Hi Puff,
Welcome!
Agree, it's a shame we don't have more mountains around London, but hey, there is still an amazing number of places to ride within easy reach. In fact, I find the biking here better/more diverse than in many other places I've been to so far, maybe this is
because there are few mountains and we just have to use what is available to play with and make the best out of it. Hence people come up with crazy ideas like eg building mountain bike parks in the middle of urban areas
Anyway, hope to see you around.
m