Weather was looking up as a small but determined group head out into the hills

With two moles down through injury and others away on their hols we were down to myself, Keith, Barrie, Philip and I think Mike (sorry, I’m not good at remembering names on first rides). Weather was good though and in an attempt to show Mike some interesting bits of our area we headed over to Abba Zabba for some of our normal riding highlights.

Barrie led the pace doing a fine job at taking over paceman position from our injured Tony. I felt my pace was still faster than normal but we later worked out that I am carrying at least 20kg more than Barrie so I’m happy with that! Over to Badger Run and Collar bone we kept a good pace on not too muddy terrain, just an odd patch here and there to keep us honest.

Conditions over at Abba Zabba were such that I was even happier than normal to show the Chicken Run section and point out BT2 and BT as we sailed passed. Numbskull was on though and I led in with Barrie following me in one long flowing run. The Spider 29er handled it well even though I had to pull wide to miss an ominous mud patch. More on the Spider in another article to come. The others followed on the gentler lines to allow them to ease themselves into this great little area.

With that behind us we pressed on the McPhersons Mount and Folly with Barrie clearing both in one smooth effort and earning himself the name of Barrie the Bastard (with a nod to the Young Ones’ Landlord). However this title is only permitted in the area of this climb. One for you to mark with you comeback, eh Tony?

We followed this with my fave descent through Denbies and on to the bridleway up the front of Box Hill. Barrie thinks he set a good time up there but I’ll have to leave him to comment on the exact time as it went clean out of my head. Again it could worry the injured Tony who currently holds the record. Box Hill was packed with cyclists and Sue said we’d missed the real rush so it must have been really packed before we got there. After a rest and some headset adjustments I took the guys down China pig with a firm warning to respect the trail that has claimed a few of us in its time. Slippery roots and lightly greased mud sent Barrie for a quick off trail excursion but overall the trail proves itself to be the best from Box Hill.

We finished the ride with a few climbs and final run down Infestation clocking up about 20 odd miles. Good ride.

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