Southern Softies Ride

Yesterday I went out for a ride with 3 of the guys I’ll be cycling to Paris with. I organised a route that had plenty of hills so that we would see some of the country lanes that Surrey have to offer.
It’s quite strange but I was a little nervous beforehand. I’m use to cycling with people of a similar standard and one of the problems when you get thrown together with a group of people is the different abilities.
I had invited a couple of club mates too as I thought “the more the merrier.”
We all met up and headed out into Surrey. Weather reports had warned of rain but we were lucky and it held off all day with some sunny intervals.
It was a pleasant route, with the exception of a few potholes and a really mean Rottweiler who threw himself into the path of us. To give the dog it’s due, there were a couple of Northerners among us and so you can’t blame it for wanting to attack. We do have a territory to defend…..
I ended up doing 65.5 miles and 5,800ft of climbing. The guys were really friendly and it was good to have a good chat. We’re all of different standards (me being the slowest when it comes to hills!) but there was plenty of time to regroup at the tops of the climbs.
Overall, I think the day was a success and it’s definitely put me at ease about going on a trip with a bunch of strangers, first impressions show indicate that they’re not axe murderers….