To the Tatsfield Churchyard...

Having returned from Poland on Friday evening, I figured that a planned ride to Flowers Farm for tea and cake might be a bridge too far, bearing in mind the huge climb on the return journey to reach The Ridge. Not only that, the weather was hot and had been so all week. The thought of such a hill on such a sweltering day filled me with dread so we decided that we'd ride to the churchyard – the fast way.

The Tatsfield Churchyard, Saturday 17 June 2017

The journey, as you might expect, was pretty uneventful. I was running about 15 minutes late, but that was fine and when we reached our destination, instead of climbing the steps leading up to the churchyard from Clarks Lane, we followed the road around to the front entrance of the church, which was a hard uphill slog, and then cycled round to where the benches look out across the headstones towards the south downs shimmering in the hazy summer sky.

Out came the tea and the biscuits and we tried to keep our conversation away from politics, and largely succeeded, talking mainly about my time in Poland.

There's nothing better than the churchyard on a hot day, but soon that moment came when we had to cycle back home. I packed up the flask, the milk and my cup and soon we were heading down the steps towards Clarks Lane and the uphill ride to Botley Hill, followed by the fast ride along the 269 towards Warlingham where we parted company.

Sunday morning...
We had planned to ride to Flowers Farm this morning, Sunday 18th June, but Andy aborted and signed off with the obligatory "enjoy your ride" – although, sadly, I didn't. The alarm hadn't gone off and I laid in bed until 0825hrs. It's now just over two hours later, I've eaten breakfast and the sun is already scorching the back lawn. I'm considering a ride around the block, purely to provide some exercise, but I can't see my travelling far in the heat, although I might venture out later when the sun cools a little.