, we had a nice stop for coffee, a good chat and some cake.
On the way back, Donna took us through Farley Green and then past Shalford, coming back to Guildford where we stopped at the lovely pub Britannia for a celebratory drink under the scalding sun.
Overall feedback on the ride was extremely positive, with the MCC crew finding it most enjoyable and looking forward to a future opportunity to ride together.
Ronald even made a great video of the day which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS5BG7ZXIVw
If you’re interested in joining our MCC friends for a ride around Kent, go ahead and visit their page for the rides list, which gets updated every month with the location and leaders of their Sunday rides: https://www.mccoffroad.co.uk/rideslist.html
Be on the lookout for the next joint ride!
