Victory!

For only the second time this year, I managed to get out on my bike for one of our Sunday rides. Good job too - it was my turn to lead!
Arriving at Three Bridges Station I was greeted by Pete and Marian, Barbara and Roz. I briefly ran through my intended route and, just as we were about to go, we were very pleased to be joined by John V.

Todays ride would take us East and South of Crawley, so off we headed, up through Pound Hill and out on the Turners Hill Road. The wind was fairly strong but thankfully on our rear quarter as we made our way up the long but not steep ascent to Turners Hill. Opposite the church we stopped to regroup and get our breath back and have a little chat about various recent events. But, when we set off again, I'd only gone two yards before a big hiss announced that I'd picked up a puncture. Doh! I was dismayed to find that I only had a fat spare tube in my bag and not the skinny one I needed, so I had to do a puncture repair. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and still use the old style glue and patch method. Mind you, it worked. Even though things were a little damp, the patch stuck first time and with Pete and Marians assistance I was soon back on the road.
Leading everyone South from the crossroads I decided to cut out part of the ride as we'd lost time. So, instead of heading to West Hoathly and then using Cob Lane (complete with the incredibly steep climb at its end) to get to Ardingly, we just sped straight down the B road. Normally this mainly downhill road can be freewheeled most of the way, but now the wind was on our front quarter we had to pedal it. It wasn't too arduous though and we were soon past the Showground and into the village.

Noting that the café was open, but without enough time to stop, we headed on West out through the village, past the church and down the bumpy hill to cross the reservoir. The grind up the other side got my lungs going and I decided that it was time granny earnt her keep - easing slightly I clicked the lever and …… granny came into play as smooth as you like. I love it when my bike is working properly.

John crested first with me not far behind and the two us "warmed down" as far as the next junction. Waiting there for the others however, we were starting to get cold. Wondering if something had happened, we were about to retrace our steps when around the corner came Pete, wobbling all over the place and obviously not riding the tandem we were expecting. "Where's Marian, you've lost her!" and "Whose bike have you nicked?" we shouted as he approached. He was actually on Roz's bike and was trying to cure a gear change problem for her - having recently had a new cassette fitted, Roz was now unable to get onto the largest two or three rear cogs and consequently was finding the hills a bit of a struggle. We tried a little bit of adjusting but to no avail - I suspect the cable had stretched a bit (or the clamp had slipped slightly) but Roz was going to take it back to the bike shop that had fitted the cassette, so I didn't poke my nose in.

At this point we said goodbye to John who was now going to head north and straight back to Crawley. We however continued West and downhill to cross the second arm of the reservoir. As it was now midday (our normal pub arrival time), I gave everyone the chance of trying the pub in Balcombe or even the tearoom there, but no, all of them wanted to plough on to lunch at Staplefield - I'd bribed them with the claim that there was only one slight hill up and then a two-mile downhill to the pub. The "slight hill up" had me breathing hard by the top, but the wind made sure I soon got my lungs full of air again. Brantridge Lane was good fun and the lack of foliage on the trees meant we could easily see Ditton Place through the trees. Formerly owned by the Inner London Education Authority it has in recent years been converted into luxury apartments I believe.

Arriving at the pub, I was concerned to see the car park full - I hadn't booked a table - but the landlady managed to spirit together enough tables and chairs to accommodate us. Add to that the fact that the beer was excellent and the food even more so, and you can understand that we had a very pleasant lunch.

When we came to set off again, we noted that the wind hadn't let up at all, but that it was still relatively mild. We were now heading mainly into the wind but along a relatively sheltered road which took us under the A23, through Slaugham and past Slaugham pond.
We next passed my standby lunch halt, the Wheatsheaf at Plummers Plain, and used Hammerponds Road as far as Grouse Road. Roz was slightly surprised by the number of ponds we'd gone past today and hopefully I didn't bore her too much with my explanations of the Hammerponds and the industry they were associated with in the past.

Barbara accompanied us all the way to the top of Grouse Road before turning left and doing the run back to Horsham, whereas we turned right and followed the usual Old Brighton Road, steps, Pease Pottage Hill, K2, Tilgate and Furnace Green route home. Saying goodbye, I left (delegated?) Pete and Marian to escort Roz back to the Worth Way. Roz was todays hard rider - not only did she have the extra 20 miles of an out and back to East Grinstead on the Worth Way, but she'd had to tackle all those hills without the two or three cogs that make them easiest! Well done Roz.

Next weeks ride will likely use some of the same roads - but I do have some others up my sleeve! Leaving Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 09:30 we will be heading East to enjoy lunch at The Green Man in Horsted Keynes - last time we visited we really enoyed the food and beer there - what more excuse do you need? If we get there at the right time, we may be able to bag the comfy chairs in front of the large open fire. The round trip will be about 40 miles and I would rate it as a Medium ride with a likely finish time around 15:30hrs.