Great Evening Out on the Downs

I thought that the summer ended last week, but the last few days have been great, including today. I sneaked off work a bit early today to take out the mountain bike for a spin.

The initial route is always the same, up Longdown Lane South, through Epsom Golf Club to the Rubbing House (by Epsom Racecourse). Tonight I went down through Langley Vale and then joined Stane Street to go towards Mickelham, with some interesting slopes and terrain to ride over.

I then ventured towards Headley, taking a detour across Headley Common, then back through Headley, and across Epsom Downs (close to Tattenham Corner), then back across Epsom Golf Course, to Longdown Lane South and home.

The bike is handling a lot better now after a major service at Fudges Cycles in Epsom. Maybe I am getting a bit fitter now, but I managed to keep going up the steep bits of Stane Street, which was a first for me!

More people were out and about tonight than usual. Great weather and shortening days mean that time is running out for cycling after work! No horses out tonight, but plenty of dung to ride around. There were several cyclists and walkers exploring the beautiful countryside around Epsom Downs and Headley. The tracks have dried up well after the rain of last week, so it was great to go out for a spin.

I am not sure how many more times I will manage to go for a bike ride this year, but the outing tonight was certainly worth it! Time to replace the batteries in the lights as they will be used even more next time.

Epsom Downs Mountain Biking

Now that the weather has improved after a long cold winter, my mountain bike has been dusted down. I have managed to do several trips in the area around Epsom Downs. There are a lot of bridle paths to choose from, so it is possible to arrange a trip using various loops. The area round the Epsom racecourse is always busy, but it gets much quiter when even a few hundred yards from the racecourse. A mile away off-road from the racecourse, and you will hardly anyone!

So far I have managed to cycle in the area round Tadworth, Walton Heath, Headley and Mickleham. Some of the tracks are bit steep and narrow, but it is great fun going to places in Surrey that are not visited by many people, and keeping away from the busy roads.

Last year I cycled a lot in the area around Baarle Hertog, which is on the border between Belgium and Holland. The roads were quite, and there were several cycle tracks, and all of them were flat as a pancake!

It takes time to build up stamina when cycling off-road on hilly sections, but I hope to make the best use of the great weather to go on more cycle trips. I am quite fit, but I am taking a while to build up the speed, and to ride up the steeper sections.