Off road from Box Hill
Posted on Monday 21 May 2007 by Mike Oliver
My own stupidity amazes even myself sometimes! Although I’ve caught the train to Box Hill many times before, always from Victoria, on this occasion my autopilot took me to Waterloo! Fortunately I noticed a missed call on my mobile, rang back and spoke to Charlie at Victoria who was wondering where I was. Jumped on the next train to Clapham Junction in the hope of meeting the Box Hill train but at Clapham there are too many platforms and not enough information (and I’d probably missed it anyway!) so I caught one to Leatherhead and cycled the last couple of miles to Box Hill. Only 20 minutes late in the end, half of which would probably have been lost to faffing anyway!
The ride itself was drier than I’d expected after the recent rain. A leisurely off-road climb to the top of Box Hill was swiftly followed by a steep, narrow, tree-rooted descent which we all took gently and got down without falling. After a few miles of flattish on-road we took a track across Holmwood Common which wasn’t as muddy as usual. Then a short sharp climb up into Redlands Wood. When I reccied and did this ride last year the route I hoped to take was blocked off and I found another, slightly longer one. This year I saw that my original planned route was open and was faced with a “should I stick with the route I know or try the more direct one” decision. Of course I gambled, and lost, which neatly summed up our situation a few minutes later! However, by following my nose, and scrambling up a couple of steep slopes with bikes in hand, we eventually emerged onto the road exactly where I had intended! This was only a couple of minutes away from the pub (The Plough at Coldharbour) where a good lunch and some home-brewed beer was had.
Roy headed off home after lunch and the rest of us continued uphill to Leith Hill Tower. Unfortunately it was too hazy to get a Cup Final day view of the Wembley arch but the views were still pretty good. The only way from there is down and we were soon at Holmbury St. Mary where Robert left us to do some exploring. The three of us (Charlie, Marianne and myself) continued on through Peaslake to Abinger Hammer where we took tea. Very idyllic it was too - in a small garden in the sunshine with a cricket match going on over the road.
After that it was yet another climb up onto Ranmore Common, past the chuch and then a final off-road descent to Box Hill station. All in all an excellent day after a bad start - and capped by not having to clean boots, bike and bag when I got home!