It's that time of year again when the clocks go forward and we have one hour less in bed. It was hard work getting motivated to go riding but hey, it's what I do on a Sunday.
With a Horsham start, I'd arranged to meet Gordon at Pease Pottage and ride over with him. This makes the journey seem a little easier although I noticed I was measuring my pace against his and coming to the conclusion that I seem to be getting unfitter :-(
I would like to report that there were hoards of people to meet us at Horsham, all eager to get out there in the countryside on their bikes.
There weren't. No-one else turned up. As we waited around just in case, the static bikes in the gym above us probably wasted another 10 miles of effort going nowhere. Amazingly, none of those riders decided to leave the warm gym behind them and join us for some real-world cycling. Ah well, their loss. Off we went - out on the Brighton Road and then south down Kerves Lane (down until it goes up that is). Left at the top and then bear right past Sedgwick Lane to cruise on down to Copsale. Is The Bridge Inn going to reopen as a pub or as a private dwelling? Does anyone know?
Like last week, the beauty of there only being Gordon and I out on a ride is that neither of us is scared of a bit of off-road (even though I was running on slicks), so we next popped onto the Downs Link which although a bit muddy and grimy in places was easily rideable and not long afterwards we arrived in Partridge Green. The sun was shining from a nearly clear sky and the pub had just opened so we stopped at The Partridge and sat in a sunny courtyard sheltered from the wind. Gordon had a coffee but I was spoilt for choice as there were about seven real ales on tap (five from the nearby Dark Star brewery). I felt it was a bit too cold for a Hophead so opted for their Best Bitter - good choice, absolutely the right beer to sup outdoors on a crisp day but with a bright sun warming (defrosting) my feet and legs.
All too soon the pint was finished and it was time to move on. As all of the riders were from Crawley I decided to head straight back there and not return through Horsham. So we went up through Littleworth, took the first right, crossed the A272 and headed on up Burnthouse Lane and then Newells Lane. Turning right onto the A281 then left up to Lower Beeding, we next took Church Lane, past another brewery (Kissingate) before swooping down over the Hammerpond and climbing up to Grouse Road. The sun was still out but the bitingly cold wind was in our face all the way up Grouse Road. Soon after reaching Pease Pottage Gordon was safely home and so was I a few minutes later. It had been an enjoyable ride of about only 30 miles and I was home to join the rest of my family for a roast dinner - result!
Our next ride is a Horsham Pavilion in the Park start at 10:00hrs on Sunday 7th April. We will head down to The RSPB centre at Wiggonholt for 11's and join our other West Sussex CTC groups for the first DA Event of the year, The Freewheel. This will be held at the same place as last year, Nutbourne Road, before we enjoy lunch at The Rising Sun in Nutbourne. Come along and join in the fun - to be good at the Freewheel it helps if you're a bit on the heavy side and don't know how to use your brakes :-) I qualify on both counts.
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Will it ever end?
Cold, cold, cold! In fact it's so cold the ink seems frozen in my pen (or at least that's my attempted excuse for being so sluggish in the production of these blog entries).
What have we been up to this last couple of weeks? Well, in spite of the weather we've managed a ride every Sunday.
On the 17th March we had a Horsham start that took us North out of Horsham up Langhurstwood Road and Friday Street to Rusper. We continued north and used Partridge Lane to Parkgate. Broad Lane and Clayhill Road took us on to Leigh. After that a combination of Church Road, Flanchford Road, Clayhall Lane, Slipshatch Road and Whitehall Lane led us to Reigate Garden Centre and hot food and drink. Just what we needed. It seemed colder than ever when we went back outside to our bikes, so we decided on a fairly direct route home. We used a convenient Bridleway cut-through (concrete farm track) to reach Lonesome Lane and were soon in Horley. From here we headed across to Povey Cross where Mick, our only attendee from Horsham, left us to return to Horsham via Charlwood. The rest of us used the airport perimeter road to get to NCN21 as it passed under the South Terminal and returned to Crawley via the Industrial estate and then Northgate/Three Bridges. We all clocked up about 32 miles on what was a very cold day.
The following week was even colder with a very raw wind. With a Three Bridges start, I wasn't expecting much of a turnout and was secretly hoping I could get back to my warm bed as I stood waiting, swinging my arms and stamping my feet in a vain attempt to keep from freezing. Then Gordon turned up and I had to start thinking about the ride again. Gordon got a cup of tea and I decided the day warranted knobbly tyres rather than the slicks my bike was clad in. I headed off home to change whilst Gordon drank his tea and kept an eye open for any other riders. No-one else turned up , so Gordon and I met up in Furnace Green and headed out under the railway, through Maidenbower and onto the Worth Way. This was a good idea as the trees afforded us some protection from the wind and we were fairly comfortable as we kept up a good pace along what is a good surface (if a little messy) all year round. I had a vague notion of visiting The Bluebell Railway as this was the first day of them running a service into their newly opened East Grinstead station and I was overjoyed to spot a steam train crossing the viaduct into East Grinstead as we approached - unfortunately, thick gloves and layers of clothing meant I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a photo of this, to me, momentous occasion. Arriving at the station (which is adjacent to and just south of the Network Rail station), we joined the swirling throng of people enjoying the sight and smell of steam for a few minutes before we headed off south to Saint Hill Green and then the shallow end of Weirwood Reservoir. Heading up, past the Scout and Guide camping areas we carried on onto the aptly named Chilling Street to enjoy its delightful slightly downhill scenic course. Forking left we enjoyed more of the same and then took a small lane on our left which took us down and through a ford - Gordon raced through it, feet outstretched, sheets of water arcing away from his wheels, me somewhat slower, sheets of water arcing all over me!! A short climb up and to the right brought us out onto Birchgrove Road for another pleasant glide along a forest ridge that brought us neatly into Horsted Keynes Village and our lunch stop, The Green Man. Although there was hardly anyone in the pub, most of the tables were reserved but not the two comfy leather settees right in front of the roaring fire - result! We draped our cold and slightly damp outerwear on the arms of the settees and settled down to a rather large burger and swathe of chips each. Very nice. As was the locally brewed bitter I quaffed.
Amazingly enough, we had absorbed so much heat that we didn't really feel the cold when we first got back outside. We headed firstly past Horsted Keynes station (one and half miles away from the village!) and then up into Ardingly before plunging down over the reservoir and grinding slowly up the other side. Here, Gordon had to get off as his front derailleur had stopped working and he couldn't get Granny's assistance on the hill :-( We later found that it had actually frozen solid (or rather, the wet mud around it had frozen). We carried on north up Back Lane and then West through Worth before forking right onto the bridleway at Whiteways Lodge. This bridleway is where I've often seen deer but not today - too cold for them as well I suspect. Crossing the Balcombe Road we plunged into the Forest to find the track was really muddy and slippery. I selected a fairly low gear and kept my pedal pressure as even as possible around the whole rotation - this gave my extremely grippy rear tyre (a WTB Velociraptor) the chance to show off, and it did! I pedalled my way through the gunk and gunge with nary a moments worry. The rooty parts of the track were not so good though because my suspension forks are kn*ckered and currently only have half an inch of movement before locking up - I'll be dismantling them for a service shortly, hopefully I'll be able to fix them. Just before crossing the railway, the bridleway goes through a very boggy area where a wooden walkway has had to be built alongside. I managed to hop onto that easy enough and also managed the slightly awkward hop up onto the concrete bridge over the stream, however the loose bricks, stones and muddy sand leading up to the railway bridge defeated me and I couldn't stop my rear wheel from spinning out and bringing me to a halt. After a couple of yards there was enough traction to remount and we headed onward and into Tilgate Forest. Passing the fake tree we crossed the M23 and said our goodbyes as Gordon headed west back home and I headed on down through the golf course and back to my house. 35 miles on the speedo - but as I'd forgotten to adjust it when I changed my wheels, it was probably nearer 37 in reality.
Our Easter Sunday ride is a 10:00hrs start from Horsham Pavilions in the Park and will frequent the lanes to the south of Horsham. Wrap up warm, it's still rather cold out there!
What have we been up to this last couple of weeks? Well, in spite of the weather we've managed a ride every Sunday.
On the 17th March we had a Horsham start that took us North out of Horsham up Langhurstwood Road and Friday Street to Rusper. We continued north and used Partridge Lane to Parkgate. Broad Lane and Clayhill Road took us on to Leigh. After that a combination of Church Road, Flanchford Road, Clayhall Lane, Slipshatch Road and Whitehall Lane led us to Reigate Garden Centre and hot food and drink. Just what we needed. It seemed colder than ever when we went back outside to our bikes, so we decided on a fairly direct route home. We used a convenient Bridleway cut-through (concrete farm track) to reach Lonesome Lane and were soon in Horley. From here we headed across to Povey Cross where Mick, our only attendee from Horsham, left us to return to Horsham via Charlwood. The rest of us used the airport perimeter road to get to NCN21 as it passed under the South Terminal and returned to Crawley via the Industrial estate and then Northgate/Three Bridges. We all clocked up about 32 miles on what was a very cold day.
The following week was even colder with a very raw wind. With a Three Bridges start, I wasn't expecting much of a turnout and was secretly hoping I could get back to my warm bed as I stood waiting, swinging my arms and stamping my feet in a vain attempt to keep from freezing. Then Gordon turned up and I had to start thinking about the ride again. Gordon got a cup of tea and I decided the day warranted knobbly tyres rather than the slicks my bike was clad in. I headed off home to change whilst Gordon drank his tea and kept an eye open for any other riders. No-one else turned up , so Gordon and I met up in Furnace Green and headed out under the railway, through Maidenbower and onto the Worth Way. This was a good idea as the trees afforded us some protection from the wind and we were fairly comfortable as we kept up a good pace along what is a good surface (if a little messy) all year round. I had a vague notion of visiting The Bluebell Railway as this was the first day of them running a service into their newly opened East Grinstead station and I was overjoyed to spot a steam train crossing the viaduct into East Grinstead as we approached - unfortunately, thick gloves and layers of clothing meant I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a photo of this, to me, momentous occasion. Arriving at the station (which is adjacent to and just south of the Network Rail station), we joined the swirling throng of people enjoying the sight and smell of steam for a few minutes before we headed off south to Saint Hill Green and then the shallow end of Weirwood Reservoir. Heading up, past the Scout and Guide camping areas we carried on onto the aptly named Chilling Street to enjoy its delightful slightly downhill scenic course. Forking left we enjoyed more of the same and then took a small lane on our left which took us down and through a ford - Gordon raced through it, feet outstretched, sheets of water arcing away from his wheels, me somewhat slower, sheets of water arcing all over me!! A short climb up and to the right brought us out onto Birchgrove Road for another pleasant glide along a forest ridge that brought us neatly into Horsted Keynes Village and our lunch stop, The Green Man. Although there was hardly anyone in the pub, most of the tables were reserved but not the two comfy leather settees right in front of the roaring fire - result! We draped our cold and slightly damp outerwear on the arms of the settees and settled down to a rather large burger and swathe of chips each. Very nice. As was the locally brewed bitter I quaffed.
Amazingly enough, we had absorbed so much heat that we didn't really feel the cold when we first got back outside. We headed firstly past Horsted Keynes station (one and half miles away from the village!) and then up into Ardingly before plunging down over the reservoir and grinding slowly up the other side. Here, Gordon had to get off as his front derailleur had stopped working and he couldn't get Granny's assistance on the hill :-( We later found that it had actually frozen solid (or rather, the wet mud around it had frozen). We carried on north up Back Lane and then West through Worth before forking right onto the bridleway at Whiteways Lodge. This bridleway is where I've often seen deer but not today - too cold for them as well I suspect. Crossing the Balcombe Road we plunged into the Forest to find the track was really muddy and slippery. I selected a fairly low gear and kept my pedal pressure as even as possible around the whole rotation - this gave my extremely grippy rear tyre (a WTB Velociraptor) the chance to show off, and it did! I pedalled my way through the gunk and gunge with nary a moments worry. The rooty parts of the track were not so good though because my suspension forks are kn*ckered and currently only have half an inch of movement before locking up - I'll be dismantling them for a service shortly, hopefully I'll be able to fix them. Just before crossing the railway, the bridleway goes through a very boggy area where a wooden walkway has had to be built alongside. I managed to hop onto that easy enough and also managed the slightly awkward hop up onto the concrete bridge over the stream, however the loose bricks, stones and muddy sand leading up to the railway bridge defeated me and I couldn't stop my rear wheel from spinning out and bringing me to a halt. After a couple of yards there was enough traction to remount and we headed onward and into Tilgate Forest. Passing the fake tree we crossed the M23 and said our goodbyes as Gordon headed west back home and I headed on down through the golf course and back to my house. 35 miles on the speedo - but as I'd forgotten to adjust it when I changed my wheels, it was probably nearer 37 in reality.
Our Easter Sunday ride is a 10:00hrs start from Horsham Pavilions in the Park and will frequent the lanes to the south of Horsham. Wrap up warm, it's still rather cold out there!
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Easy (apart from the weather)
It was -1oC with a strong north-easterly wind when I left home to lead the easy ride. The weather forecasters were predicting, with wind chill, a perceived temperature of about -7oC. So on my way to Three Bridges station, I’m thinking an early bath for me today! So why did ten people turn up? I can only conclude that it is my personal charisma and magic personality that draws people out on days like this – it surely couldn’t have been the promise of ‘two hours easy’?! On this day we were joined by some familiar faces and were pleased to also welcome Zack as a first-timer with Crawsham CTC.
So we set off to do what it said on the tin – and visit Redhill aerodrome – but we went in an anti-clockwise loop today to vary matters somewhat. This had the side benefit that we did most of the journey before coffee, with this leg being predominantly into the wind, with only a short, fast (well relatively) squirt home. So we set off up Worth Road, having persuaded the traffic lights at the station to change for us, by enticing a car over the detectors (why don’t they change for cyclists!!!) This warmed us up ready for the steep down in to the lovely ‘Old Hollow’; as usual several cars joined us but mostly they were well behaved. Where would we be as a club without Bob? He valiantly did his ‘maintenance thing’ on one of the bikes making it an easier ride for the rider prior to negotiating the tricky roundabout at Copthorne where we went up a little, to turn right at the Prince Albert. Noticing the wind a little on this open stretch we reached the cross roads for straight on towards Smallfield. Turning right we followed a narrow and, on this occasion, car free lane to reach the foot of Scots Hill. This was slightly lumpy, but goes through pretty countryside to reach the Marl pond at the top. A left turn, with a quick view of Outwood windmill -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwood_Windmill - and then a fork right past Outwood Church, took us to the M23 bridge with views of the aerodrome. Several people remarked that although we had mostly travelled these roads on multiple occasions in the other direction it still all looked new and unfamiliar; it’s odd how the mind works, isn’t it?
With relief we arrived at the café – as usual it was crowded, particularly as it was Mother’s day, but we all managed to get a seat and some warm refreshments. Not much aircraft traffic today, but there were a couple of helicopters on the move. And so to sprint (metaphorically speaking) back to Crawley. Again, it was odd to observe that the wind had completely dropped on our return, or was it that we were travelling down-wind at about wind speed? (It’s all to do with the ‘apparent’ wind….) It seemed to take no time to ascend one minor ‘slope’ before passing through Horley. And then along by the pond at Gatwick – this seems to get nicer all the time and is a little oasis between the River Mole and the A23. Passing quickly through Manor Royal we arrived back at Three Bridges for about one o’clock.
Thank you all for turning up and making our little ride a fun one. Hope to see you again soon.
Peter Smith
Crawsham CTC RtR
Our next ride starts from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00hrs on Sunday 17th March. It will be a fairly easy loop to the north and east of Horsham with a refreshment stop at Reigate Gatden Centre (probably).
Our next ride starts from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00hrs on Sunday 17th March. It will be a fairly easy loop to the north and east of Horsham with a refreshment stop at Reigate Gatden Centre (probably).
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Mystery Ride
This ride was called Mystery Ride because I had no idea who would be leading it, nor where it would be going. We'd originally planned a ride to The Countryman Inn to have dinner there to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the club. But, as only three members had committed to the meal, we cancelled it. Instead, as a contingency, I plotted a route that could potentially take us to The Countryman for lunch but could equally use two or three other venues as the mid point.
Gordon and I had met up at Pease Pottage to keep each other company on the ride over to Horsham where we were met by Norman and Pete E.
As the accompanying slide show illustrates, we headed out of Horsham using the Salvation Army/ Depot Road/ Doomsday Green/ Sedgwick Lane route. For a change, at the end of Sedgwick Lane we turned right and passed through Newfoundout on our way to Southwater. In the heart of Southwater we turned right onto Church Lane. This took us through to Bonfire Hill and we headed up to the Bax Castle but kept left and headed back down Two Mile Ash Road towards Barns Green. Next we turned left onto Trout Lane and then went left again at Lackenhurst Lane (the lane that you can't see on the Goldeneye Map!). Turning right onto Bakers Lane we were once again heading south and we kept in that direction past The George and Dragon and over the A272. By now we'd decided to head for the cafe at Southwater Country Park so we took the next left to pass through Shipley before turning north and following Pound Lane and Shipley Road all the way back to Southwater. After a brief detour around a small industrial park, we managed to pull up at the cafe and went inside. The cafe is under new ownership and has a bit of a refurb. The food was very good (I had a bacon and egg baguette with a bakewell slice to follow, all washed down with a good cup of tea).
Norman persuaded us he knew a shortcut through the housing estate so that we could avoid the hard slog along the Old Worthing Road and so we followed him into the depths of suburbia. Good to his word and with only one false turn to his route, he very quickly got us to Southwater Street where we could safley go over the A24 and head back towards Newfoundout. Now we took a left turn onto Pedlars Way to use an offroad route back to Horsham (I was the only one on slicks and I found the conditions quite tame and trouble-free). Crossing the river and reaching a bend, Norman now suggested using a Bridleway to cut across to the Brighton Road such that us Crawley riders could quickly get over to Grouse Road. However, we spent the next five minutes milling around a couple of fields before giving up and regaining Pedlars Way! Looking at an OS Map and an aerial view in Google Maps shows that we weren't far out, but...................!!
At this point we said goodbye to Pete and Norman led Gordon and I through a nice quiet set of roads back to the Salvation Army, across the roundabout and up Kings Road back to Roffey where he bade us farewell and we trudged on through the traffic lights and along Forest Road through Colgate and back to Pease Pottage.
This video is a slide show of most of the route:
photo.php
Next weeks ride (Sunday 10th March) is aimed at Beginners or those with less confidence/experience and will be an easy two hour ride starting from and returning to Three Bridges Station. Please be there ready for a 10:00hrs start. Why not bring your mum out for a ride - it will be Mothers Day after all!
Gordon and I had met up at Pease Pottage to keep each other company on the ride over to Horsham where we were met by Norman and Pete E.
As the accompanying slide show illustrates, we headed out of Horsham using the Salvation Army/ Depot Road/ Doomsday Green/ Sedgwick Lane route. For a change, at the end of Sedgwick Lane we turned right and passed through Newfoundout on our way to Southwater. In the heart of Southwater we turned right onto Church Lane. This took us through to Bonfire Hill and we headed up to the Bax Castle but kept left and headed back down Two Mile Ash Road towards Barns Green. Next we turned left onto Trout Lane and then went left again at Lackenhurst Lane (the lane that you can't see on the Goldeneye Map!). Turning right onto Bakers Lane we were once again heading south and we kept in that direction past The George and Dragon and over the A272. By now we'd decided to head for the cafe at Southwater Country Park so we took the next left to pass through Shipley before turning north and following Pound Lane and Shipley Road all the way back to Southwater. After a brief detour around a small industrial park, we managed to pull up at the cafe and went inside. The cafe is under new ownership and has a bit of a refurb. The food was very good (I had a bacon and egg baguette with a bakewell slice to follow, all washed down with a good cup of tea).
Norman persuaded us he knew a shortcut through the housing estate so that we could avoid the hard slog along the Old Worthing Road and so we followed him into the depths of suburbia. Good to his word and with only one false turn to his route, he very quickly got us to Southwater Street where we could safley go over the A24 and head back towards Newfoundout. Now we took a left turn onto Pedlars Way to use an offroad route back to Horsham (I was the only one on slicks and I found the conditions quite tame and trouble-free). Crossing the river and reaching a bend, Norman now suggested using a Bridleway to cut across to the Brighton Road such that us Crawley riders could quickly get over to Grouse Road. However, we spent the next five minutes milling around a couple of fields before giving up and regaining Pedlars Way! Looking at an OS Map and an aerial view in Google Maps shows that we weren't far out, but...................!!
At this point we said goodbye to Pete and Norman led Gordon and I through a nice quiet set of roads back to the Salvation Army, across the roundabout and up Kings Road back to Roffey where he bade us farewell and we trudged on through the traffic lights and along Forest Road through Colgate and back to Pease Pottage.
This video is a slide show of most of the route:
photo.php
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