Anton was supposed to be leading the ride but he’d sent me a text on Saturday afternoon to say that he’d had a crash and asking could I lead instead. Concerned, I quizzed him and found that, apart from a bit of road rash he was OK but he’d folded his back wheel , damaged his handlebars and scratched various other bits on his bike. His helmet had suffered abrasion but not impact damage and his head was unscathed. Apparently he’d come off towards the bottom of Cob Lane near Ardingly – just before the steep climb – and slid along the road for a good few yards!
So, at about midnight, instead of climbing into my nice comfortable bed, I was firing up Google maps and thinking up a route to take us on a 40 mile loop with The Plough at Leigh as a lunch stop. I decided I would do an anti-clockwise loop and take in a road called Haroldslea in Horley that goes past an old moat (and site of a castle I believe). I had to plot it as a walking route as a couple of parts were on cyclepaths and bridleways, but after a while I was happy and had printed off my route instructions ready for the 10 o’clock start.
Next morning, on arriving at Three Bridges Station, I was met by John C and Barbara. A minute or so later Anton arrived by car, brandishing a very bent rear wheel in one hand and a set of route instructions in the other – I hadn’t needed to be up so late knocking a route plan up. Oh bother! As he told us about his accident and explained his route to me, John V arrived so there were now seven people riding.
Anton’s route was more or less the opposite to what I’d planned and would take us in a clockwise loop. First off, we picked up NCN20 and followed it through Furnace Green. On the way my phone rang - it was Pete S asking where we were! He, Frank and Pat were all at Horsham Park Pavilion wondering when the ride leader would turn up! I arranged to meet them at Colgate and continued on through Tilgate to K2. Then it was up Pease Pottage Hill and on through Pease Pottage on the Forest Road to Colgate. The pub is still closed but the sign is still there:
Bang on cue, Pete, Frank and Pat turned up and so, taking the road opposite the pub, we sped down to and crossed the A264 into Faygate before climbing up the ridge and left onto Wimlands Lane. Wimland Road then took us nearly to Rusper where we headed south then turned west onto Green Lane. The weather was nice and sunny, as can be seen in this picture taken against the light:
Friday Street took us on past the pub and up to Muggeridge’s Hill – guess what the name of the pub is?
Reaching Capel we glided through the village and left on Vicarage Lane which becomes Misbrooks Green Road as it passes Temple Lane. I was recently reading a history of Sussex and in a chapter about the history of non-conformism in the area, it mentioned there was a Quaker meeting house down that lane – strange in that the Quakers are not into things like temples and cathedrals or even elaborate chuches. At this point we were following part of last weeks route, but at Newdigate we diverged and headed north northwest on Henfold Lane. We were heading for the furthest point on the loop, a lane that Anton assured me was really good but just two miles short of it the troops were getting restless and pointed out that we were late for lunch. I decided to take a short cut and we turned right onto Red Lane. This became Brockenhurst Lane and at the end Pete advised we needed to turn right (then first left) to get to Leigh. Most of us followed this route but the two Johns opted for a quieter but longer route to the north. Two miles later, in bright sunshine, we pulled up at The Plough in Leigh.
The car park was full of vintage sports cars – MG’s, Austin-Healeys, Sprites etc.so I was worried we’d struggle to find somewhere to sit and would wait ages to get served but, having said goodbye to the two Johns and Pete who were all heading straight back to Crawley, when I got to the bar I was served straight away and got my food order in with no bother. Barbara and I sat out in the sheltered patio area where we’d parked the bikes, soaking up the sun whilst Frank and Pat decided to find a table indoors as they were going to have a full roast dinner – roast dinners don’t really lend themselves to alfresco dining.
Our sandwiches took a while to come out – as you can see, order number 48 has not yet been delivered but I’ve already finished my pint!
Whilst waiting, I strolled around looking at some of the cars and taking pictures:
Once we’d finished our sandwiches (and a second pint), we were ready to go, however, Frank and Pat had only just been served. They were quite happy for us to go ahead of them and they could make their own way home, so off we set. We headed south along Smalls Hill Lane, then straight over the crossroad by The Fox Revived and then on down into Charlwood. From here we took the Ifield Road and, contrary to Anton’s route plan, we didn’t take Prestwood Lane, the Mount and Burntwood Lane but used Ifield Wood (Bonwycks Lane) instead. On reaching the Rusper Road, Barbara turned right to go up to Rusper and then back into Horsham. Meanwhile I turned left and went back home via Ifield and Goffs Park.
Next weeks ride starts from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 10:00 hrs and is entitled Autumn Tints. It’s a relatively short ride of about 30 miles although there will be a couple of hills.
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