Upper Warlingham - Whyteleafe - Caterham on the Hill - Home

Getting some training in for Junes big rides. Quite a tough little ride, the weather was very wet with the temperature getting down to 6 degrees C on the top of the Downs. I was quite pleased with the pull up from Whyteleafe to Caterham on the Hill.

The sharp downhill section known as Whitehill was quite scary as it was very steep, narrow, busy and wet which meant the brakes needed careful handling.

I took NCN21 round the back of Bletchingley, this route is a real off road mud-fest in the rain.

The Surly is holding up well. Wiped the drive off when I got back and re-oiled. Fridays nights pedal in the pouring rain gave the chain a rusty patina.

Thank goodness for bus shelters.

East Croydon to Oxted via Old Farleigh Rd

This trip is a little different. The weather forecast was for an extended period of rain over lunch so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out my wet weather strategy. Basically that's what I normally wear but with over-trousers and my Endura hi-vis jacket. Maybe surprisingly my Surly has hardly got wet since I bought it over 1333 km ago.


So standard bike with Ortlieb panniers. As another experiment I tried NUUN tablets in my water bottle. NUUN is just electrolytes – it is not a source of sugar or carbs. Tastes good and doesn't cloy like some energy drinks. Don't know if I really need them but it's good to try things out before a mission critical outing.

I started out with just my jacket as the rain was very light. Soon I put on the over trousers as its really started to come down. They were 'ok' certainly 'good enough' but not great. I may look for some Goretex trousers  with a more friendly lining. A zip leg like athletes trousers would be good too.

Ortlieb panniers performed faultlessy - excellent.

The main difference you notice in the wet is the bikes braking ability which isn't good. The last drop down Chalk Pit Lane was quite tricky.

There is a handy French Style coffee van at the Botley Hill Farmhouse which seems to be a bit of  a stopover point for cyclists