Forest Row and back

We were pleased to welcome a new rider from Horsham to our beginners ride start at Three Bridges Station – welcome Sandra! We had slightly overcast but pleasantly warm weather as we headed off down the Worth Way. Normally we can’t ride the tandem on to the Worth Way at the Three Bridges end, but due to some moderate reworking of the wooden chicane (someone has broken them down!) we are now able to ride up the slope to gain access to the shaded path of the NCR21 going east. We took a gentle ride up to East Grinstead where we were delighted to see Ros back on her bike and looking well and fitter than ever. She had been out on her bike for a short ride during the previous week and was now keen to get back in to regular cycling, without overdoing it. So we decided to head through the lovely old town centre of East Grinstead and then south east (descending) along the Forest Way to Forest Row. In Forest Row we observed the extravagance of two sets of lights to cross the A22 – one set for pedestrians/cyclists and another set immediately adjacent for horses. Turning right we headed up to Future Cycles and turned left in to the quiet back road through the village – a road that some of our regular riders had not visited before. We then looped left up to the tip and past our usual café, run by our Dutch friends, as we had a rare treat in store. Climbing quickly on the Forest Way back to East Grinstead we turned off to visit Ros at her new house for coffee and home-made cake! Thank you Ros for your hospitality. Ros then lead us through diverse ways (!) back to the centre of East Grinstead and then along a sequence of minor roads and bridleways to arrive back on the Worth Way by Gulledge. We noticed as we passed that this house, although having a fine stone front when viewed from the Worth Way, is in fact a much older timber framed building at the back – a building practice that I believe was quite common among rich landowners at one time (?Georgian period). Here we said au revoir to Ros as we freewheeled through Crawley Down and back in to Crawley. Slightly longer than our usual two hours, but very pleasant and relaxed in nice weather and company. And a total of 25 easy miles on this occasion (again a little more than usual for a beginners ride).

Next week we are all looking forward to visiting an airshow to be viewed from the South Downs. So bring a picnic for a 09.30 start at Horsham Park Pavilion (swimming centre) – go on, you know you want to!