As poor Bess is dead, I took The PM out to play in the Surrey Hills. From the off my legs were aching from muscle soreness, don't really know why, perhaps I've been extra hard on my commutes lately. However, The PM helped me keep the pace up, she's so fast. Went up Box Hill, with it's usual heavy traffic, stopped for a breather, then down Lodgebottom Road. Then decided to go up onto Ranmore Common. Then down Critten Lane for once (I usually go up). Continued over the A246 and carried on till I hit the A3. I was thinking about going over a footbridge and eventually found the route onto it, through a car park and down a rough track. Then a bizarre series of wrong turnings on Wisley Common, not a road in sight. The PM coped well on the rough tracks, Roubaix style, but 23mm rubber can't cut it in soft sand, so had to walk some of the way. I knew I was in MTB territory as the only other people I encountered were walkers, a horse rider and a chap on a MTB. Eventually turned back and found the right road to Ripley, and took one of my normal routes back home. Forgotten how fast The PM is. She wanted to cruise in the big ring at 19.5 - 22 mph depending on wind. Bess is usually 2 - 3 mph slower. She really knows how to get up to a decent pace and stay there. The trip's average speed includes pootling about and walking in Wisley Common, so she's proper fast. I've been much slower than that this year on Bess.