A Mystery Tour!

Hi blogees.

Yep, another blog today! And its a bike riding blog! Hows is that after the weekend that we have had! And there is still plenty of weekend left!

We decided to do Cudham Hill again and then cut across and head for Biggin Hill. But as its still kind of holiday type weekend this was a leisure come workout ride. Well anything going up Cudhum Hill is a workout! But at the top (ish) of the hill is, wait for it,.....a pub. We stopped here for a well deserved pint. Ok, we didn't quite ride up the hill all the way, we stopped and admired the rabbits in the field, and I did have a break just because I wanted one. Its been a busy day!

I didn't stop my Garmin either, while we were sat at the pub. But the stats shows run time and elapsed time, so I am not too bothered by that, at least I didn't forget to switch it back on again! After our pint we were going to continued up the hill for about another two miles or, we could go for the mystery tour and head off down the road opposite the pub! Well you know me with down hills!! It was quite steep, I kept the brakes on because it was also a winding road, with lots of pot holes!

After the pleasure of going down the hill though, I almost cried out loud when I saw the climb before us, stretching up and up and up. I just got off my bike and thought stuff that, I shall do some training for the London to Brighton bike ride, and this bit is training for hill at Ditchling Beacon!

We carried on riding, turning right, and seeing more up hills. And the we came to a junction, it was either left or right! We chose right. The Old Boy said that this goes to Downe Village. I just presumed that as we were traveling up and up then Downe Village was on the level from here!

Boy was I wrong! Kind of, well sort of. Just read on and you will see. There was still tons of hill to do yet! I didn't think we went down that far, but, this is the way we were going, and again, I got off my bike. No way, not even I have been cycling for 20 years would I have got up those hills, well maybe I would have done then. But definitely not today, not with almost four miles of jogging still in my legs from this morning, and hours of housework as well! So I walked, even the Old Boy walked some of it, but only briefly, and then he was back on his bike! How does he do it? Berrys Hill changed into Church Lane. AT the top of this road the Old Boy was waiting for me, and then explained to me that he knows where we are.

We were about a 400 hundred yards from the pub where we had had our pint! 400 yards, 400 hundred yards!!He said that we have gone in a circle! Which means that we could either carry on up and then go back down Cudham North Lane, or we could go down the hill and head for Downe Village. I quite liked the idea of going down hill! and I know Downe Village, surely its just down this road, if I remember rightly. Yes, lets turn right and go down this really, really steep hill, a hill that mad keen cyclist use for hill training, its a 20 percent! But fortunately we were going down it.

What I didn't remember, because I have always been on this road while I have been in the car, is the up hill that takes you to Downe Village! I again decided that I would walk some of this hill. And I was so glad that I did, because normally on hills, my head is down, I am concentrating on nothing but getting up there, but the Old boy called me over to the other side of the road where we saw a deer!! It was just standing there, just down the hill, in the woods, we eventually made it run, but then just five seconds after that a badger came into view! Now I have seen a badger in the wild, (alive) for only the third time in my life!

Once we were into Downe though the journey home was easy, with just a few struggling points where I slowed down, but not got off my bike.

When we were nearly home we stopped off at the local supermarket to get something extra special for a treat, after doing all those hills, we felt we deserved a little treat!!

Geeky stats, and don't forget that we did stop off for a sherbet! (About 50 minutes or so)