Leith Hill

Typical: Sunny weather during the week when I'm stuck at work, wet and windy over the weekend when I've actually got some time to myself!

Although the rain wasn't hard, just spending three minutes in the back garden feeding my fish was enough to get wet, so I decided to wear waterproofs for the ride. Once out on the road, the wind made its presence known and kept slapping me round the face with the result that I was a couple of minutes late getting to Horsham Park Pavilions. No matter, no-one was there (well not on the cycling front anyway).

I hung around as I knew that Anton was on his way and sure enough he soon arrived having cycled the 15 miles or so from Haywards Heath. He was feeling a bit tired as he'd been on a 130 mile Audax yesterday, but I reckoned todays ride would be a nice little wind-down for him.

Shortly before 10:00hrs we set off - out of Horsham over the Golf Course and Robin Hood Lane, then across to Rowhook hill. I'd like to say I found the hill easy, but with the wind and the drag of my waterproofs on my legs, it was hard work. We turned North and then, opposite the brickworks, took the right fork along a slightly undulating road all the way to Forest Green - in the narrow parts we had to stop a couple of times to let some of the thirty or so MG cars pass that we saw going the other way. A right, a left and another right brought us on to a narrow lane that decided to do the ascent of Leith Hill in one go - it was marked as 12% up but felt a lot steeper to me. In spite of his "tiredness" Anton left me standing (well, grinding along in Granny gear) but had the decency to wait at the top. After a 50 yard breather we then had to do a sharp left and head upward for another 400 yards or so, although I had to shout to get Anton to stop as he'd shot past the car park from where I intended we could get across to Leith Hill Tower. At this point the rain started falling heavier and that, coupled with the time and terrain meant that I decided to forego the visit to the Tower and head straight to the lunch halt instead.

We sheltered under a tree as the worst of the rain passed over and watched as a policeman pulled up in a car and proceeded to walk around checking the Vehicle Tax Discs of the assembled parked cars. "Hello Lads," he said, "having a good ride?" We grinned and told him we were about to head to the pub - I'm sure I saw a brief flash of envy pass across his face....

We flashed back down the short climb we'd just done and then headed over to and through Coldharbour on the face of the slope before turning right and having a fast, if slightly sketchy, run down the narrow Henhurst Cross Lane to come out on the A29. Next we crossed over the A24 and rolled into Capel. Turning east, the wind was now behind us and we soon reached Newdigate via Trig Street.

As we locked our bikes up under the covered patio area, the heavens absolutely opened! I was most impressed by the canvas canopy - waterproof and measuring something like 8 by 6 metres it easily dealt with the rain and the strong, gusting wind. At this point I realised I'd just received a text from John V asking if we were riding - I replied we were, but by this time he'd succumbed to the (dry) delights of staying in to watch the Tour De France. We were joined for lunch by Shirley although we made the mistake of sitting in front of the large screen TV which had first the golf and then motorbike racing on - it's very distracting trying to have a conversation with a television just a few feet away, right in your line of sight.

When we were ready to leave, the sun was shining but, even before we'd unlocked the bikes, the heavens opened again! We got togged up with waterproofs and waited 10 minutes for the worst of the weather to blow over before heading off, south towards Rusper. Taking it in turns to lead, we made good progress and were soon whistling down into Ifield. We used the subway into West Green and then, just as we crossed the railway the rain came back with a vengeance. Mind you, there was so much that it felt quite cleansing. I lead us through Southgate and then as we reached Furnace Green Anton decided he would catch the train from Three Bridges rather than ride all the way back to Haywards Heath. I pointed him in the right direction and then scuttled back home to give my bike an all over spray of light oil before putting it away - I must remember to rub it down and check it out in the next day or so. I'm also curious to see how my (relatively) new Brooks saddle has coped with the wet.

Although there was a very tough climb in the middle of it, todays ride wasn't actually that hard (I'd rate it as easy to be honest) and I think I only covered just under 40 miles in total - Anton probably managed just over 45.

Next weeks ride is The Horsham Hundred. We have two 50 mile loops starting and finishing from Horsham. The morning one starts from Horsham Park Pavilions at 07:00 hrs and heads south with a tea Break at Dove's Barn Garden Centre(09:30). Arriving back in Horsham at about 12:30, we will have lunch at the Horsham Conservatory Cafe (in the Park). The afternoon loop heads north with a tea break at Capel Church (16:00) and finishes back at Horsham at about 18:30 hrs.

I (Bob) will be leading the morning loop but I'm unable to lead the afternoon one - I can however provide a map and route instructions to anyone that turns up. If you don't fancy riding all 100 miles then why not ride just the morning or just the afternoon loop?

Please get in touch with me if you need any further information - if you don't know my e-mail address or phone number, just leave a comment on this blog.