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Right, firstly I'm claiming credit for the sun that we have had this week. After getting soaked the week before Easter five commutes in a row I finally went and purchased a set of Crud mudguards for the commute bike. This of course guaranteed that the rain would end and lo and behold, yes it has anf the fine weather is still holding

So for £23-99 I will gladly buy a bit of sun. The guards are still sitting in the packaging where hopefully they will stay until November.

And it’s amazing what difference a weeks sun makes to the trails. After last weeks slog at Leith Hill the local trails were bone dry this morning.

Davebus had planned a longer ride heading towards Ranmore Common and we took the fast route along the NDW, down Alsation (which was really, really fast today), past Bockett’s Farm and along the Admiral Track passing Polesden Lacey before tipping up on Ranmore Common.

We were joined by Chas, a long-time forum lurker who had finally arranged to join us for a ride and he kept pace with us to Ranmore on his Specialized Epic although there was definitely some hard breathing going on!

Once at Ranmore the trails turned from XC to more technical and we visited the Abba Zabba to Blind Terror Two trail complex.

As usual, there were a few refusals (we never encourage anyone to ride anything they aren’t comfortable with) and we made it to Blind Terror Two all in one piece. A few more of us than usual rode this steep and fast descent and Chas decided to follow. He rode the descent well but forgot to utilise the brakes on the exit and went into the tricky little S-bend at the bottom far too fast and went over onto his side clanging his helmet, ribs and shins on the ground, narrowly avoiding a nasty looking stump at the side of the trail.

Luckily Dr. Bus was on hand to attend and patch him up with some Savlon and a paracetomol or two and after a suitable pause to ensure full recovery and having given his bike the once over we continued on our way, skirting Westcott to return via the long climb up Pilgrim’s Way and then down to Box Hill for the final drag up Stane Street and back to Ashtead.

Terry was also eying Keith's titanium Cotic hardtail enviously. Singlespeeded and with carbon accessories this was fast and light and Terry swapped his Custard yellow Cotic with Keith for a few miles and was left trying to come up with arguments as to how he could persuade hs wife that he needed another bike. I then took the opportunity to swap with Terry and for him to try out the Prince Albert whilst I had a go on the Cotic. This too was a much lighter build than the PAS and felt good on the uphill and on the flat but once you pointed it downhill it was far too skittish for me.

A few adjustments to the controls are recommended too Terry, gears and brake levers in an inch and saddle level (get rid of that cheap old seatpost you have and get a decent two-bolt seatpost to ensure you can choose a position and stick with it).

A reasonable distance of 24 miles plus my 10 miles to and from the start point in Ashtead made it a decent ride. Here's hoping we havent put Chas off and I'm looking forward to next week's ride already.

Another glorious week of sunshine and as promised, the trails were studly and buff and turning to dust in places and it's only April. I'm riding on a Saturday this week as I was supposed to be picking up my wife and youngest son from Gatwick on the Sunday except that has all been cancelled due to the volcano erupting 1,000 km north of us (No Iceland, we said send cash!).

A guest appearance too from the cockerney double act, Chas n Dave who almost slow the ride down with their constant Rabbit. Why don't you give it a rest? I dunno, there's no pleasing you.

And we all go Snooker Loopy on the gnarly trails around Leith Hill (actually, that's a trail name just looking for a trail if ever I saw one).

We have ridden a similar route a number of times over the last year or so but I throw in a few different sections of singletrack just to keep it fresh.

We head over towards Deliverance and I am leading the group through the network of alternative lines that are near the cricket pitch.

I'm riding pretty fast with Robin on my tail when suddenly I roll over a mound that has a much larger and sharper drop on the other side than I bargained for. I am just thinking 'this is it, I'm gonna be over the bars' when my Vanilla forks save me and allow me to ride it out. Robin is over too and has the same experience, but it's a Revelation for him (that's a Rock Shox pun by the way, he has a lovely new set on his Santa Cruz Chameleon) and I manage to warn the other riders following.

But that's the reason we pay £300-£400 for suspension forks, to get us out of trouble on occasions like that.

At the top of Deliverance we hook up with Steve, Mark and Andy who are out for a roll around the hills and they follow us through the next few sections and pretty clearly enjoy riding all the trails that we show them.

At the end of Slidewinder, we have all made the descent and are just about to ride off when Stef decides to take an alternative line around some muddy trails. Somehow he gets stuck in a really boggy section and his bike goes in up to the top of the forks and Stef is in there knee high and struggling to get out. It takes three of us to haul him out.

We say goodbye to Steve, Mark and Andy who are heading to Peaslake to hook up with some other riders and head back to the Tower for Windy Willow and Chocolate Jesus then heading via the quarry and back to the car.

A really fun ride in wonderful weather.

Oh and don't miss the latest video showing the highlights of my daily commute to work in Canary Wharf. I'm riding this four days a week now so that's 144 road miles covered before my weekend ride. I tell you what, before I started riding bikes I thought 'The Wall' was an album by Pink Floyd.

It's the hottest weekend of the year so far and with me at a loose end being 'home alone' with my family still stuck in Majorca (so don't feel too sorry for them) I am riding both days. First up a small group of us ride Leith Hill and thanks to Nick's prompting we go exploring and discover some exciting new trails.

The weather is hot, there's no wind and we see hardly any other riders out on the hills even though there is a Wiggle sponsored 4-hills (including Ranmore Common) sportive going on today.

Some great riding on a great day out in the sun. This was one of the years good riding days covering Summer Lightning, Windy Willow and Chocolate Jesus in a 13 mile sunny singletrack-fest.

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