Crawley 100

One hundred miles. Hmmm, at our usual rate that means 10 hours in the saddle, better plan the ride to have an early start.

Well, that was the thinking that saw me hanging around Three Bridges Station at 07:00hrs on Sunday 22nd July. Ten minutes later and I was still on my own and getting cold - time to start riding.

In planning the route for the Crawley 100 I based it on the route we used in 2010 but with a few small amendments to add some of my favourite lanes. First off though, the route took me through Furnace Green and Tilgate to the K2 Leisure centre. Then came the first climb of the day, up Pease Pottage Hill. By now I was nice and warm and got a good spin rate going as I travelled down Grouse Road. It was a glorious morning and I should have stopped to take some photos (the Hammer Pond looked particularly scenic) but I was enjoying the riding! Eventually I did stop and I took this picture of the church at Doomsday Green:

Now the route headed in a more southerly direction along Sedgwick (formerly Magpie) Lane before heading east through Maplehurst and then going south once more to cross the A272 and head on down to Littleworth. I was tiring a little now and, as I rode along the A281 several cyclists went past me - I sped up and managed to catch their tail for about a mile but their speed of 22mph was proving a bit hard and emptying my tank quicker than I could afford, so I had to drop back. However, shortly after I turned onto the B2118 I passed them (they were stopped at the side of the road, discussing their route) and for the next mile and a bit I was riding too fast again as I tried to preserve my dignity and travel at a similar speed to them (and not get overtaken again). Was I glad when I could turn off onto the Wineham Road and ease my pedal rate!  I cruised up through Wineham and then turned into Bob Lane all the while thinking about breakfast which was just a few minutes away. I was woken from my thoughts as the cyclists from earlier passed me again. This time I had a quick chat with them and found that they were on a "short", 50 mile training run. Where they were from and where they were heading I've no idea! However I'd now crossed the A23 and pulled up at the breakfast stop, the Little Chef at Hickstead.

Half an hour later, comfortably outside a coffee and a teacake, it was time to get back on the bike. I headed east on the cycle route beside the A2300 and then turned north on a very quiet lane. This crossed the A272 and headed up hill through the woods near Bolney. Reaching the ridge I then headed east to Whitemans Green and on to Borde Hill. After a short climb the route crossed over the London to Brighton mainline and then headed on up to Ardingly.












Here I had a short breather to get ready for the next part of the ride: a breathtaking descent followed by a lung-busting climb to get me over Ardingly reservoir. From there it was a peaceful recovery ride (although slightly up) along Back Lane. As I rode along here I saw a bearded bloke with a camera acting strangely just ahead of me. I stopped and asked what was up - he responded by pointing out a dragonfly sitting on a flower. I think he said it was a Great-Ringed Dragonfly. I stood and watched it for a couple of minutes before climbing back onto the saddle.

Just before Turners Hill I turned left and sped down past Tulleys Farm and back into Crawley using the Worth Way to get over the M23 before pulling up at home for a quick adjustment to my badly juddering brakes. The cause of the juddering? A big wad of grease had been flung from my recently regreased hub and had landed on the rim! I soon had it clean and working properly and headed over to the lunch stop at Stepneys cafe at Maidenbower Pavilion.

Lunch was pleasantly spent sitting in the shade looking out over the park. I was ready for the restart half an hour before the published time, but thought I'd better wait in case any was just going to do the afternoon fifty miles. No one did, so I set off up through Maidenbower to Three Bridges Station - no one there either - ah well, let's get going again.

I followed NCN21 out of Crawley through Three Bridges, Northgate, the Industrial Estate and the airport. Once in Horley I headed past the Air Balloon pub and on to Meath reen Lane. Now I was back in the countryside and the sun was playing a little hide and seek in the clouds, the road was very smooth and I was really enjoying the ride. A safe crossing of the A217 and I was soon through the southern outskirts of Reigate and the sun had pushed most of the clouds away. In order to get the afternoon mileage correct I'd put a little extra loop in this part of the ride and I had to resist the temptation to cut it off. My integrity was rewarded with the sight of two-thirds distance coming up on my speedo - the red mark on the map shows where it was, the speedo picture shows 66.67 miles for the trip (it should have been 66.66 but it flipped over before I could stop:






































Psychologically this was a good point for me and I had a tea break coming up but as I approached my next right turn there were some people standing in the road ahead. "What's up?" I asked. "Cycle race." Came the reply. "Can I use the road as well?" "Yes, but watch them go by first." At that moment a group of some twenty-odd women cyclists raced by, barely slowing for the corner. Sheepishly I followed in their tracks. Fortunately there weren't many spectators to revel in the contrast between the sleek, speedy ladies and the bearded, plodding slowcoach. However, a couple of miles later I realised that the ladies were doing a circuit of 6 laps and were likely to catch me up soon, so I upped my pace a bit and managed to keep between 15 & 20 mph until I left their route at Newdigate - they never caught me!

From Newdigate it was west along Trig Street and then and then down to Capel for afternoon tea at the Church:











A cup of tea and a big slice of cake was just what the doctor ordered and I enjoyed sitting in the sun outside the front of the church and chatting with a fellow cyclist. The Olympics, local churches and the Forty-Plus Cycling Club were our main topics of conversation. My mileage reading at the tea stop was exactly 75 miles, so I was very happy and confident that I would clock up the full 100 miles - mind you, I also knew there were a few hills yet to be climbed!

The next bit of the ride took me over the A24 and then down Weare Street - absolutely perfect - no traffic, sunlight dappling through the trees, clean tarmac and no dogs! Then over the A29 and the short stiff climb up to the pub at Oakwoodhill. Here there was some sort of jamboree of V8 muscle cars - lot's of American cars in evidence, some British modifieds, but my favourite was the plain and simple Scooby STI with a loud exhaust burble - gotta love the sound of that flat four!

Next hill was Rowhook Hill but down not up!  Much better and allowed me to hit 40mph for the only time this day. I used the familiar route into Horsham but, having crossed the golf course, I turned right and travlled through a resdidential area before going through the town centre and out on the Brighton Road. Next I forked left and eventually took the right turn to head to Doomsday Green. Time for another photo - compare this one with the one I took this morning from (almost) exactly the same spot:










Not far to go now, but the small hills were starting to get me - granny ring was earning her keep! Although the route now went up Grouse Road, the obvious route back was too short so a deviation was needed. I headed across to Colgate and then up and over Tower Hill for a fast blast down to the A264. This road was fairly quiet and I managed to get across quickly to face the last climb of the day, the drag up from Faygate to Wimlands Lane. From there it was downhill to and past Lambs Green and then just the level (but twisty) Rusper Road back into Crawley. I used the subway from Ifield to West Green, then Springfield Road and through Southgate before arriving at Furnace Green and home with 101.6 miles on the clock.  Done it!

I was very pleased with my achievement and also with the route, although I think I'll make another couple of tweaks to it before we run it again in 2014.

Next weeks ride (29th July) will be to Amberley from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 09:30hrs and should be about 40 miles of medium level cycling.