After the shortish ride circular yesterday, Rob was keen to tackle a longer route. The man does ride a road bike in South Africa almost every day and rides distances of 25 to 45 miles, so a 22-mile circular route through farmlands, forests and lanes was going to be a breeze.

The first 6 miles or so were reasonably uneventful, with lovely rides along animal & wheat farms, on dusty gravel paths. The perfect place for the XF900. We encountered a few overgrown paths full of thorns and stinging nettles, the usual deal for a ride along the North Downs.

As we headed out of Happy Valley (now named Unhappy Valley), down a steep path towards Netherne-on-the-hill, I noticed my tyre was popping off the rim. Oddly enough, it was almost the exact position it fell off six months earlier. We stopped, and I investigated the tyre. Stupidly I used a screwdriver to try and force the tyre back under the rim and, in doing so, popped the tube. Doh! Schoolboy error! So annoying!

With the tube flat, fortunately, I was carrying a pack of patches, we managed to patch up the hole and put everything back, and it all looked good.

Unfortunately, we managed another 2 miles and somewhere outside of Banstead, the tyre deflated. The patch had not worked.

I called Jo, and she came with some tools, and we managed to take the front wheel off, twist the handlebars around and get the beast of a bike into the boot of the Tesla. As Rob was not familiar with the area, I rode his bike back home.

Here was the route we had planned to ride.

The route back home