Whilst I stood with Matt, sheltering from the rain outside the refreshment area, looking out onto a calm but pock marked lake where only ducks feared to venture and Swifts swooped low, two observations came to mind.

1. It was wet. Very wet.
2. Portion Control was poor.

A third observation joined these slightly later;

3. Wind in the gents was very strong…

So lets look at these points in detail and see what relevance there is for the average MTB rider from the Surrey Hills.

It was wet. Very wet.

Matt’s already covered this but I feel I can add some weight to the foundations of his argument.
Most of the weight was in my soaked and mud covered clothing. Granted this was partially offset by the loss in weight from the brake pads in the rear of the Five but probably not to any significant degree. Floats might have been a wise choice for certain puddles on the route.

Portion Control was poor.

Maybe I’m spoiled. Maybe I have high expectations as I am, after all, used to Sue’s fine offerings at the top of Box Hill, but I find that the refeshment counter at Bedgebury is not sufficiently aware of how hungry Mountain Bike riders from the Surrey Hills can be.
On our first visit the flapjack was about a 3^rd of what I would expect from the National Trust at Box Hill. Today, there was no flapjack but the portions were getting better. A piece of chocolate and digestive cake was about 50% bigger than the flapjack and a piece of banana and raison cake was approaching the size of what I was expecting.
I hasten to add that I can’t fault the quality, but I need to feel a bit more width, my boy…

Wind in the gents was very strong…

No, I hadn’t had a curry the night before. The facilities were remarkably clean but I have to comment on the hand dryers.
It is possible that a number of jet aircraft are missing their engines somewhere and they’ve been fitted as hand dryers in Bedgebury instead. I’ve seldom seen the skin on my hands flapping in such rhythmic motions as happened here. It’s probably best not to use these dryers if you had an open wound in case it tears your hand off, and if you had any ideas of vacating the shower and using them to dry your tackle, think again!!

About the author

Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.

He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.

Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit