Morning Ride

I spent Saturday afternoon cleaning and lubricating my bike as it hadn't received any attention since the soaking it received on last weeks ride. I had to pay particular attention to my saddle - it's about 8 years old now and showing it's age, so after getting wet the leather looks dull and worn and needs a good polish. Unfortunately I forgot to clean my wheel rims and when I pulled up at Three Bridges Station for the start of todays ride the brakes squealed and screamed in a most alarming manner. There were already five riders there (Pete S, Marian, Anton, Barbara and a new rider, Charlie) and they were waiting for Roz to arrive from East Grinstead. Pete was leading and had decided to use the Worth Way/Forest Way to get to Forest Row. I decided I'd prefer to tackle it using my knobbly tyres, so I arranged to go back home to 'change' and then rejoin the group at Worth Church.

Ten minutes or so later I was just approaching the Church when I met up with John V. He'd arrived at Three Bridges just after me and then popped back home to swap to a more suitable bike for the ride. A couple of minutes later everyone else rolled up, giving us a total of seven bikes and eight riders (Pete and Marian were on their tandem).

As we rode along we noticed that the path was very busy today with many walkers, joggers and cyclists. It was also a bit soft and muddy underwheel, so I was glad I'd swapped my tyres. Anton was on his mountain bike today and looking good. When we got to the little shortcut I use near Rowfant, Anton headed straight up it although I thought he might have grabbed too low a gear. I shot up it as well, shifting my weight to keep the front wheel tracking effectively .. but .. Anton had hit a tree stump and fallen off in front of me. I was too busy laughing to ride past him and he was lying there grinning like a Cheshire Cat. He'd just discovered that it's a lot less painful falling off in mud and shrubbery than on a hard, unforgiving road.

Riding on, we next passed through Crawley Down and headed on towards East Grinstead. There seems to have been a lot of maintenance work along this stretch and we soon came across a group of people in bright reflective jackets cutting back the scrub and burning the waste. On the back of one of the jackets I noticed the words "Community Payback". At the railway station, no-one rode over the bridge and down the steps - after all, what mud-besplattered oik would do that?

On reaching the High Street we turned right as usual but then at the traffic lights we turned left and used a couple of back streets to avoid the roadworks further up the High Street. As we went past Chequers Mead Hall I spotted a tower that looked like it had lost the rest of its church. Anton told me that it was in fact part of Sackville College. A couple of hundred yards later we turned back offroad onto the Forest Way and straight down a 'no-brakes' hill. When I say 'no-brakes' I'm referring to my habit of trying to use my brakes as little as possible - though I had to use them at the bottom as the trail crosses a road.

On the next section Anton went pressing ahead so I sped off to try and catch him, but after a few hundred yards he stopped - the temperature seemed to have dropped a couple of degrees and Anton needed to add another layer to keep warm. I kept going and then I noticed some tracks and wooden constructions in the woods to the right - it was a 'North Shore' style mountain bike course. This type of course uses boarding to get over boggy patches and sometimes the boarding goes up off the ground a few feet - you need a good head for heights when riding it and a very good sense of balance.

Shortly after crossing the A22 we arrived at the Riverview Cafe in Forest Row and we all sat down to tea/coffee and cake. All except me that is - as usual I was running without mudguards and covered in mud so I stood in the door area where there was a large doormat so as not to make a mess. Reading the noticeboard I noticed that the cafe stages a Classic Car meeting on the second Sunday of every month - curious, I asked what constituted a "classic" car. Apparently the current definition is any car built before 1983 although some younger cars can lay a claim to being classic. If you're interested in seeing what cars turn up, the next meeting is on March 13th.

The return trip started with Anton and me using a rough track to the left of the Forest Way. As it climbed up the embankment it was very muddy and slippy and we had to concentrate to maintain traction and forward motion. It was hard work but I was entertained to hear Anton laughing whilst he struggled to control his squirming bike. As this singletrack detour ran back down to the main route it became muddier and featured a small drop-off - I dealt with it by shifting my weight backwards and leaving the brakes alone and swept back onto the level. Anton adopted the same approach but was thwarted by a dog that stood in the middle of the track and refused to budge! Regaining the main track we got a good pedal cadence going and soon caught up with the rest of the group on the long gradient back to East Grinstead.

At the station, some muddy oaf rode up the steps and insisted on climbing the muddy bank out of the carpark not once but twice.

Next stop was Crawley Down where Anton struck off south to head back home. Not long after that we were back in Crawley and all heading home in our own directions. It was omly a short ride but we had a good turnout and an enjoyable time.

Next weeks ride also starts from Three Bridges Station at 10:00hrs. John C will be leading us over to Edenbridge and back with a possible tea stop at Lingfield. This will be a relatively easy 40 mile ride.