Sometimes it doesn't always go to plan. Darren and I set off with hours in hand to get down to Surrey for last week's demo trip. The idea was to get checked into the hotel in plenty of time, grab a bite to eat, kit up and head over to Peaslake with spare time for the usual car park faff. However the M1 and M25 conspired against us. Barely 30 minutes down the road from Chesterfield we hit traffic, and what should have been a 3.5 hour drive turned into a 7 hour mission through crawling Friday traffic.

We arrived mere minutes before we'd planned to hit the trails, to an eager group of Cotic owners in the sweltering Peaslake car park, keen for a Cotic CC ride. There is nothing like a bike ride to take all your troubles away though, and as soon as we began spinning through the village and up the first climb, we'd all but forgotten our full day behind the wheel.

The UK has been experiencing its driest spring for decades, and while it feels like droughts and hose pipe bans may be featuring in our near future, it has meant even worst draining trails are buff dry and rolling fast. Most of the group had very little experience of the trails around Peaslake, so we hit a classic first. Yoghurt Pots is notorious for holding water, its roller-coaster vibe of dips and crests means it holds water pretty much all the time in its low spots, giving the trail its name as it usually has gloopy, stagnant puddles in several places. Not today though, even the deepest craters on this Surrey classic were dry, bringing speed and grins to everyone.

Two more of the Surrey Hill's greatest hits followed, Telegraph Row and the crowd pleaser that is Barry Knows Best. Despite the thousands of tyres that roll down these trails every year, they hold up surprisingly well and still put a smile on every riders face, especially when you're hanging onto the back wheel of the rider in front on such a glorious summer evening.

For the second part of the ride, we crossed back over the road and up a frankly disgusting climb. Doing most of my riding around Sheffield and the Peak District I'm used to pedalling up steep and technical trails, so for a southern Cotic CC ride I had to include something to break up the nice cruise-y fire road spins and remind myself of home! The downside of the hard way up is heart rates hitting the roof and conversation stopping; the upside is that height is very quickly re-gained, and we were soon flowing down more singletrack gems and chatting away again.

Next up was Captain Clunk, one of my favourite trails in the area with its fast berms, floaty jumps and a sting in its tail with a steep and loose finish. Its always fun to push the limits of my SolarisMAX with it's more XC focussed build, it constantly amazes me what I can get away with on a 120mm hardtail with lightweight parts. The last trail was John The Baptist, a long contour hugging ribbon of singletrack which has had a few features added in recent years, including a couple of jumps which are perfectly roll-able. However, with the undergrowth somewhat obscuring my line of sight, the first one sprung up on me a bit sooner than I expected, while I was going too quick to roll them. A last minute pull and I sailed over it to a smooth landing, pleasantly surprised! The exact same thing happened just a few seconds later, maybe I hadn't remembered the trail as well as I'd thought! Thankfully the dry conditions and fast rolling Maxxis Forekaster/Rekon tyre combo meant I had plenty of speed, and the local trail builder's spade work flattered my technique, making me feel like a hero.

The trail dropped us right back in the car park, which we promptly rode straight through and sat outside the pub. Low strength hazy pale ales in the dying light of the longest day, a pretty much perfect way to end a ride.

Sam.