I-Spy Ride

It's about time that I put (virtual) pen to paper again. After all it's been more than two weeks since I last did so and the I-Spy was a really good event. Coincidentally, it was organised by Pete E, our treasurer, and I should currently be attending a committee meeting with him and Barbara this evening ........  but, guess who forgot?  I've made my apologies and will make reparation at the rearranged meeting next week! Thanks for being so understanding guys.

Anyway, as I said, the I-Spy was really good. There were fourteen participants and Pete started us off from outside the cafe at Southwater Country Park. The route was very pleasant and took us past the Bax Castle, through Christs Hospital and on to Slinfold. Here we managed to overtake all the other groups of riders as they struggled to find one of the answers. We next had a three mile stretch of A road where I used my defensive riding techniques to keep the tin-box jockeys at bay before we headed across to The Haven and then on to Tismans Common. Shortly after, just before we reached Drungewick Lane, I heard a hissing sound and noticed the back end of my bike start squirming. A puncture! I'm never worried about dealing with punctures but it was a bit annoying that as we were busy sorting it out, all those teams we'd passed at Slinfold managed to regain their lead over us :-(.  As we were stood at the side of the road, I noticed an approaching car had a problem with the trailer it was towing and managed to flag them down so that they could stop and sort out their trailer. 

Puncture mended, we were on our way again and managed to catch up the other groups at the canal bridge and then pass them most of them as they struggled to count the number of stakes in the grass outside a property along the lane. From here we headed into Wisborough Green and then out to Fishers Farm Park for lunch. I could tell we needed a break because we missed a clue just yards away but couldn't be bothered to look for it!

Fully refreshed after my lunch of Sausage Baguette and pint of cider, I set off with Barbara and Val on the second part of the test and we promptly missed the next clue! Never mind, on we went up Rowner Road and then east, across the A29 and onto New Road. The route continued, taking us on to Barns Green and then to the Bax Castle for the second time today. This time we turned onto the Downs Link for a slightly bumpy but pleasant enough ride as far as the farm track at Southwater. The last couple of clues were hidden away in the backstreets of suburban Southwater before we pulled up at the finish, back at Southwater Country Park.

It was really hot sitting in the sun and the shadier seats were very popular - an ice-cream helped. We felt that we were in with a chance of winning but then the last team came in and got a lot of points. Oh no!  A draw - that means a tie break. This year we had to count the post boxes we went past - we guessed a fractionally more accurate number than Gordon's team and that meant we won! 

Everyone who took part had a great time on what is one of the two DA Events that Horsham and Crawley organise. Pete put a lot of hard work into this one and it paid off with a superbly entertaining and smoothly run day. The next DA Event is on the first Sunday in July - the Two Weald Ride. We will be running this and will offer the usual four different 25 mile loops from Wisborough Green.