Tonight’s ride was a real treat and I was happy to give myself a nice treat when I got home too…

Today was such a lovely day and even though the nights are drawing in a sunny evening can have such a lovely feel to it.

3 regular femoles planned to ride this evening and then this afternoon D’Andy said his daughter would like to join us and Paul901 said he would like to come too.

It’s always wonderful to see new faces and meet new people especially people like Paul who has invested comments to the femole’s posts so it was great to meet and put faces to names and socialise.

Well firstly D’Andy, your daughter is fantastic have you been throwing her down hills since she got rid of her stabilizers 😉 amazing young lady, I bet you love cycling with her she is great!

Paul having been riding with the moles since May this year had loads of tips he took time to share with us, his experience of riding with Astounding Adventures sounds really beneficial and it was very lovely to have such a considerate male with us who also has years of road riding experience.

We headed off from Bockett’s farm up to Polesden Lacey and took the left before Polesden House, a slow climb which leads into a swerving descent and then a loose downhill before climbing up to and past Tanners Hatch, jeez I haven’t taken that muddy section for a while, is it worse than the boring brick road, I am not sure but neither are pleasant.

Out onto Ranmore we turned left towards Denbies where we descended down into the centre of the Vineyard met by 2 very small dogs one of which was very noisy and didn’t like my bike very much. Quite miffed that I didn’t get above 22mph down there and had to keep stopping so as not to squish the “cute little animal” 😉

Here we split into 2 groups and one group went up to Box Hill and climbed the chalky climb to Stane Street to come out with a down hill down Alsation, and the other group carried along the A24 up into Bockett’s via the bridleway, up to Norbury Park, down the flinty track, up to the saw mill, down the gravel and we all met back at the Bell.

The first time this year I have needed lights and I am hoping to have sufficient lighting to continue riding through the Autumn and Winter months in the evenings.

A real treat of a ride so early in the week and meeting with new faces and not so new faces!

When I got home with a muddy bike I was reminded of a discussion about what to use when cleaning your bike and I thought “well what to eat while cleaning your bike” because I was starving, I enjoyed a nice bowl of crisps which I took into the garden with me while I hosed my bike, keeping one hand for hosing and brushing and one hand for crisps, (I didn’t want to contaminate my crisps with what I may have picked up on my bike during the ride)

A thoroughly enjoyable Tuesday night ride and I am reminded about how much information we share with each other about all sorts of things but certainly a high level of enthusiasm about what we have learned in the riding, how to approach different terrain, how to combat hills, how to look ahead downhill but only look at your front tyre when going up. We all have so many experiences and learning curves to share all with the same goal to help each other from our own experiences.

That added with encouragement and support and as always a welcome for new faces and faces we haven’t seen for some time.

Our next “outing” looks like will be Saturday morning I am expecting the Femole Sunshine to be out.

About the author

Cathie was introduced to mountain biking by Dave about 9 years ago but only really been riding regularly since May 2008 when she invested in a new hard tail (a white On-One classic Inbred), a wise investment as a result of being able to trial different bikes at Cycle Works demo day at Holmbury-St-Mary. She also rides a full suspension Giant Cypher which was this year's treat and saw many miles during the summer of 2010.

Cathie has attended skills days with Dirt Divas at Swinley Forest, she would like to improve her skills on bomb holes and her favourite trails are the ride over to Newlands corner loving "Whitedown" and a favourite trail through Denbies.

Cathie loves meeting other female riders of all fitness levels and experience and is hoping for less punctures in 2011 now that both bikes are wearing tubeless tyres!