It Will Not Snow
The planned start time for this ride was 09:30am, but with the forecast for an icy start, I decided to delay things until 10:00am. This gave me some extra time, and since the A281 at Cowfold was closed (I assume due to ice from the Ice Warning sign), I followed some of my intended route back to Horsham and noted the sections with ice we’ll have to get past.
I will admit that I was in the car and not cycling, since my shoulder, even after an operation, is still not right after my Dec 2008 encounter with ice.
Arriving at HPP well before the original 09:30am start time, I quickly got my bike ready before going to wait in the café with a cuppa and pastry. Mick was already waiting, having cycled the short distance from his home. However, with the frost still evident and me not really selling the ride, with comments about patches of ice we’ll have to get past, I think I put him off. (Mick is someone else to have come off worse when his bike encountered a patch of ice a few years ago).
Shortly afterwards John V arrived, having cycled over from Crawley, but was undecided whether to continue the ride, or make his way back. The possibility of snow later in the afternoon was one of the reasons, since the lunchtime stop was some way from Crawley, the other being that he was already frozen.
While waiting and discussing options Bob, who had also cycled from Crawley, arrived. He mentioned that he’d had to get round at least one significant section of ice, hence the delay (I believe for Bob he was in fact early – but only for the revised start time).
So we sat in the warmth of the café, we discussed alterations to the route, and we discussed other cycling topics. But generally we were in no particular rush to go anywhere. So around 10:15 I decided that I’d call the ride off, and we all went our separate ways. The temperature gauge in my car read on leaving -2.0oC, and travelling home by the back roads we normally use there was a lot of ice to contend with.
So a point to Mick, John V and Bob in the Mick Horley competition. ZERO for me since I’d driven.
The reason that this ride had the note “It Will Not Snow” is because last year while eating our lunch at the LimeBurners it started snowing and we had to make a quick dash back.
The proposed route (which I’ll use next year but later in the year) is below (distance in Kms because my computer is set to Kms for Audax rides):
Kms Directions
0.00 0.00 Start HPP, HORSHAM
0.14 0.14 R @T (Hurst Rd)
0.30 0.16 2nd @ RAB (North St > Park St)
0.85 0.54 L @ Lt (Parkway)
0.99 0.14 L @ Lt (East St > Queens St > Brighton Rd) $ Brighton
2.11 1.12 9th R (Kerves Ln > Hards Hill > Kerves Ln) (Note HILL approaching – sorry)
4.43 2.32 R @ T (Colstaple Ln > Southwater St) $ SOUTHWATER
6.64 2.21 L @ T (Worthing Rd) SOUTHWATER
6.74 0.10 2nd RAB
7.12 0.38 2nd RAB
7.74 0.62 SO T/Lts
8.42 0.67 4th R on L bend pass Bus parking on L (Shipley Rd)
11.30 2.88 L @ T (A272) imm R (Pound Ln) $ Shipley
12.94 1.65 Keep L @ Grass T (Swallows Ln) $ DIAL POST
15.02 2.08 R @ T (Worthing Rd) DIAL POST $ Worthing
15.78 0.75 Stagg X SO A24 (Grinders Ln) $ ASHURST
19.92 4.14 Keep R @ Grass T (School Ln) x$ Partridge Green
20.82 0.90 R @ T (B2135) ASHURST $ Steyning
22.00 1.18 1st R (Spithandle Ln) Just before big white house
26.19 4.19 R @ T (Hole St)
28.08 1.89 Under A24 > London Rd ASHINGTON
28.22 0.14 2ND MRAB
29.15 0.93 2nd @ RAB (Billinghurst Rd B2133) $ Billinghurst
33.02 3.87 L @ T imm R (Harbolets Rd B2133) $ ADVERSANE
35.66 2.64 Becomes Adversane Ln
38.56 2.90 Stagg X SO A24 (Lordings Rd B2133) ADVERSANE $ Guildford
41.06 2.50 LUNCH LIMEBURNERS ARMS, NEWBRIDGE
41.06 0.00 LUNCH LIMEBURNERS ARMS, NEWBRIDGE
R from Limeburners
41.15 0.10 L @ T (A272) $ Petworth followed by imm R (Rowner Rd)
43.49 2.34 Becomes Okehurst Rd (Don’t turn R)
46.91 3.42 R @ T (opp BLUE SHIP PH) $ THE HAVEN
47.36 0.45 R @ T (Haven Rd) HAVEN $ Five Oaks
49.50 2.14 L @ T $ London A29
50.21 0.70 1st R (Hayes Ln)
52.43 2.22 1st MRAB
52.74 0.30 R @ T (Lyons Rd) SLINFOLD $ BROADBRIDGE HEATH
54.80 2.06 L @ T (A264 Five Oaks Rd) $ BROADBRIDGE HEATH
55.57 0.77 2nd RAB (Billinghurst Rd) $ BROADBRIDGE HEATH
56.19 0.62 L (Warnham Rd) $ Warnham
57.17 0.98 2nd R (Robin Hood Ln)
58.14 0.98 1st R $ CP Horsham. (Go over the golf course, following CP signs. Take Care)
58.88 0.74 R @ T and imm L (Spencer Pl)
59.10 0.22 Becomes Kempshot Rd
59.38 0.27 L @ T (Trafalgar Rd)
59.62 0.24 R @ T followed by imm R @ T (N Parade)
59.89 0.27 Keep L SO @ T/Lts $ Hurst Rd (on road)
60.00 0.11 L @ T/Lts (Hurst Rd) $ Hurst Rd (on road)
60.80 0.80 Finish HPP, HORSHAM
Next week’s ride is 40miles Medium to the Red Lion, Turners Hill lead by Pete S. Depart TBR at 10:00am
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
SLeigh Ride
Cripes! It’s Thursday and I haven’t written the blog for last Sunday’s ride yet …. I’ve been busy …. too many things to do ….. not had the opportunity . Well, all of those are true but the real reason is that I’ve completely lost my muse!
Normally I think of something – an event, a complaint, an enjoyable moment, a question – and pin the whole blog on that, but this week I’ve come up with nothing.
True, I’ve got out of the habit recently what with the turnout of one (me), the cancelled ride, being away for the weekend and those ventures I made into poetry but I thought all that would leave me feeling verbally refreshed and ready to dash off some scintillating prose on the joys of our club rides. No such luck. Take this week for instance, I really enjoyed the ride (it was the longest I’ve done for about a month), we had a good turnout – Mick, Barbara, Pete, Marian, John V, Richard and me as leader – the weather was sunny and dry, the route was varied and quite beautiful in places, the pub was warm and friendly with good food and excellent beer, Anton met us at the pub and there was any easy ride back home. In fact, in the big scheme of things it ticked almost all the boxes for an inspiring ride yet I’m still devoid of the literary spark. I’m pondering all this as I’m sat at work waiting for a couple of things to happen before I can continue with my current project.
I’ve just checked my e-mail – no progress there, so back to the blog.
I’m going to attempt another bit of verse, so here goes:
Another Sunday out on the Bike
With friends from Horsham and Crawley
We rode north and I added a loop
To arrive at the Plough in Leigh.
That only took me a couple of minutes (…and it shows!! ) and raises the question of how to pronounce the name of the village. Is it Leigh as in “lee” or is it Leigh as in “lie”? As you can tell from my poem, I plump for the “lee” sound, but I don’t know whether that’s correct or not. Anyone out there know for sure?
Anyway, let’s describe the route. We left Three Bridges Station and headed through the back streets of Three Bridges and then Northgate before using the Crawley Avenue underpass into the Industrial Estate. From there it was past the Beehive and onto the cyclepath through Gatwick Airport. Emerging into Horley I took us on a slightly zig-zaggy route past the Hot Air Balloon pub and then out on Meath Green Lane. This lane becomes Lonesome Lane and was notable for the really good road surface – lovely and smooth. There weren’t too many cars out either. As the lane arrived in Reigate the surface deteriorated badly and I began to wish I'd used the bridleway that John V had suggested a quarter mile earlier. Now heading west we were soon back out in the countryside and only a couple of miles from the pub. As it was only a few minutes past eleven I added a northern loop taking us over a slight hill and through some nice parkland complete with a herd of deer. The sign nearby said “Police Training Area” – uncharitably I wondered what kind of training they received there: How to arrest people protecting their own house/family/property? How to let obvious ne’er-do-wells get away with murder? How to use the company credit card for personal gain? But hey, that’s just grumpy old me talking – I’d rather see a British Bobby than any other copper from around the world, it’s just that the odd bad apple spoils things from time to time.
Anyway, off the soapbox and back on the bike. Arriving at Betchworth we turned south towards a somewhat watery sun (nice blue sky though) for a couple of miles on a slightly busy road before heading east for the final mile to pull in at the The Plough in Leigh just as the pub opened its doors. John V, Barbara and Richard weren’t stopping for lunch so we bade them farewell and then joined the regulars inside to order our pints of Sussex and various panini sandwiches or soup.
With impeccable timing Anton arrived about 30 seconds after we’d got the second round of drinks in – was he waiting outside? Only kidding. We were pleased to see him and his wife. They’d been out looking at cars and, I fancy, were a bit fed up with it, so had decided to join us for lunch. Lunchtime conversation topics were all over the place but one area revisited from last week was the question Mick posed about how much would need adding to a 40,000 km rope circling the earth in order to raise it one metre higher all round. With the benefit of a chat I had with my dad on Sunday evening I can tell you that the answer is 2pi metres. In fact, whatever units you are working in, the answer is 2pi x those units, so to raise it one foot all round, you’d need to add 2pi feet to the 40,000 kms, to raise it one km you’d add 2pi kms etc.etc.etc.
Hey, this wasn’t so hard – I’m halfway down a second page in Word!
Once we finished it was back out into the cold and the most direct route home which took us first to Parkgate, then along Partridge Lane before Mick carried on to Rusper and on home to Horsham whilst Pete, Marian and myself took Orltons Lane, Langhurst Lane and then the Rusper Road back into Crawley.
Total mileage was a little under the 35 advertised but, having been partying until 02:00 hrs on Saturday night, I was glad to get back to a warm settee in front of my glowing television screen for a late afternoon snooze.
Next weeks ride is a medium 40 miles from Horsham Park Pavilion at 09:30hrs. Led by Anton it will take a southerly loop for lunch at the Limeburners Arms just west of Billingshurst. I hope to see you there.
Normally I think of something – an event, a complaint, an enjoyable moment, a question – and pin the whole blog on that, but this week I’ve come up with nothing.
True, I’ve got out of the habit recently what with the turnout of one (me), the cancelled ride, being away for the weekend and those ventures I made into poetry but I thought all that would leave me feeling verbally refreshed and ready to dash off some scintillating prose on the joys of our club rides. No such luck. Take this week for instance, I really enjoyed the ride (it was the longest I’ve done for about a month), we had a good turnout – Mick, Barbara, Pete, Marian, John V, Richard and me as leader – the weather was sunny and dry, the route was varied and quite beautiful in places, the pub was warm and friendly with good food and excellent beer, Anton met us at the pub and there was any easy ride back home. In fact, in the big scheme of things it ticked almost all the boxes for an inspiring ride yet I’m still devoid of the literary spark. I’m pondering all this as I’m sat at work waiting for a couple of things to happen before I can continue with my current project.
I’ve just checked my e-mail – no progress there, so back to the blog.
I’m going to attempt another bit of verse, so here goes:
Another Sunday out on the Bike
With friends from Horsham and Crawley
We rode north and I added a loop
To arrive at the Plough in Leigh.
That only took me a couple of minutes (…and it shows!! ) and raises the question of how to pronounce the name of the village. Is it Leigh as in “lee” or is it Leigh as in “lie”? As you can tell from my poem, I plump for the “lee” sound, but I don’t know whether that’s correct or not. Anyone out there know for sure?
Anyway, let’s describe the route. We left Three Bridges Station and headed through the back streets of Three Bridges and then Northgate before using the Crawley Avenue underpass into the Industrial Estate. From there it was past the Beehive and onto the cyclepath through Gatwick Airport. Emerging into Horley I took us on a slightly zig-zaggy route past the Hot Air Balloon pub and then out on Meath Green Lane. This lane becomes Lonesome Lane and was notable for the really good road surface – lovely and smooth. There weren’t too many cars out either. As the lane arrived in Reigate the surface deteriorated badly and I began to wish I'd used the bridleway that John V had suggested a quarter mile earlier. Now heading west we were soon back out in the countryside and only a couple of miles from the pub. As it was only a few minutes past eleven I added a northern loop taking us over a slight hill and through some nice parkland complete with a herd of deer. The sign nearby said “Police Training Area” – uncharitably I wondered what kind of training they received there: How to arrest people protecting their own house/family/property? How to let obvious ne’er-do-wells get away with murder? How to use the company credit card for personal gain? But hey, that’s just grumpy old me talking – I’d rather see a British Bobby than any other copper from around the world, it’s just that the odd bad apple spoils things from time to time.
Anyway, off the soapbox and back on the bike. Arriving at Betchworth we turned south towards a somewhat watery sun (nice blue sky though) for a couple of miles on a slightly busy road before heading east for the final mile to pull in at the The Plough in Leigh just as the pub opened its doors. John V, Barbara and Richard weren’t stopping for lunch so we bade them farewell and then joined the regulars inside to order our pints of Sussex and various panini sandwiches or soup.
With impeccable timing Anton arrived about 30 seconds after we’d got the second round of drinks in – was he waiting outside? Only kidding. We were pleased to see him and his wife. They’d been out looking at cars and, I fancy, were a bit fed up with it, so had decided to join us for lunch. Lunchtime conversation topics were all over the place but one area revisited from last week was the question Mick posed about how much would need adding to a 40,000 km rope circling the earth in order to raise it one metre higher all round. With the benefit of a chat I had with my dad on Sunday evening I can tell you that the answer is 2pi metres. In fact, whatever units you are working in, the answer is 2pi x those units, so to raise it one foot all round, you’d need to add 2pi feet to the 40,000 kms, to raise it one km you’d add 2pi kms etc.etc.etc.
Hey, this wasn’t so hard – I’m halfway down a second page in Word!
Once we finished it was back out into the cold and the most direct route home which took us first to Parkgate, then along Partridge Lane before Mick carried on to Rusper and on home to Horsham whilst Pete, Marian and myself took Orltons Lane, Langhurst Lane and then the Rusper Road back into Crawley.
Total mileage was a little under the 35 advertised but, having been partying until 02:00 hrs on Saturday night, I was glad to get back to a warm settee in front of my glowing television screen for a late afternoon snooze.
Next weeks ride is a medium 40 miles from Horsham Park Pavilion at 09:30hrs. Led by Anton it will take a southerly loop for lunch at the Limeburners Arms just west of Billingshurst. I hope to see you there.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Morning Ride with breakfast at The Lamb, Lambs Green
Ride: Distance: 25 miles - medium
Leader: Mick
Today’s ride was in doubt due to the snow. After a big thaw and rain the ride was confirmed on Saturday.
At the start were myself, Pete S, Frank and Pat, Martin, Barbara, Anton and John V. We were expecting Bob so when I got some missed calls from him I assumed he was running late. He was but was not yet up so we agreed to meet at breakfast. Eight was not a bad turn out for January. I guess, like myself, members were keen to get out after being snowed in.
Before we started I set a question: If a rope around the world was 40,000 km long, how much longer would the rope have to be if it was 1m above the surface?
With that thought in mind we set off north and over the A264 onto Langhurstwood Road and through a flood, not too deep but expected as we had been there late last year. We then turned right into Green Lane which was more like a river than a lane.
At the end of Green Lane Anton returned back to Horsham. It was at this point we saw another cyclist coming from the direction of Hurst Hill going at a reasonable pace. It was only when we spotted the motor we realized she was power assisted. All credit to her for getting out and about.
It was then on into and through Rusper avoiding numerous potholes. I nearly came a cropper in Rusper when, try to avoid a pothole I managed to hit another one. The rest of the group seeing this managed to avoid said pothole. Just north of Rusper we turned right and then turned into Orltons Lane where we met our first ice and more potholes! It was then over The Mount and right towards The Gate. Passing said pub on our right we headed for breakfast at The Lamb, more potholes en-route!
Bob joined us for breakfast in his brand new bright red top and bag. There was a good selection of breakfasts available. I went for option 3: Apple Juice, Smoked Salmon and Scrabbled Eggs, Toast and Preserves and Coffee.
Those present were not convinced that the answer to the rope question was 6.28m (being 2xPI) and that this was the case for any diameter object as PIxD was irrelevant. Some further research was promised.
After food we headed home, 2 to Horsham and 6 to Crawley. Lambs Farm Road in Horsham seemed to be one pothole after another and the only way to avoid them was to cycle down the middle of the road. The level crossing at Littlehaven Halt was just a bad.
Did I mention potholes?
Leader: Mick
Today’s ride was in doubt due to the snow. After a big thaw and rain the ride was confirmed on Saturday.
At the start were myself, Pete S, Frank and Pat, Martin, Barbara, Anton and John V. We were expecting Bob so when I got some missed calls from him I assumed he was running late. He was but was not yet up so we agreed to meet at breakfast. Eight was not a bad turn out for January. I guess, like myself, members were keen to get out after being snowed in.
Before we started I set a question: If a rope around the world was 40,000 km long, how much longer would the rope have to be if it was 1m above the surface?
With that thought in mind we set off north and over the A264 onto Langhurstwood Road and through a flood, not too deep but expected as we had been there late last year. We then turned right into Green Lane which was more like a river than a lane.
At the end of Green Lane Anton returned back to Horsham. It was at this point we saw another cyclist coming from the direction of Hurst Hill going at a reasonable pace. It was only when we spotted the motor we realized she was power assisted. All credit to her for getting out and about.
It was then on into and through Rusper avoiding numerous potholes. I nearly came a cropper in Rusper when, try to avoid a pothole I managed to hit another one. The rest of the group seeing this managed to avoid said pothole. Just north of Rusper we turned right and then turned into Orltons Lane where we met our first ice and more potholes! It was then over The Mount and right towards The Gate. Passing said pub on our right we headed for breakfast at The Lamb, more potholes en-route!
Bob joined us for breakfast in his brand new bright red top and bag. There was a good selection of breakfasts available. I went for option 3: Apple Juice, Smoked Salmon and Scrabbled Eggs, Toast and Preserves and Coffee.
Those present were not convinced that the answer to the rope question was 6.28m (being 2xPI) and that this was the case for any diameter object as PIxD was irrelevant. Some further research was promised.
After food we headed home, 2 to Horsham and 6 to Crawley. Lambs Farm Road in Horsham seemed to be one pothole after another and the only way to avoid them was to cycle down the middle of the road. The level crossing at Littlehaven Halt was just a bad.
Did I mention potholes?
Monday, 4 January 2010
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