The world is ever changing. Today, we flipped our group hierarchy so that the fast were slow and the slow were… slightly faster?

Since we live in a world where things can be turned on their head by the finest of margins, in our own way we opted for a small inversion ourselves.

But, as Lou Reed once sang – it’s just a temporary thing. I am pretty sure about that.

Yes, Tony was back on a Sunday ride for the first time since April and his first since breaking his collarbone in June. Meanwhile, ‘Memphis’ JohnR was back in the country after a month in the States. Both let it be known early in the ride planning stage that they would be competing for the Lanterne Rouge on today’s ride to Reigate.

Meanwhile, StuartP felt he had something to say about that.

So it was that those of us more used to sheltering in the pack found ourselves setting the pace. If pace you could actually call it.

With benign weather conditions for November (I’ve suffered worse weather at various points over many disappointing summers), we gathered at Bockett’s Farm as usual for a ride over to Reigate, a simple XC route to ease our recent absentees back into action. Our group consisted of Lloyd, Elliot, Richard, Stuart, JR, Tony and myself.

Both Tony and JR had their fast bikes and my immediate thought was that one or both of them had been sandbagging in the pre ride chat.

I’ve been riding quite a bit recently, managing 109 miles last week so its hard to tell if I’m riding fast, slow or just about right. A Friday night plugging through the sticky mud on Ranmore (with plenty of winching uphill) left me with sore legs that felt slow to warm up this morning.

Even so, our pace seemed fine as we climbed to the sawmill before dropping down toward Mickleham. From there, a steady climb up to the Gallops surprised me with the remarkable discipline Tony and JR were applying to their self appointed position in today’s group. I was more than half expecting at least one of them to drop the hammer and blast off up the climb.

I guess that will be next week.

We continued on up to Headley, climbing into increasing murk. We didn’t see more than a weak rumour of the sun today and since the route to Reigate is a steady ascent over ten miles, things became rather grey.

But, things were also pretty dry. The back of Headley had no mud to speak of, which is unusual at any time of the year. This lead to efficient progress and my legs finally loosened up as the miles passed. We briefly bumped into MattS heading in the opposite direction and passed many dog walkers and families out and about. Fortunately most seemed in a friendly enough mood.

At Reigate, we dropped down into Gatton Park, down a leaf strewn and chalky trail that we treated with caution given the time of year. Then a noodle though the trees to the stables before dropping down to Gatton Bottom and climbing back up to the tea room.

Once again, I was waiting for Tony or JR to blast off up the long climb but again their discipline was admirable. If these guys say they are going to do something, they do it! Unlike myself, susceptible as I am to both peer group pressure and any suggestion going.

I tucked in behind Lloyd on the climb, but Elliot was long gone. Lloyd’s progress was relentless until finally I found a moment near the top to pull ahead, having buzzed his wheel as I passed.

A coffee and cinnamon roll at the tea room was actually cheaper than Friday’s beer after our night ride across Ranmore. Can you believe The Queen Stage has beer at £7.10 a pint?? Admittedly a wheat beer on tap, but I shall be switching back to Shere Drop pronto. At over £5.50 it feels like a bargain! (that phenomenon is called price bracketing by the way).

It seems JR and Tony hadn’t actually been joking when they said they would bring up the rear. Our ride home saw the miles start to take their toll, in part because the dry trails meant very few stops.

I got a good thrashing on Secret Singletrack where the holly has reached intrusive levels, but not as much a whack as Stuart picked up on the same branch that did for Tony’s helmet light last time he was out.

The whole trail feels like it need a horticulturally minded trail pixie to tidy things up. Were that pixie to be Monty Don, this could be effected in a calm, authoritative manner that is the epitomy of man’s command over nature. However, I suspect a timorous and slightly hesistant approach would be equally effective if the outcome was a clear path through the holly!

By the time we reached Nower Wood, Tony was more than happy to head down Alsation, satisfied that his mountain bike recovery was underway. Meanwhile, the remaining six of us set off back to the Gallops. This approach trail is Lloyd’s sweet spot on his fat bike, once he has those big tyres up to speed he takes some catching. This proved to be the case today as he disappeared into the distance.

We dropped off the Gallops via Wizard’s Sleeve which was running really well. The leaf fall seems to have diminished or been cleared from the path, leaving a soft but reasonably grippy surface to ride on. It just felt great.

Our final effort was up and over Norbury back to the car park, passing a well-attended running event. All the runners looked rather tired and hollow eyed but I ended up wondering how we looked to them. Possibly the same but I like to think we looked much more sparkly. However, I think JR and Stuart – both now determindly vying for the Lanterne Rouge accolade – may not have been feeling as sparkly as they might have otherwise done.

All in all, I had just under 26 miles on the clock today. It was certainly a novelty to see both JR and Tony (and Stuart) suffering at the back for a change – I’m not sure I’ve seen either in that position in 15+ years of riding. I shall hope to keep my legs ticking over, but I’m pretty sure normal service will soon be resumed.

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.