Easy ride West of Horsham

Whoops!   I've been so busy trying to create a film of the off-road ride Anton and I did at Deers Leap that I haven't produced a blog for last weeks Sunday ride.

Here's a link to the film:    http://youtu.be/Y7VTqcLihAA

Anyway, on Sunday I was back on the Tarmac with slick tyres and heading for the Horsham start. At the Pavilions in the Park I was met by Val, Ken and Norman. I'd promised a fairly flat ride but having used the golf course route out of Horsham I soon had them riding up Rowhook Hill. We then went past Baynards and through Cox Green to go down the hill and over a very quiet A281 to Tismans Common.  We carried on Westerwards as far as Loxwood where we stopped at the canal for a breather and a chinwag.

Heading south, the hill out Loxwood seemed much easier than usual but rather than head towards Ifold as I'd originally planned, I decided to take the second right and keep going south. At the end of the road I pointed out to everyone that the area to the right was the next one under threat of Fracking. We turned left and were quickly in Wisborough Green where we pulled up at The Old Mill Cafe for lunch.

At this point I would like to suggest to you, dear reader, that you never, ever try and swat a wasp whilst enjoying lunch and drinks with some chums. It's unnecessary and you might just knock Normans nearly full glass of apple juice all over the place!

In order to keep to my promise of minimal hill climbing, the route back saw us head north from Wisborough Green to Roundstreet Common and then use Drungewick Lane back to Tismans Common (ok, there is a short sharp hill after the canal on Drungewick Lane - but it's only about thirty pedal strokes long). We used a short stretch of the A road through Bucks Green and then headed south and east past The Haven before a quick run along part of the A29. We next had a slight incline up before a nice long freewheel down into Slinfold. 

Going past the new roundabout I found myself wondering why the lamp posts had been positioned IN the footpath rather than in the grass verge - it would appear that the County Council in their "wisdom" think it better for pedestrians (perhaps with prams or in wheelchairs) to manoeuvre past the street furniture rather than the three times a year grass cutting team. Who are these publicly employed jokers supposed to be working for? Next thing you know, they'll be letting tax-avoiding multinational companies pump poisonous chemicals into the rocks beneath our feet to fracture it and release a bit of gas and maybe oil that they can sell at a ridiculous price in order for it to be burnt and further exacerbate our planet's global warming problem!

After Broadbridge Heath we used Robin Hood Lane and crossed the golf course to arrive back in Horsham where we said goodbye to Norman and Val. Ken and I used the Forest Road back to Pease Pottage with Ken setting down a cracking pace and me almost holding on to his coattails. We had a good fast run down Pease Pottage. Hill and I was home by about 15:20 having clocked up about 50 miles.

This weekend sees a ride on both Saturday and Sunday:

On Saturday we have an off-road ride of about 20 miles starting from the Black Swan (Pease Pottage) at 10:00hrs. If you go to Gordon's first (from about 09:15) he'll treat you to a bacon roll and cup of tea at his place (address on the runs list). Mountain bikes are recommended, but a good touring bike may be OK.

Sunday we'll be back on Tarmac and will see Frank lead his popular ride to The Skimmingham Castle for lunch  - that's a 9:30 start from Three Bridges Station for an easy 35 mile ride without any big hills.

The Seaside Ride

I was impressed with the sheer number of cyclists waiting at Three Bridges station but slightly dismayed to find that half of them were not on our ride but on what looked to be a ladies only ride along the Worth Way. Ah well, there would still be 9 of us heading to the coast. Pete and Marian were leading on their tandem with Barbara, Val, Michael, Richard, Norman and Ros following. I was the "Lanterne Rouge" for the day and accordingly I switched my nice bright rear light on to keep the tin-box jockeys at bay.

We travelled at a fair old pace down through Ardingly and we were pretty stretched out by the time we got to Lindfield, so needed to regroup (and get our breath back). Slugwash Lane stretched us out again and the run over Ditchling Common had a lot of traffic (some of it passing slightly too close to us).

We had a refuelling stop at the cafe in Ditchling and talked about a lot of things as we scoffed our teacakes/carrot cake/croissants and drank our tea/coffees. There was lots of material I could put onto this blog but unfortunately (as I pointed out at the time), my memory is so bad that I can't remember any of it - apart from renaming Marian to Bloody Mary and Norman to Marilyn.

Having settled my bill and bought a small cake "for later" I joined the others back outside and we remounted to head for The Hill. I led as far as Underhill Lane but I then waited for everyone else to go past me so that I could get film footage as they all started up Ditchling Beacon. Anyone familiar with the Beacon knows that it kicks up immediately after the crossroads with Underhill Lane and that just when you think you've got the measure of the hill and have a pedal rhythm that works, it takes a left turn and ramps up even steeper. If you can conquer that initial assault on your calf muscles then it just becomes a case of endurance with several little humps thrown in to upset your cadence. Assuming you manage to keep going, the next thing to worry about is all the traffic that hovers about behind you, slipping their clutches and over-revving as they seek to pass in the face of the occasional vehicle coming the other way - vehicles that look like they're going to jump onto your side of the road at any one of those humps I just mentioned, as they are all located on slight bends! Perseverence brings its reward and when you finally see the "Beware Horse and Rider" sign, you know there's only a hundred yards to go and your legs feel the gradient start to ease - time to compose yourself, up the tempo a bit and look like The Hill was no great effort to you. For me, this means wearing a big smile, trying to stop my chest heaving, putting in a bit of a sprint to ride right over the top and into the car park to pull up next to the ice-cream van. Another 99 ice-cream but only if I've ridden all the way up the hill. So far I've had one EVERY time I've attempted The Beacon. Today it didn't feel too hard, I must be fitter than I think :-)

Most of our riders managed to ride the whole Hill - see if you can spot them in Pete's picture:

Marian managed it but as Pete is not in the picture I'm not so sure about him!

The ride across to Old Boat Corner was nice and fast as usual and then we had the last climb up past the golfcourse at Hollingbury. Speeding down Ditchling Road we were soon in the heart of Brighton and having dealt with the traffic we arrived at the prom. A short walk with our bikes brought us to our lunch stop at Jack and Linda Mills Smoked Fish Shop.

I had grilled kippers in a roll - it was delicious and was accompanied by a really good cup of tea. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their fresh fish lunch as well - so much so, that some were too engrossed in it to look up when I took their picture:

 I doctored the picture a bit - here's the original:

All too soon it was time for us to start our return journey. Five of us decided (sensibly) to catch the train, Richard (hardcore) was going to ride home via Lewes, with the remaining three (nuts) opting to ride the NCN20 back north.


I was one of the nuts and led my little group up through Brighton on the A23 and then up through Mid-Sussex close to the A23 as far as the Bolney Stage where we felt the urge for some liquid refreshment.

After a couple of beers it was time to get going again.

Reaching the Warninglid flyover, we left NCN20 and headed into Warninglid before heading north once more to Slaugham Pond. Next we used the familiar route past The Wheatsheaf and onto Hammerpond Road. We said goodbye to Norman at Bucks Head as he continued on towards Horsham and we turned right onto Grouse Road. Michael had discovered the energy sapping effect beer sometimes has on the legs but we manfully rode on and were soon at the top in Pease Pottage. A quick blast down to K2 and an easy ride through Tilgate followed before I pointed Michael in the direction of Three Bridges Station and peeled off to arrive home myself.

I later found out that Richard (hardcore) had eschewed the joys of Lewes and had in fact used a slightly more direct route home - although by the time he finished he had still clocked up some 72 miles compared to the 55 I'd got on my speedo.

Next weeks ride should have been the reorganised Cutty Sark to Crawley ride but we've decided to cancel it and wait until next year as services using London Bridge Station will be severely disrupted by engineering works that day.

Instead we will have an Easy ride from Horsham Pavilion in the Park, starting at 10:00 hrs with a lunch stop at a cafe somewhere.

Let's go to Warninglid

The weather forecast was warning of strong winds and heavy rain but with the possibility that the South East would escape the worst of it. So it proved, the sky was nice and blue with a warming sun beaming down. However, in spite of such nice conditions, only three of us turned up for the ride - Jane, Dora and me, Anne.

We used Kerves Lane to get away from Horsham and after the climb enjoyed the downhill run through Sedgwick and on to Copsale. The bright blue skies were now becoming obscured by a blanket of cloud although there was no hint of rain at this stage. The road was quiet and we passed through Maplehurst and along Park Lane to Newells Lane. Halfway along the lane we had to squeeze out of the way as a large milk tanker came in the opposite direction. At the end we turned right onto the A281 and then passed Leonardslee for a fast downhill run into the wind before turning left onto Picts Lane. This is a lane that I don't think we have ever cycled before - not surprising really as the only way of using it means braving a mile or more of A road and it doesn't easily mesh into a circular route. The lane was very nice apart from the stiff climb it makes away from the A road.

A left at the next junction and then another left onto Spronketts Lane saw us arrive in Warninglid at 11:30 so we decided to carry on riding and headed north up to Slaugham pond and then along Hampshire Hill to arrive at The Wheatsheaf in Plummers Plain. There were a lot of dopey wasps in the garden and it was a bit cool for sitting outside, so we found a table inside the pub. We had a good, filling lunch and a plenty of laughs talking about this and that, but with the possibility of rain sometime in the afternoon we were back on our bikes before one o'clock. We pootled along Hammerpond Lane and then ground all the way up Grouse Road. At the top I turned right to head back home to Crawley and my energetic chums turned left for Colgate and Horsham.

Next weeks ride is one of my favourites - the Seaside Ride. Leaving Three Bridges at 09:00hrs we'll head for a seafood lunch on Brighton seafront having had a tea break at Ditchling on the way. Although the ride includes the tough climb of Ditchling Beacon, the rest of it is actually quite easy and free flowing. After lunch the options are to return to Three Bridges by train (there are three trains an hour, advance ticket price currently £9.50) or to ride back along NCN20 (this part is rated hard as it is generally slightly uphill all the way). Come on, join in, it's a great day out.

Worth Way to East Grinstead

The second Sunday of each month we have a nice easy ride aimed at those new to riding or new to riding with a group or even just those who fancied an easy couple of hours in the saddle.

This month I decided we'd use The Worth Way, hopefully as far as East Grinstead for a cuppa but tailored to whoever turned up.

I was pleasantly surprised when on arriving at Three Bridges station I was met by a nice large group of riders, all looking forward to clocking up a few miles on what had turned into a nice sunny day.

As well as club members Barbara, Michael, Norman, Sandra, Val and myself, we had guests Carol, Claire, Christime, Sharon and Paul.

The traffic light sensors didn't sense us, so we had to wave a car forward to jolt the electronics into operation and we were off.....   Up Billinton Drive and then onto The Worth Way. The dappled sunlight and shelter from the wind made for very pleasant riding and the surface was firm enough to make good progress yet comfortably soft at the same time.

As we passed Worth Church we acquired another rider as John V joined us, making our numbers up to a round dozen. Everyone was chatting and getting along really well making it a very enjoyable ride. 

There was quite a broad variation in average speeds amongst the riders so every now and again I would stop in order for us all to regroup but it still didn't take long to get to East Grinstead. 

Crossing over the railway I was disappointed that there wasn't a steam engine at the station, but we carried on up the hill to pull up at the Bluebells cafe for a break. Even though there were so many of us the cafe coped really well and we were grouped together so we could continue our various conversations. The cafe offered to stock leaflets advertising our club if we want - I'll have to print some off and go back there sometime soon. Everyone seemed to enjoy whatever drink and food they ordered and after about 30 minutes or so we were back outside ready to start the return journey.

It's slightly downhill from Grinny and we were making rapid progress, but I stopped at the pond by Crawley Down in order to regroup.

We carried on and continued to make good progress until one of the bikes had a puncture. I adopted my Bicycle Repair Man guise and got stuck into mending it. The puncture had announced itself with a loud bang so I was expecting to see a large hole in the tube, but it wasn't that big. The tube contained some puncture prevention slime and I wasn't sure whether that would prevent a puncture patch from working but the rider had a spare tube anyway so we fitted that (after checking the tyre for thorns, stones, splits etc.).

The rest of the ride was uneventful and we were soon back at Three Bridges station and saying goodbye to each other.

Next weeks ride is a Horsham Pavilions in the Park start at 09:30 for a 30 something mile loop south of Horsham and across to The Half Moon at Warninglid for lunch. 

Arun Crossings DA Event

Pulp Fiction??   Not quite - report to follow.......

Meanwhile, watch the video....

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1015163803845