The Green Man

I was doing better this week – I’d got up on time, I’d eaten my breakfast and watched United on the repeat of Match of the Day (great goal by Mr Rooney). I’d even remembered to put a skinny spare tube in my barbag, filled my waterbottle (and put it on my bike), but could I find my bike lock? No I couldn’t! I turned my bike stuff upside down but the lock still didn’t materialise. Ah well, best not be late, so it was on with the waterproofs and off, out into the rain.

Thirty-five uneventful minutes later I arrived at Horsham Park Pavilions and was met by Norman – back on his bike after several weeks off through injury (non-bike related I must point out). Norman locked our bikes together and we went into the cafe for a coffee.

A few minutes later Pete E joined us and then Anton materialised as well. A few minutes of chat and then we decided it was time to hit the road. Pete wouldn’t be riding today and had just come to the start for a coffee and a chat.

We travelled through Horsham using Depot Road and turning onto Comptons Lane I considered using Hampers Lane, but decided not to as it would also have meant using an unsurfaced bridleway and in the wet it would have been pretty messy. Instead we carried on down to Hammerpond Lane and headed east past a busy Horsham RUFC ground – I wanted to shout out an ironic “Who’d be silly enough to be out in the rain?” but resisted the temptation. The short sharp climb past Roosthole car park was hard work as was the one up to Grouse Road. At this point Norman, whose leg was feeling the strain, decided to head for home via Colgate. The ride was living up to the usual Bob trademark of being hilly and yes, straight after Grouse Road and a brief downhill, there was another short sharp shock for Anton and me.

Carrying on east and over the crossroads at Plummers Plain we soon arrived at Slaugham where the church bells were going full tilt. Shortly after we went under the A23 and Anton pointed out a car at the side of the road with it’s window wide open in the rain – he’d seen it an hour or so earlier on his way over to Horsham. As it was in the middle of nowhere, we phoned up the police non-emergency line and brought it their attention.

On reaching Staplefield we headed south on Staplefield Lane then took Mallions Lane which brought us out onto the B2115 which we then followed into Whitemans Green. Here we turned right(ish) at the mini-roundabout before turning left onto Ardingly Road (which becomes Hanlye Road). These roads were all quite busy and I was quite glad there were only two of us for me to worry about. At the end we headed downhill, past the entrance to Borde Hill Garden and up the steep little climb before turning right onto Copyhold Lane. As we approached the far end of this lane Anton asked which way we’d be turning at the end – apparently if we turned right there’d be another steep hill – guess what? Yup, that was the way we were going. As it happens, when I’d planned the route using Google Maps, my route avoided this hill by heading east along a road called Finches Lane. Unfortunately, the lane was disguised as a farm entrance and I missed it! So up the hill we went. Technically we were now lost as we weren’t on my route list and I didn’t have a map, but I knew we had to head east and I was sure we’d pick up a road I was familiar with sooner or later. We took a road with the strange name of “By Sunte” and then a road called “Finches Park Road” – I reckoned that must be near the Finches Lane on my list and sure enough we popped out onto Hickmans Lane which was the next road on my list. This road emerged on Lindfield High street where we turned left and headed north past the church and the interesting collection of houses just past it.

Our next turn took us onto Park Lane, a road I’ve never cycled on before and another uphill slog. As we came to a crest just before a bend, Anton shouted something over his shoulder that sounded like “That’s it”. That wasn’t too bad I thought, went round the bend and saw the road leap steeper up! As I ground my way up the gradient I realised that Anton had actually shouted “That’s not it”. After the road levelled out we turned left onto Keysford Lane which took us down and under the Bluebell Railway – I was hoping a train would pass but no luck. Up the other side and half a mile later we’d arrived at Horsted Keynes. We had to shelter from the wind and rain in the porch of the pub for a good twenty-odd minutes as we’d arrived too early and they don’t open their doors until bang-on midday.

As we were the first customers in the pub, we bagged the comfy chairs right by the inglenook fire and arranged our gloves and jackets out to dry. Once again the beer was really good and the food equally so. We chatted about work, the club, the Paris-Brest-Paris ride that Anton will be tackling in August and the uses for the various pieces of horse tack that were displayed around the pub. I made Anton laugh by likening the shape of the fireplace to a Puritans hat, but there was no putting it off, we had to go back out into the rain.

Anton headed south, down Lewes Road and back to Haywards Heath, whilst I headed north, past Hosted Keynes station – two hills and two miles from the village – up another hill and into Ardingly. I didn’t fancy the reservoir route with its big climb the other side, so stayed on the B-road up to Turners Hill (a gradual climb) before enjoying the mainly downhill thrash back towards Crawley. I took a shortcut along part of the Worth Way and sprayed mud all over myself before arriving in Worth. By cutting through Maidenbower I avoided any more hills and arrived back home at about 14:45 with a mere 35 miles on my speedo. I spent the next 15 mins washing the bike down and spraying a thin oil over it before putting it away.

Next weeks ride starts from Three Bridges Station at 10:00hrs and is a Morning Ride aimed at less-experienced riders. Members and non-members are welcome. We will be Home in time for lunch or there will be the option of a Crawley area lunch.