It seems an age since we had proper snow here in Surrey, we've had the odd small amount over the past few years but nothing like that which we experianced this week.

Having been out on 2 short rides on Saturday and Sunday last weekend due to a combination of lack of motivation and interest, it was wuith renewed vigour that I set off up to Leith Hill on Monday to enjoy a long overdue snow ride.

I had arranged to meet up with George, Charlie, Mike and Wendy at the Plough Coldharbour at 4.30. I decided to leave home at about 3 and drop in at my mums house to check all was ok with her in the snow. Riding on the road for the 1st couple of miles wasn't much fun but as soon as I headed off road into Redlands Wood it was magical.

I headed on through the woods stopping for the occasional picture with my tyres crunching through the fresh snow. It was hard work but very enjoyable. I decided to head over Coldharbour lane and take a look at the trails on the other side. Here it was quieter and some of the trails had virgin snow except for the odd animal track.

Time was passing so I headed on to my mums and had a warming cup of tea with her by the log fire. I then nipped over to the Plough where I enjoyed a pint and half of Tallywacker with a few locals before the others all turned up.

Mike, Wendy, George and Charlie all eventually arrived and we headed straight off into the woods. The riding was fab, the trails had seen a few riders before us judging by the tyre marks but many. The snow was about 6 inches or so deep and grip wasn't a problem. We headed down Summer Lightning to start with which was great and then meandered around loads of bits of singletrack eventually ending up at Coldharbour Cricket pitch.

Mike above and Wendy below.

From the Cricket Pitch we headed off over to the Dukes Warren where we desended then climbed up the other side to join the end of Caspers. From here we followed the trail up and played around on a few sections of singletrack eventually stopping at the tower.

From the tower it was decided that a pint at the Plough was again in order so back we headed. We hadn't seen another sole out biking all evening and eventually entered the pub to warm up by the fire and sink another beer or two.

Sadly we eventually had to leave the warmth and head for home. A great ride and enjoyable evening was had by all and at last after years of waiting we can finally say we had a proper snow ride.