14 met at Cutty Sark Gardens/Ladywell Fields/en route on a day which sometimes threatened rain but remained dry and largely sunny. Temperatures pretty much ideal.

Took an alternative route to part of the official national cycle route at the beginning, hitting the greenery earlier and saving a couple of miles, some dreary suburban stretches and some pointless dips and climbs.

Lunched at the Inn on the Pond which sits right on the cycle route and must be a lifesaver for many a cyclist. The owners were looking forward to bumper takings from next weekend's charity ride.

Four took the opportunity to return to London at Gatwick and we settled into a steadier pace for the run to Brighton - thankfully for several, with the North Downs left behind this section has far fewer tracked sections.

Three hares sped ahead, appearing to find the pace a little slow and we assumed they'd left us far behind but it turned out they'd taken a wrong turn on a notoriously badly signed bend.

Thanks to Ian's good offices and the wonders of mobile comms (how did folks manage bike rides before?) we managed to link up again and ten made it to a chilly seafront pint before returning to London Bridge on 4 for the price of

2 deals.

Puncture tally - 2

A good ride worth repeating I think.

Sincere apologies by the way to Graham for vague advice about the terrain - the NCN Brighton run is I think OK for hybrids, tourers, many fast city bikes (mine seems to have survived) and mountain bikes but not full on racers.

Paul