Andy, you're gonna get wet in those trousers...

Peter Storm packable waterproof jacket – only £22 from Blacks,
click link below for more details.

Just a brief one to say that I strolled into Blacks, the camping shop, yesterday afternoon to discuss waterproof trousers and it turns out that those Endura trousers (that Andy purchased online) are water 'repellent' but not waterproof. What's the difference? Well, in general, light rain, they will 'repell' the rainwater, but in a heavy downpour (ie when you're on a bike even a little drizzle becomes heavier) they will begin to soak through like normal trousers.

The guy in the shop told me that waterproof trousers are basically the 'over trousers' like the ones I've got. You put them on OVER your trousers and you should keep dry.

Andy's top is fine, that's waterproof. I found a North Face top in Blacks that might be worth buying, but even in non-cycling shop, they're pricey. I think it was £80 for the jacket and £50 for the waterproof trousers – that's £130!

Mind you, there's always Peter Storm! How about a waterproof jacket for just £22? Click here!

Seems like I was wrong!

Well, I'm not afraid to admit that I was wrong and it seems as if I misjudged the intentions of the Liberal Democrats. They DID go in with the Tories and Cameron has now formed a government; he is the new PM. I know that Andy and Jon will be pleased and I'm getting used to the idea, but there you have it. Only time will tell if the Con-Lib Pact is the right way ahead for the country.

Having said that, as we discussed in Hunger's End on Saturday morning, will life under Cameron be any different to life under Brown? Probably not. By and large, certainly since I've been working, many governments have come and gone. Let me see now...when I first started in work we had a Labour Government; they went out in 1979 and in walked Thatcher, then it was Major and, my memory is a little hazy but after Major it must have been Blair in 1997. And now, 13 years later, Blair and Brown have gone and we have a coalition in power – Nick Clegg and David Cameron. By and large, however, nothing has changed in real terms as far as my life is concerned. I've always existed from one month to the next where money is concerned, I've never been able to afford a new car (not that I want one) and, yes, everything just tends to carry on as normal.

As long as it doesn't affect the cycling, I don't mind.

Photograph courtesy of Top News Law.

Andy in his new clobber

A shot of Andy just after going off-road at Tandridge.

Off-road tracks – they're amazing.

Map shows a small section of our off-road route towards Godstone Green. The track passed through Castlehill Wood past three sizeable ponds, used for fishing and then followed Leigh Place Lane towards Glebe Water, another pond, through Church Town, down a more developed track bordering Bay Pond and then, of course, our final destination, Godstone Green. The above map shows how close we were to The Enterdent, the hill en route to Hunger's End in Merstham. I know for a fact that we can get virtually all the way to Merstham off-road.

The map above shows the off-road tracks from Tandridge. We had turned right from Jackass Lane, travelled down Tandridge Lane and took the track on the left just before the Barley Mow. That stretch, all the way to the A22 is open fields. Note the other tracks on the map.

May 9th 2010 – treading new ground

The route to Tandridge down Jackass Lane is yielding new routes for NoVisibleLycra and today was the best so far. I'd checked out the map and found off-road tracks linking Tandridge with Godstone so Andy and I set off to find them. While rain threatened, we avoided a soaking, much to Andy's annoyance as his Endura Hummvee cycling kit had arrived and he wanted to see if it was waterproof. I offered to throw some pond water over him when we reached Godstone Green, but for some reason he declined the offer.

How to explain this excellent cycle? Well, quite simply, we reached Tandridge we rode down the hill, past the pub, re-traced our steps, found a footpath, followed it and found ourselves in the middle of rolling hills and ploughed fields. Totally amazing! We stayed off-road all the way to Godstone Green where we sipped tea, munched on cereal bars and watched the ducks.

I can only assume that Andy did get the chance to try out his waterproof gear as it started to rain towards the end of my ride, although often I have noticed that when it's raining where I live, it's dry over Caterham way so he might still be none the wiser as to the effectiveness of his new clobber.

Blogger, by the way, is a bit annoying. Sometimes it enables me to write picture captions, other times not. This is one of those 'other times' so to explain, the top shot is the off-road path from Tandridge and the other shot, the one with the bluebells, is the same track but further along the route. 

May 8th 2010 – Merstham the long way (avoiding a soaking)

A copy of the Sun in Hunger's End, Merstham, Surrey.

Amazing! We didn't get that wet! After last week's soaking – and judging by the skies overhead – I thought I would be coming home in shiny wet trousers, but no! Okay, I was a little wet, but this was definitely a  result.

Andy and I met at Warlingham Green as usual and, as we pootled along we discussed the hung parliament and the fact that, even now, as I write this at any rate, nothing has been resolved. Will the Lib Dems go in with the Tories? Let's hope not. Why would they? I mean the two parties are not only ideologically opposed, they positively hate one another (like Manchester United and Liverpool).

Anyway, it's getting boring so I'll say no more – although when we reached the caff, Jon and Andy carried on the conversation. Perhaps we'll hear something today, who knows? Perhaps the country will lurch towards anarchy? Fine, as long as it doesn't affect our weekend cycling.

I guess the phrase 'fine drizzle' would sum it up; all the way there was a fine drizzle, which at times got a little heavier but overall it wasn't unpleasant. We stayed on the tarmac at the end of Church Road instead of the off-road bit under the motorway (I figured it would be too wet and muddy) and met Jon halfway up Rockshaw Road.

For some reason I was feeling extremely energetic. It might have been the porridge for breakfast or a good night's sleep, although I woke up around 2am and then fell asleep again. The next thing I knew it was 6am and time to get out of bed for the cycling.

Picture shows an interior shot of Hunger's End in Merstham. The drizzly weather meant that we couldn't sit in our usual seat outside. There was no sign of shaving man either. Note copy of the Sun claiming that Gordon Brown is squatting in Number 10 Downing Street. Obviously, the right wing tabloid knows nothing about politics.

A cautionary tale...

Read this story. Click Here.

Are the Endura Hummvee trousers what we're looking for?

Thanks to some digging on the internet by Andy, we've found these trousers for cycling. They look good and they don't appear to contradict our 'no visible lycra' credentials, ie they're not body-hugging, tight-fitting, racing bike material; nope, they're baggy and cool and I like them. Thoughts? Click here for more details.

Mileage note.

Photo courtesy of www.autovirt.com

The trip to Merstham the slow way is approximately 16.8 miles, that's taken from Matt's house in South Croydon. From Woodmansterne Green to Merstham is 7 miles and from Woodmansterne Green back to Matt's house is approximately six miles.

Matt's house to Merstham (slow way): 16.8 miles.
Merstham to Woodmansterne Grn: 7 miles.
Woodmansterne Green to Matt's house 6 miles.


The round trip, therefore, is, give or take, 30 miles.

Down Jackass Lane to Tandridge...

Andy at Jackass Lane. I've promised him that I will stand behind
Arse-Whip Avenue just as soon as we stumble across it.

The weather had improved on yesterday's torrential rain, but it was gloomy skies overhead and cold winds all the way to a new destination: Tandridge. We travelled down Gangers Hill, our 'portal' to new destinations, and then took a left fork down a steep hill. We crossed over the M25 slightly east of where we normally cross en route to the church at Godstone and then turned right on the A25 for about 500 yards before hanging a left into Jackass Lane.

At the end of Jackass Lane we'd arrived at what we both imagined was down town Tandridge, a sleepy little place with a pleasant church, St Peter's, and a 'no cycling' sign. We cycled up to the church as there was nothing else, no café, nothing bar a few walkers and somebody jogging. And then a fine drizzle of rain that was almost invisible.

Monument to war dead outside St Peter's in
Tandridge, Kent

It was tempting to investigate a little further, see what we could find: a covered bus stop, maybe, or a teashop, anything, but we just got that feeling there would be nothing and then, of course, a 10 per cent climb back up to the small patch of grass on which we had decided to stop and drink our tea. Checking out the iphone I found a route west which would have taken us towards Rabies Heath Lane and Bletchingley or back up through Godstone down the Enterdent, past St Nicholas Church and back towards Gangers Hill.

Instead, we went back up Jackass Lane, turned right on to the A25 and then back up Tandridge Lane for a longer and steeper climb towards Gangers. On the way up I found a track veering off to the left and vowed to investigate it later. Right now, I am looking at the map and the track cuts across open ground and then through Old Park Wood and finishes at the A22. There's likely to be a tunnel underneath the A22 which then joins up with Leigh Place Lane (also a rough track by the looks of things) and this joins up with Church Lane (Godstone) a little further south of the Church there. Interestingly, the track continues on the other side of Church Lane and joins up with Bullbeggars Lane and then goes into Godstone – so, theoretically, we could cycle to Tandridge along Jackass Lane, hang a right near the end and ride off-road all the way to Godstone.

What might be more exciting, however, would be to go down the 10 per cent hill mentioned earlier (which happens to be a continuation of Tandridge Lane), past the Barley Mow pub on the left and then, after passing a primary school on the right, there's an off-road track that goes on for miles. It joins the A22 but then runs parallel with Rabies Heath Lane (Greensand Way) through a wood and continues until it reaches Bletchingley where we normally cross the A25 and travel up towards the quarry, under the M25 and then towards Merstham down Spring Bottom Lane and Rockshaw Road.

It's quite amazing just how much off-road there is between Jackass Lane and Bletchingley. Infact, the Barley Mow at Tandridge looks good too. It sells real ale and it has a website, which is www.barleymow-tandridge.co.uk Perhaps the Barley Mow, Tandridge could be our venue for that much-considered later cycle?