Shoreham Airshow

August: last of the summer months, full of long sunny days just perfect for cycling.
In order to avoid a clash with the Arun Crossing DA Event, I set this ride up for a Saturday and to be honest I wasn't expecting many takers, so imagine my pleasant surprise to be met by five other riders at Horsham Park. Even so, we hung around for another 10 minutes in case any one else turned up.

It was a good mixed group with Pete and Marian on their tandem, Barbara on a tourer, Gordon and  myself on MTB's, as was Norman, recently returned from a 7 week adventure in North West Pakistan.

We quickly evaded the Horsham traffic and headed out on the Pedlars Way which was in a nice firm and smooth condition. This was followed by a short stretch of road along Jackrells Lane/Polecat Lane and on to Copsale where we acquired the Downs Link which would form the bulk of our route.

The Downs Link was nice and fast, but even so we were going to be late for our rendezvous with Val at Henfield.  I sent her a text to let her know and, once we got to Partridge Green, let Gordon go ahead so she wasn't sat alone waiting for us for too long. The rest of us arrived at Henfield at 11am (only half an hour late) and had a quick breather, resisting the temptation to 'pop' into the Cat and Canary for a refreshment break.

We carried on, enjoying the clear blue skies with warm sunshine and even the traverse of the field once we left the trackbed wasn't too bad - all was right with the world.

We passed Bramber Castle and followed the Adur down to the Old Bridge to pull up at The Red Lion at exactly 12:00hrs - give the ride leader major brownie points!!

We sat in the sun watching the aerial displays - some even had the comfort of deckchairs!!

Gordon had to leave us after an hour or so but the rest of us stayed until gone two o'clock - by then we'd had enough to eat and drink and were starting to get a bit sunburnt as well. We saw the Eurofighter put on a great display:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45576759@N00/9656808893/

We headed home, back up the Downs Link as far as Henfield where we had a refreshment break at the Cat and Canary then said goodbye to Val as she loaded her bike onto her car.

Once we got back to Copsale, we switched to the roads and eventually used Sedgwick Lane to get us to Doomsday Green. Here, everyone else headed for Horsham whereas I turned right to pass Mannings Heath and then use Grouse Road back to Pease Pottage and then home.

Warnham

It should have been the Cutty Sark ride, but with only four people committed to riding it and railway engineering work reducing the travel options and slightly damp weather forecast for the morning, I decided to postpone it until next month.

Instead we had a small ride from Horsham, along Kerves Lane, through Southwater to Dragons Green, past Shipley and almost to Ashington before using the B2133  to Broadford Bridge, crossing the A272 at Coneyhurst, going down Bashurst Hill, through Broadbridge Heath and then to Warnham for lunch at The Sussex Oak. There were just four of us: Anton, Gordon, Frank and myself.

After lunch we headed towards Warnham station and Anton headed back to Horsham. We then went up Langhurstwood hill, then along Green Lane and left towards Rusper. Gordon and Frank took the right turn and went back to Crawley along Wimlands and I went to Rusper to attend a family birthday celebration. Here's a video I took whilst waiting for the rest of the family to arrive:

We have TWO rides this coming weekend:

On Saturday we will start from HPP at 09:30 and using the Pedlars Way and The Downs Link we'll ride to Shoreham by the old bridge and watch the Shoreham Airshow.

On Sunday, it's the last of this years DA Events, The Arun Crossings Ride. It starts from Pulborough Railway Station at 09:30 and lunch will be at The Blue Ship.  Please note that the trains are NOT running to Pulborough on Sunday.

Westward Ho!

Summertime, and the livin' is easy. I met up with Gordon and Jacqui at The Black Swan, Pease Pottage and we headed over to Horsham for the 09:30 start. We were met there by Michael and Anton, fresh from a cup of coffee in the cafe. With five of us ready to ride, I decided to head off but just as we left the car park, so John C and then John V arrived. We left Horsham by the golf course route and then headed through Broadbridge Heath and on to Slinfold. The climb wasn't too bad - Michael reckoned it was easier than Rowhook Hill and we were soon out on the A29 for a quick sprint along to the road to The Haven. When we got to the Blue Ship we turned south and enjoyed the generally downhill gradient all the way to the A272. As it wasn't too busy we stayed on the A272 all the way to Wisborough Green and pulled up at the Old Mill Cafe for a quick cuppa.

From Wisborough Green we headed over to Kirdford and then headed north through Plaistow. As we rode along we encountered a road race heading in the opposite direction and after that, what looked like a sportive - also headed in the opposite direction to us. One last climb and we arrived at the lunch stop, the Sun Inn at Dunsfold.

There was a choice of about five different real ales on tap and a good range of sandwiches and other food making this a good pub for a lunch stop. All the time we were sat there, there was a constant stream of the sportive cyclists going by.

Soon we were back in the saddle. We headed over to Cranleigh, bypassing the High Street by using the Downs Link. Then we headed to Cox Green where Michael left us to head for home in Rudgwick.  This was followed by Ellen's Green where John V headed towards Ewhurst and then back to Crawley. Then we had the joy of Rowhook Hill downhill (the opposite direction to our normal visit). By now we were just a couple of miles from Horsham and we had soon crossed back over the golf course to return to Horsham Pavilion in the Park. Here we said goodbye to Anton and John C as they packed their bikes into their cars. This just left Gordon, Jacqui and myself to ride back to Crawley. We used the Forest Road across to Pease Pottage and then I was by myself as I finished my days riding with a full 60 miles under my belt.

Next weeks ride is our Cutty Sark ride using NCN21 from Greenwich back to Crawley.  Meet 09:45 at Evans Cycles near London Bridge, or 10:15 at the Cutty Sark. I recommend a strong touring bike or mountain bike as the afternoon section contains a lot of relatively loose surfaced sections. As usual we will stop for lunch at The Bear, in Fickleshole and should get back to Crawley at about 17:30. I will send out an e-mail shortly to find out how many of us will be doing the ride this year.

Airport to Aerodrome

A nice simple beginners ride - maybe along the Worth Way. That was the billing for today's ride but the consensus at the start was "Let's stay on the roads today."  John C, Barbara, Sandra, Val and I set out through Three Bridges and Northgate on NCN21. At Gatwick we left this cycle route and headed under the A23 then around the perimeter road to Povey Cross. John was leading and took us up to the Black Horse and into Meath Green. Here we turned onto Lonesome Lane which has got a lovely smooth tarmac surface. John and Val were soon out of sight at the front and when the rest of us reached the junction with Lodge Lane, we weren't sure which way to go. We could see about a mile up Lonesome Lane but there was no sign of our colleagues there so we took the turn. Lodge Lane lead us across to the A23 where I realised that we'd made the wrong decision as I knew John would have been waiting there.  A quick phone call established where we each were and we decided to rendezvous at the Aerodrome.

We arrived at the Aerodrome cafe to find it was very busy but still managed to get served quite quickly. All the outside tables were occupied but we managed to squeeze in at the end of one. A few minutes later John and Sandy arrived and we enjoyed a nice break chatting, people-watching and plane-spotting! The sky had clouded over and even tried squeezing a few raindrops over us but not enough to make us go inside. 

Ironically, as soon as we set off for home the sun came back out. We headed due south past Salfords to Horley and then picked up the NCN21 back through Gatwick to Crawley.

Our next ride is on Sunday 18th August and starts from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 09:30hrs. We'll head out west of Horsham and stop for a pub lunch somewhere. We'll probably cover about 40 miles without too many hills.