The View From Here - a blog

22/05/2025 – Hidden treasures

Riding 28 miles to and from the start of a long ride might seem a bit much. I thought nothing of it at 7.30am as I headed south towards the Herne Hill Velodrome for the 67-mile Southern Grit gravel event. I thought nothing of it because I was wrestling with a bigger challenge. I’d had little sleep after hosting a 12-person dinner party with after dinner karaoke which went on to the small hours. Oops.

My set up - tool keg and burrito bag - the bike was better prepped than I was

For the record, the ride was in my calendar long before the dinner party, but sometimes there’s only one day that all your mates are free and it’s the night before a big ride. I really wanted to ride some new trails and this seemed like a great opportunity.

We were greeted at HHV with coffee and croissants and I was quickly befriended by a fellow Mason rider, Mark. We chatted about our different builds, as you do, and I found out that he was both local and knew the organiser, Charlie from Hidden Tracks. I decided to fall in with his small group, reckoning his local knowledge would be handy. I wasn’t confident my karaoked brain and body would keep pace, but Mark, Nick and Sunil were all friendly and riding at sensible speeds for me.

Mason man Mark - who is a coach at HHV

Instantly I could see why Charlie had named his company Hidden Tracks; many of the trails were hard to spot and easily missed. After 8 miles with our cheerful group, my aging prostate was nagging for release. Mark had what looked like a minor mechanical, so while he fettled, I found a handy bush. I got going, but never found this friendly group again. I assumed there were ahead of me, but I guess the mechanical was more serious that I’d thought. Oops.

A strong group of Penge riders (I couldn't keep up with) featured someone with a single-speed MTB

We came through two (maybe three) golf courses, an airfield and a racecourse. There were some challenging climbs as we headed south through the Epsom Downs. I wanted a good vista for all this effort and was finally rewarded with some truly stunning views near Margery Wood.

Yours truly somewhat elated to have a view to enjoy

Another form of elation!

On we went and I freelanced through a variety of groups to the rest stop at Redhill Cycling Club, where a full table of snacks was laid on. This included fig rolls, water melon, blocks of cheese, “prawn” soft sweets and also “brain” sweets. The brains were apparently plentiful as prawn were the preferred choice. There was a kitchen doing some paid for cooked food, but I passed this up. Probably a mistake on reflection. Bars and gels and sweets and all that can start to get indigestible. Real food is needed at some point for me.

The brains were just above the bananas

For the remainder of the ride I kept catching up with or getting overtaken by two pairs of riders. Sometimes we even rode together. One pair were on well-appointed mountain bikes. I was a little jealous on a few of the sections that were a bit, shall I say, agricultural.

Totally rideable... Not!

Aside from a few muddy moments, the return leg started off pretty flat and mellow. This all changed after 10 miles as we hit several sharp climbs over the next 10 miles. Of course we needed to get back over the North Downs. I’d been trying to block that thought out.

Inevitably my hankering for real food got the better of me. I found a small supermarket in Hamsey Green and picked up a chicken wrap and a Lucozade. It was eight hours since breakfast. Another oops. My body instantly felt a bit more appreciated and I ploughed on with another 25 miles to go - plus the 14 to home, but I blocked that out for now.

I was wrung out, but managed to stay chilled out. It wasn’t a race, it wasn’t even timed. It was a ride and a ride through pretty trails. I tried to keep my focus on taking in my surroundings and that pretty much got me back to Herne Hill. But it did feel like my bike was getting a pound heavier with every passing mile.

Coming back into London it didn’t feel very urban until the last two or three miles coming through Dulwich. Charlie’s course had kept us to hidden tracks for an impressively long time. We were welcomed back to the velodrome with some wood fire pizza and IPA and a women’s race warming up on the track to watch as riders chilled out and stretched out.

I can't tell how good this tasted washed down by a brew

And finally...

My karaoke song list from Saturday:
Saint in the City - Bruce Springsteen
Peace Frog - The Doors
The Piano Has Been Drinking - Tom Waits
Don't You Want Me - Human League