WD40

Today’s ride was scheduled to be a 40 mile round trip to Dunsfold via Wisborough Green (WD40). I was a bit concerned about the weather as the forecast was mist and light rain.
Attending were me, Michael, Pete, Bob, Frank and Ken. 
I had planned on 20 miles to lunch and 20 back. 
We headed off over the golf course towards Rowhook and on through Rudgwick and down to Wisborough Green. We stopped there at 15 miles. According to my calculation we were making a good pace so I decided to go a bit slower. At 20 miles we were still 5 miles from the pub. I had got my distance wrong! So it was all systems go to make up lost time. We got to the pub at 12:20.
We did not have to order lunch as it had been pre-ordered which made life easier. The beer and the company was good so we headed off for home. Having over estimated the out journey I tried to cut the return distance. 
Back through Cranleigh and right in Ewhurst took to the Walliswood turning where Michael left us. On towards Weare Street where Ken left us. Only four left so we headed towards Warnham where Frank left us.
The remaining three, Pete, Bob and I headed over the railway line at Warnham and over bypass into Horsham. 
Total distance today was 45 miles and no mist or rain!

Anniversary Ride

Half past eight on a Sunday morning - I wanted to be in bed snuggled up to a warm woman, but no, I was out on my bike on a crisp morning and riding into a chilly wind. The nice blue sky and fluffy clouds wouldn't have been out of place in summertime but the temperature shouted that it was still winter. I plodded along the Forest Road with the wind testing the seams of my top and trying to sneak up my sleeves. I knew I was going to be late and as I passed the Rusper Road so my phone lit up with a "Where are you?" text from Anton.  I didn't bother stopping to answer as I was only a couple of minutes away. Anton was waiting with Norman and Malcolm - everyone else had dropped out. We waited a few minutes in case of stragglers then Anton led us away - across the golf course where we encountered a large group of dog walkers (I think they had been taking part in a protest about some potential development in the area).

Byfleets Lane and Strood Lane were both resurfaced last year but are breaking up terribly now - an indictment of the West Sussex road maintenance programme if ever there was one. Anton next took us up Rowhook Hill, then across to Cox Green and into Rudgwick. We stopped every now and again so that Anton could phone the pub to let them know there weren't as many of us as he'd provisionally booked for. However, he was unable to get through in spite of trying on at least half a dozen occasions. We crossed the A281 and headed towards The Haven before turning south opposite the Blue Ship. We followed Rowner Road all of its length, enjoying it's generally downhill disposition, then followed the A272 into Billinghurst. Anton was getting into his stride now and led us South, over the railway and down to the B2133. We whistled along in a compact line until we eventually turned North up Spear Hill and on to Broomers Corner. Now it was but a short ride to the lunch stop at The Countryman. 

The landlord seemed a bit grumpy that there were only four of us but we settled down and enjoyed some good food and drink. The pub was not busy and put a lie to the landlords claim that he'd had to turn away business to accommodate us. I suspect that we won't be visiting The Countryman again for quite a while.

Anton gave us choice of routes back to Horsham and we plumped for the shortest. From Shipley we crossed over the A272, through Dragons Green and on up to the Bax Castle. Not long after we arrived back in Horsham and dispersed back to our homes.

Our next ride is a Beginners Ride, starting from Three Bridges at 10:00hrs. Pete E will lead us along the Crawley Horsham cycle route and then across to the Strawberry Fields cafe for refreshments before returning to Three Bridges.

Reigate

Nice ride today - Ros led eight of us through Northgate and Gatwick to Horley. Then up Horse Hill to Leigh and across to Reigate where we had lunch at Morrisons. We used some lanes we've used before but also a couple of new ones. As we headed back the weather looked to be breaking and so most of us headed straight back to Crawley.

The Fountain at Ashurst

Anton led 10 of us on a delightful ride south of Horsham, down to Ashingon and then up to Ashurst.

Some of you may recognise the pub - The Fountain at Ashurst.

Remember this:    http://youtu.be/V9BZDpni56Y ?

Redhill Aerodrome

The second Sunday of the month is the day we have our Beginners Rides. We don't have an absolutely predefined route laid down because we tailor the ride to whoever turns up (how dynamic is that?).


The weather was still cold but not brutally so and there was no ice or dampness about. The mainly blue sky was encouraging as was the lack of any strong wind, so I wasn't surprised to find that there were ten cyclists waiting at the start when I arrived. A warm welcome to Debbie who turned out to ride with us for the first time and hello everyone else: Gordon, Jacqui, Frank, Eric, Seb, Jenny, Norman, John V and Malcolm.


A quick chat and Gordon decided to lead us out on the Worth Way then head down Old Hollow and into Copthorne. The Worth Way was pretty good and fairly dry but full of horses - well relatively so in that we saw / met up with six of them! Everyone was in good spirits, due no doubt to the mainly clear sky, and we were soon going over the traffic light controlled crossroads. Taking the next left, we were back on quiet lanes again and were riding in groups all having a good chat - we're definitely a sociable group. At Smallfield we headed west, crossed the motorway and then turned north onto Hathersham Lane. The linear "trench" pothole on this lane seems to be getting deeper and I would warn any cyclist using the lane to be very careful.


I'd told the lead riders that we would take the second road on the right but wished I'd opted for the first right instead.  The second right was Picketts Lane - I'd forgotten about the hill it contains!


Having regrouped at the top, we carried on, over Axes Lane, past the famous hidden house ( see http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/honeycrock-farm-hidden-house-appeal-8056972   ) and then turned right onto Kings Mill Lane which affords views of the Old Crawley Clock which currently languishes in a farmyard not far from East Surrey Hospital as opposed to its rightful place in Crawley town centre:
 


Pulling up at the aerodrome, we piled into the Chef on the Road café and ordered our refreshments. Some of us sat inside to warm up, some of us sat outside to avoid overheating!!


There wasn't much activity going on - probably about 30-40 customers in the café, one light aircraft taking off, one helicopter taking off and a few seagulls lazily flapping around. But it was pleasant enough sitting in the wintry sunshine discussing the pros and cons of an extra runway at Gatwick......


For the route back we just headed back towards Masons Bridge Road where, as we waited to join it, Norman managed to miss his footing and fall on Seb, knocking him into a street sign. A quick check, everyone was OK and off we set once more. At the bottom of Picketts Lane we took the NCN21 route along the badly potholed lane into Horley. We all used the subway, carefully dismounting to do so, and made our way through the town centre and onwards to Gatwick Airport. After negotiating a couple of the backroads in the industrial estate and passing through the tunnel into Northgate, we said goodbye to Debbie as she headed home to Three Bridges and the rest of us headed into Crawley Town Centre. Gordon then lead us up the High Street, up Brighton Road and Halfway up Pease Pottage Hill before crossing over and entering Broadfield through a gap in the fence. A couple of minutes later we pulled up at Gordon and Jacqui's House where we enjoyed some delicious food and hammered out the runslist for Q2.


Our next ride is on Sunday 15th February and starts from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 10:00hrs. Anton will be leading us on a 31 mile loop to the south of Horsham with a lunch stop at either The fountain in Ashurst or The Partridge at Partridge Green. We expect to arrive back in Horsham some time in mid afternoon - probably 15:00 -15:30.

The Foresters Arms, Kirdford

Well, that worked. When I first looked out of the window there was a thin layer of snow hanging around on the shed roof and part of the lawn but by the time I'd breakfasted and completed my ablutions, all sign of snow, slush or ice had gone. There was a bitter wind from the north but the sun was manfully trying to break through and accentuate the blue bits of sky. With five layers on my upper body, a woolly hat under my helmet and two or three layers everywhere else I was feeling quite toasty as I rode up Pease Pottage Hill and headed out along the Forest Road. A couple of roadies were just in front of me going a bit slower than I wanted but I didn't overtake them as I didn't want a race on my hands. Fortunately they turned right at Colgate so I could then get up to the pace I wanted. As I arrived at Horsham Park Pavilions I spotted Norman and Anton in the car park, then Pate E and Ken in the bike park. We were then joined by Malcolm who must have been riding just behind me along the Forest Road. So six blokes out today, all fairly experienced and as the weather was still bright but cold I decided we would do the full route I'd planned.

We left Horsham via the golf course and headed west via Rowhook Hill, Ellen's Green and Cox Green. After Baynards the lane went up and then we turned right and were overtaken by a car as we were doing the turn!!  The next left took us along a quiet lane which suddenly had parked cars along both sides - Cranleigh Rugby Club would appear to have a lot of members but very few parking places. On reaching the A281 we turned left and followed it down to Alfold Crossways - here we were overtaken on the left by a right-turning Range Rover! Quality driving, not. 

From here we headed over to Dunsfold and then turned south, putting the wind behind our backs. Pete was leading us at a fair old pace now although Norman hit the front as we passed through Plaistow. Just a few miles later we were pulling up at the lunch stop, The Foresters Arms at Kirdford. We were the first people in and picked a couple of tables in the public bar where a large fireplace had a newly lit fire burning in the grate. The pub had a really good range of food on offer and three bitters on tap. Most of the chat today was about the changes we are making to the clubs online presence. Our old website has been the subject to numerous complaints in recent times due to the intrusive advertising it pushes out, so we are in the process of moving it across to be hosted on the main CTC website. In addition we are trying out running a Meetup site as a possible way of attracting more riders. Please use both of them and give us some feedback to help us further improve things.

As we were leaving the pub, so we met Richard Boulton and several other Arun/Adur colleagues. A quick chat and a photocall and we'd swapped place - they were in the warmth of the pub, we were in the cold, riding our bikes.

I wanted to get us home as quick as possible so I decided we would head for Wisborough Green and then use the A272 to and through Billingshurst. Next we headed up to New Road, then through Barns Green to Bax Castle and up to Tower Hill. Exactly as per the Runslist, we'd had a round trip off exactly 35 miles anand we said goodbye to the Horsham crew, Pete and Norman, then Anton in the car park and that just left Ken, Malcom and myself to run a chain gang back to Crawley. I eventually got home at about 15:15 and took a much needed warm shower to thaw myself out.

Next weeks ride is an easy ride aimed at beginners and will start from Three Bridges Station at 10:00hrs for a two hour loop led by Gordon.

At 13:00hrs, members can convene at Gordon's house for the Q2 Runs List Meeting - come along with idea/suggestions/opinions and we can create a set of rides for April, May and June that we all will enjoy.

Muddy ride with Gordon

Want a complete cycling experience?  Come out on one of Gordons Rides.


The day started with breakfast at Gordon and Jacqui's before an enjoyable warm up ride along Parish Lane and down through Tilgate Forest. Gordon, Ken and I did a bit of exploring through Furnace green and sued the northern tunnel under the railway - recently extended and refurbished with excellent lighting and a good smooth surface, this tunnel offers an excellent and (in some instances) shorter alternate link between NCN20 and NCN21. However, we were on our way to Three Bridges Station so we turned left onto Billington Drive and rode past a long stream of waiting traffic to arrive at the station for 10:00hrs. Here we were joined by Michael and Malcolm, then Mike, an acquaintance of mine.


Gordon led us back up Billington Drive and onto the Worth Way. Conditions were muddy but grip was good and I soon had a splattering of mud over me. Someone suggested that the Irish called the weather conditions "Soft" - an excellent description - the clouds were indistinguishable from each other and seemed to reach the ground without quite making things foggy, the vegetation looked somehow soft - even the branches and with big fat knobblies on my bike, the ride was pretty plush as well.


We were riding at an easy pace and I was having fun along the way, practicing hops, taking detours up banks. At Crawley Down we took the slope up to the B road and then used it up to Turners Hill. Never an easy hill, I realized that none of the cyclists waiting near the top had actually ridden the entire hill (all the way to the crossroads) - so I told them so, and claimed King of the Hill for myself!!


From Turners Hill we headed west along the ridge through Worth Abbey to Back Lane. Here Mick decided to head for home (via the Cowdray Arms I think), having assured me he knew where he was and how to get back to Crawley.


Meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed the long glide south and west before the short, sharp climb into Balcombe. Gordon had recce'd the route a few days earlier and was in the process of telling us about some ice he'd encountered when, as I shot down a tiny lane he'd led us to, I realised there was ice all the way across it!!  Not a problem though, I didn't need to turn or lean or brake or accelerate and just floated uneventfully across it, shouting out a warning as I did so.


Other features of this lane were:  (i) the smooth, new tarmac  (ii) a conversation with some chickens and (iii) a couple of hills (granny gear for the use of).


A right turn onto a busier road took us up to Cuckfield where we headed West then north to Staplefield and a quick visit to The Victory. What a great pub - warm welcome, warm fire, good beer (we went for the Wilmington Brewery Long Man) and good food. Actually, the good food observation was based on previous visits, as today we were going to lunch at Gordons, so it was time to get back out in the cold.


From Staplefield we carried on west, under the revamped A23, to Slaugham and thence the bridleway up to Handcross. As we were starting to feel hungry, we took the shortest route back to Gordons where he and Jacqui treated us to a delicious lunch. An hour or so later, after some good discussions about life, the universe and the CTC, we all headed off home.


Next weeks ride starts from Horsham Park Pavilions at 10:00hrs and will be a fairly easy loop to the south of Horsham led by me - unless anyone else wants to volunteer? -  with a lunch stop at The Bax Castle.

Easy Ride with Michael

Time for another attempt at a poem methinks:

Cold day, cold nose, cold in the head.

Hard climb, hard wind, hard to make the time.

Warm legs, warm welcome, warmed up ready to go.

Through Horsham, through the tunnel, through the slippery mud - oh!

Over Newbridge, over the old bridge, over the Itchingfield climb.

Wait for the ladies, wait in the sunshine, wait - Michael, make up your mind.

Cross over the railway, cross over the B road, don't cross the A 272.

Pick up the pace a bit, pick up the ladies, pick up a tailwind too.

Back through Barns Green, back past Dog Barking, Bax Castle for a stop.

Plenty of eating, plenty of chatting and plenty of juice of the hop.

Before braving the cold, braving the traffic and braving Tower Hill to the top.

Hmmmm.   That crashed to a halt!  Unlike the ride which was actually really enjoyable. Thanks to Michael for leading, Barbara, Christine, Frank, Norman and Pete E for riding.

Our next ride is a Crawley start and is styled as "Muddy Ride – offroad on bridleways – nothing extreme".   The official start is from Three Bridges station at 10:00hrs, although if you wanted to meet up with Gordon at Pease Pottage a bit earlier, I'm sure it could be arranged.

Chiddingstone

Frank normally leads the Chiddingstone Ride later in the year but I thought I would throw one in now as it's a fairly level,  35-40 mile tarmac ride on generally quiet lanes.


It was cold but not freezing as we gathered together at Three Bridges Station. Norman had ridden over from Horsham but was so cold that he'd decided to have a warm up in the station café and then just head back home. That left six of us (Frank, Pat, Eric, Malcolm, Ros, Bob) and we headed off, up through Pound Hill then down The Hollow to Copthorne. Here, Val joined us and we went via Copthorne Bank and on past Rede Hall. Next we used Cross Lane and Dowlands Lane to lead us east as did Smallfield Road and Croydonbarn Lane. A quick right then left took us further east before we had to use a short stretch of the A22.


Once again we headed east, along the Eden valley (a tributary of the Medway I believe) as far as Edenbridge where we stopped at the supermarket for a coffee (and comfort) break. Those of us who stayed outside had an energetic debate about the merits of parking and traffic regulations in the UK and Canada - we had to keep warm somehow!


Continuing on, we still headed east although we had a couple of little hills before finally pulling up at the lunch stop, the Castle Inn at Chiddingstone. The pub was really good, with wooden chairs and flooring along with a couple of real fires. Most of us had soup for lunch and we had soon all warmed up.


For the return trip, we retraced our outward route but said goodbye to Ros as she turned south for East Grinstead after a couple of miles.


Next weeks ride is an easy ride aimed at Beginners. Michael is leading it from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 10:00hrs. It will use some gentle offroad tracks and quiet lanes - hopefully the weather won't be as bad as the forecast suggested last night!

Mince Pie Ride

The Sunday after Christmas saw four of us have a jolly nice, short ride around Horsham and then a stop at Barbara's for lashings of mince pies. ken and I had ridden over from Crawley, Pete and Barbara met us at Horsham Pavilions in the Park.


Pete led us west, then south through the Horsham suburbs before crossing the A24 on the Tesco bridge. We then turned north and rode through Broadbridge Heath and on up to Warnham. Next we headed east, over the railway at Warnham station and then south, up Rusper Road to Barbara's.

Rendezvous Ride - The Plough at Lower Beeding

The trouble with winter is that it can be cold, wet, dark, gloomy, slippery or all of them at once! You just can't predict what it will be like, so when planning our December rides I thought I'd throw in a Rendezvous Ride to a pub not too far from either Crawley or Horsham. My thinking was that with people being able to choose their own start times and routes, we would all be able to maximize or minimize our mornings exposure to whatever conditions we faced on the day. For myself, I was thinking about possibly meeting up with Anton somewhere south of Handcross (Staplefield perhaps) and riding over to Lower Beeding with him, but a chat with Anton on Saturday evening revealed he wouldn't be riding due to him suffering from a cold. So I decided on a straightforward route, up Pease Pottage Hill, down Grouse Road, left and the Hammerpond, turn right onto Church Lane and then turn right to arrive at Lower Beeding. It was actually so straightforward that I arrived at the pub a full 50 minutes before it was due to open - what a fool!  I hung around for a while but the clock was ticking so slowly I realized I need to do a bit more riding. I rode into the close of new houses that had recently sprung up doubling the village population overnight, but that only wiped a couple of minutes off the clock so I headed south, down and up past (another) hammerpond before stopping to read a noticeboard at the side of the road. The noticeboard described the Sussex Ouse Valley Way and seemed to suggest that the hammerpond was one of the sources of the Ouse. Looking at that, and checking my mapping app on my phone whiled away some time. The I carried on riding down to the junction with the A281 where I turned right (I bet not many people turn right there). I was riding gently along, letting the clock tick away but I was soon turning right and still only a few hundred yards from the pub, As I got close I spotted Norman waving at me and we went around to the pub garden to lock our bikes up. More to come.


More to come - I wrote that nearly two weeks ago! I'd better finish this entry off.....


Neither Norman nor I were expecting anyone else to turn up but as we waited, so we were joined by a new chap who's seen our runslist on the web and then, once we were snugly located in the Saloon Bar in front of the fire, so more and more club members turned up - Pete and Marian, Gordon and Jacqui, Pete E, Frank and Pat, and Ken. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and we spent the best part of two hours there chatting, eating and drinking. What a nice way to prepare for Christmas and all the chatting, eating and drinking that would entail!!


Eventually, we pulled our warm outerclothes back on and headed for home. Together we went down Church Lane to Bucks Head and then Norman and Pete E carried on along Hammerpond Lane as the rest of us went up  Grouse Road back to Pease Pottage and then Crawley.

Christmas Dinner

Today's ride would act as an appetite improver for the main event, the Christmas Dinner.

We decided to have starts from both Horsham and Crawley. Pete E, Norman and Frank left from HPP, Gordon, Jacqui, Anton, Ken and myself started from Three Bridges, whilst Barbara and Sandra travelled independently via Colgate.

It was cold but not too nippy and the roads seemed to be clear of ice. The Crawley contingent headed north on the NCN21 as far as Gatwick. There we turned west, under the A23 and I then noticed I had a slow puncture. Trying to save time, we just pumped it up and carried on, through to Povey Cross and then left to Charlwood. Here we took the third left and headed up to Russ Hill where I had to stop for about the fourth time to put air back in my tyre. As I was doing so, Pete phoned to say that his group had reached the rendezvous point at Rusper. I reckoned we were about 5-10 minutes away, but a couple of minutes later Pete rang again to say that they were going on and to meet at the pub. This meant we could cut out a hill and head straight to Faygate.

My phone rang again just as we were climbing the last hill up to Wimlands Lane and for family reasons I had to head straight home and miss the Christmas dinner.


However, I'm told that the food was good and hot and that everyone enjoyed themselves.

The Jolly Farmer

It's been a while since I produced a blog - I've missed the last two rides!


This week however, I was leader - no shirking, I had to be there....


A 10:30 start from Three Bridges station meant that I comfortably got there on time and quickly spotted Norman enjoying his breakfast by the (immobile) mobile café. I'd also received a message from Gordon and Jacqui who were in the coffee shop (along with Frank). Then Eric rocked up, followed by Pete E, then Michael and Christine. Nine riders - not bad, not bad at all. The half ten start and proximity of the pub to Crawley meant that I had selected a very easy and straightforward route. We used the NCN21 route out through Three Bridges, Northgate and the Industrial Estate to Gatwick Airport. We headed through Horley, past the Air Balloon pub and out on Meath Green Lane.


BANG!


The Sunday morning silence was broken by Michaels rear tyre blowing up - although it sounded far worse than it was. Once he'd removed the tube, all he found was a small stone sticking through the tyre and a 4mm diameter hole in the tube. Unfortunately his spare had too fat a valve but Gordon saved the day with exactly the right tube (in spite of the fact that it would have fitted neither his nor Jacqui's bike!!).


We were soon back on the road and after a couple of miles took the right turn across to Salford where we had to carefully cross the A23. Continuing eastwards, we were soon at Outwood and passing the windmill. Now we had the only hill of the day and it wasn't up!  Waahay - I just managed to match the speed limit as I freewheeled down and then we just had a short run along the lane to the pub, The Jolly Farmer.


As we locked up the bikes I was extolling the virtues of the last visit to this pub - good food, good drink, good atmosphere, good fire in the grate - so I was more than slightly crestfallen when the landlord revealed that they couldn't offer any food as their chef had recently left. Still, the beer was nice and cheap, so we had a swift quaff whilst working out Plan B.


Plan B: where's the nearest pub? A quick look at the map, coupled with a determination not to ride further away from Crawley, and we decided to head for The Plough at Smallfield. It only took a few minutes but as we pulled up I was worried that it was bit too posh and 'restauranty' for a gaggle of cyclists. However, I was pleasantly surprised as we received a very warm welcome from the staff who quickly pushed some tables together so we could sit as a group and presented us with a varied menu containing plenty of lighter meal options. The food arrived quickly and was most enjoyable. Everyone chipped in to the various conversations and the time just flew by.


As we left, Frank got us all together for a group photo - an impressive feat that I rarely manage due to the similarity groups of cyclists have with herds of cats!  You can rarely get them all in the same place, at the same time, looking the same way.......

From Smallfield I planned to head towards Shipley Bridge via Church Lane and the small bridge over the M23, but I changed my mind and used a tiny lane from Smallfield leading under the M23. A short, slightly muddy section then led us on to another small lane skirting the moat of Thunderfield Castle in Horley. At the end of the lane I had thought about turning left and following the Balcombe Road all the way back to Crawley but a dose of common sense and a nudge from Eric persuaded me to turn right, head for Horley Station and then use the NCN21 back to Gatwick. From Gatwick we retraced our steps into the Industrial Estate but with a quick detour to use the new linear park / cycle path called Crawters Brook. I've ridden through it about five times now and I don't think I've seen anyone else using it so far!

Our group now started to part ways - Gordon, Jacqui and Pete heading West to use the A23 cyclepaths to Broadfield and Horsham. Norman was next to go, heading up Northgate Avenue. The rest of us stayed together until Three Bridges where Frank, Michael and Christine headed back to their cars at the station. Meanwhile Eric and I used the newly resurfaced NCN20 into Furnace Green for me and on to Maidenbower for Eric.

Our next ride on Sunday 7th December will be an easy ride starting from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 10:00hrs and heading for a Lunch stop at the Queens Head in Barns Green. There is the possibility that we will use some gentle offroad tracks but all but the most fragile of bikes will be able to deal with them.  Come on, come out, give yourselves some fresh air and exercise, before Christmas really kicks in!!



Edenbridge - well Lingfield, actually!

I could get used to this - another Sunday, another ride and I'm not leading it!  Doesn't stop me from running late though :-(

I arrived at Three Bridges station to a barrage of friendly banter and time-keeping based punditry from a mixed bag of boys and girls all waiting to get going on their bikes. Anton was leading Norman, Val, Malcolm, Pete, Marian, Ros and myself, firstly on NCN21 out through the north of Crawley and on to Gatwick. There was quite strong wind from the southwest, so it would be behind us until at least the lunch stop. In spite of the wind, it wasn't that cold and even the full cloud cover didn't stop the day from feeling quite bright. Scaffolders were working on the terminal building and we had to wait for them to move their lorry out of the away before we could get past. Unlike last week, the underpass wasn't flooded, then when we emerged back on the roads, Anton surprised us by turning right where we normally turn left. Oh; hang on, wait a minute!, rewind a bit......... tfel nrut yllamron ew erehw thgir gninrut yb su desirprus notnA ,sdaor eht no kcal degreme ew nehw neht .......  I missed something:   SOMEONE fell off her bike! I won't mention names but I saw her valiantly claw at Malcolm's leg as she toppled slowly, some would say gracefully, to the ground. We were stopped at the time and it was the fall that everyone using clipless pedals has at some point - you lose your balance and can't unclip quick enough. Anyway, no damage done except for a bruised bum!

Anyway, to continue, Anton surprised us by turning right where we normally turn left. This brought us out in exactly the same place as usual - near the station, from where we crossed the railway and carried on East over the traffic light junction along Smallfield Road. Just before the motorway we turned left onto Hathersham Lane and further on, avoided turning into the wind by going up New House Lane. Axes Lane took us east, over the motorway before we passed the Dog and Duck pub (a major stopping point on the London to Brighton Bike Ride) and headed to Outwood along Brickfield Road.

At Outwood windmill we regrouped and Ros, who was out riding for the first time since a minor fall off her Brompton the other week, decided to take a shorter route to the lunch stop and meet us there. As she had a map I assumed she'd got some clever route worked out and rode off with the others, along Gayhouse Lane and down Hornecourt Hill having promised to phone when we reached the lunch stop. 

After just a few more miles cycling, including a short foray along a very smooth A22, we arrived in Lingfield and settled on The GreyHound pub as our lunch stop. I phoned Ros to find out where she was only to find that she had taken a much more circuitous route and was on her way down from Bletchingly! The result was that Ros had ridden almost twice as far as we had and we'd almost finished our lunch before she arrived at the pub. Never mind, that meant I could have a second pint whilst Ros ate her lunch :-)

As the wind had been pretty much behind us all morning, we knew it was going to be mainly in our faces all the way home. Anton countered this to some extent by his choice of route which firstly took us via Felcourt into East Grinstead where he took us on short cut through some quiet residential streets before we said goodbye to East Grinstead resident Ros. The A22 was busy but slow-moving until we turned off at Felbridge and took the Crawley Down fork. As we went up the hill a rather nice Scooby went by - gimme! After Crawley Down we went via Rowfant and then used a short stretch of the Worth Way before splitting into two groups - Pete, Marian and myself using the Worth Way back to Maidenbower and Furnace Green, everyone else using the road back to Three Bridges station.

All in all, quite a short ride of just over 30 miles but very enjoyable, especially as Anton tends to find roads we haven't used much before, thanks Anton.

Next weeks ride is a Horsham Pavilion in the Park start at 10:00hrs and will be led by me. It will be a Pootle to Partridge Green and will celebrate the anniversary of the club.

The White Horse at Maplehurst

By the time I got to the start at Horsham I was worn out - these winter months of too much sitting around and eating too much have taken their toll. But Anton had a lovely route planned for us and had even sorted out nice sunny weather.

A good turnout saw Anton accompanied by Barbara, Norman, Michael, Pete E, Frank and myself. We left Horsham using the Tower Hill route and headed past Bax Castle and almost to Barns Green where we turned left to go south to Coolham. Here Anton's master plan became obvious - Coolham is the easiest place to cross the A272 because, amazingly the A road has to give Way to the B road!

The first left took us over towards Shipley and past The Countryman. At this point Barbara headed back to Horsham with Norman keeping her company whilst the rest of us carried on to Dial Post and carefully crossed a fairly busy A24. Anton had been concerned there may be flooding on this part of the route but although some fields on either side were well under water, the road was OK. As we passed through Ashurst, a gaggle of riders from Brighton Mitre cycle club overtook us. We carried on up through the edge of Partridge green and then along Mill Lane across to Littleworth. The Windmill looks like it's having a lot of building work done.

We soon arrived at what should have been the lunch stop for today's ride, the Camellia Botnar garden centre, where we were met by John C. However, ALL the tables in the cafe were marked as reserved and they would only serve drinks and cake in the coffee area where we had to sit, so we decided to lunch at The White Horse in Maplehurst instead.  This was just a crossing of the A272 and a couple of hills away. Frank however was feeling a bit tired and decided to stay at the cafe, rest for a while and then head home.

What a great pub - proper dingy interior, great selection of ales (I went for a Hepworths Stout - it was fantastic) friendly staff and plenty of locals propping up the bar. the food was really well priced and included lighter meals as well as the bigger platefuls. 10/10 for this pub. 

As we were finishing we spotted John B strolling in - it is his local after all - so we stopped and had a chat with him. Then we split into two with Michael and Pete heading back to Horsham via Copsale, Anton, John and myself heading up Newell's Lane, through Lower Beeding and on to Handcross. Here we said goodbye to Anton as he turned south towards Hayward's Heath, then a few minutes later John and I were back home in Crawley. I'd clocked up 42 miles and enjoyed it but boy was I tired!

Next weeks ride will once again be led by Anton - he'll probably come up with another good route. It will start from Three Bridges Station at 10:00hrs and head to the North and East. It's rated as Medium and will be somewhere in the region of 40 miles long with a pub or cafe at the halfway point, just in time for lunch. Will Anton be charmed enough to have a second dry Sunday?

Easy Ride

Pete S led Jacqui, Sandra, Val, Gordon, Norman, John V and myself out on a ride designed to encourage newcomers to cycling. A simple route saw us follow NCN20 up through Three Bridges and the Industrial Estate and then alongside the swollen River Mole up to Gatwick Airport.

Further evidence of the recent high rainfall was the flooding in the tunnel under the motorway link. It was only a couple of inches deep though, so we easily negotiated it. Apart from that the path was relatively clean and clear. Until we got to the subway under the railway in Horley - that was closed due to flooding, so we had to lug our bikes over the footbridge instead.

Pete was going to take a slight detour from the NCN20 to avoid the bumpy and gravelly bridleway but Val had wandered ahead and took us onto it before Pete could intervene. It was therefore slightly ironic when Val was heard to suggest that we should have avoided the bridleway!

This area is where Horley seems to be expanding into but at the moment it is pretty much awash with floodwater - perhaps the council will stipulate that all the new houses there are built on stilts or floating pontoons.

Reaching tarmac again we just had about three miles and two climbs to go before pulling up at Redhill aerodrome where the cafe was busy (as usual).

Refreshed, our return journey was the exact reverse of the outward journey - except that this time we avoided the dirty bridleway bit. On reaching Three Bridges we said goodbye to Sandra who was heading for home whilst the rest of us headed over to Broadfield for lunch at Gordon's, followed by the Q2 Runs List meeting.

Many thanks to Gordon (and Jacqui) for hosting the meeting and many thanks to all the members who took part and helped produce a nice varied selection of rides taking us through to the end of June. I've sent the list off to be published in The Pedaller and I've also posted it on our website.

Balcombe Tea Room

Late, late, late again! As I approached the Roffey traffic lights my phone rang. It was Anton, politely enquiring whether I would be taking part in his ride. Having confirmed I was, he let me know which route out of Horsham he would be using and therefore where I could intercept him. Sure enough, as I approached the roundabout, I spotted everyone and joined up with them (in spite of John C heading off in the wrong direction). Anton took us along Depot Road, out to Doomsday Green and south on Sedgwick Lane. It was nice and sunny although fairly cool and, apart from the occasional puddle or stream let crossing the road, relatively dry. We went on through Copsale and Maplehurst then up Newell's Lane to Lower Beeding. Anton kept us on the B-road as far as The Wheatsheaf, thereby avoiding a couple of hills and then we turned right to go past Slaugham pond and through Slaugham to Staplefield. Here we took Brantridge Lane all the way up to the water tower before turning right onto Redbridge Lane. It was a nice fast descent pretty much all the way to Balcombe.

The cafe was quite quiet - until we arrived!. Anton, Michael, John C, Pete E, John V and myself. Minutes later, Pat and Frank arrived having ridden down from Crawley, then Val popped in (she'd driven over). We all had a good chat and quaffed our teas and coffees before heading back off outside.

We used the most direct route back - up Redbridge Lane and on to Handcross, then Pease Pottage. The Horsham contingent headed back along the Forest Road whilst us Crawleyites were pretty much home already.

Anyone for Coffee?

Michael had a nice little route planned for today with long or short options to cater for whoever turned up. Due to a party on Saturday night, I'd only managed about three hours sleep and only had 20 minutes to get to Horsham. Just as I was deciding I would have to miss the ride, Anton phoned to see if I needed a lift! So it was that Anton and I joined Michael, Val and Norman in the cafe at Horsham pavilions. Have I mentioned that it was raining hard and that the temperature was only a few degrees above freezing? Well, we all had a coffee and sat there chatting, no-one seemed keen to get out into the lousy weather. We each came up with reasons not to get all cold and wet (mine was that I needed to get back to bed and catch up on my sleep!) and the time ticked by. If anything the weather was actually getting worse and we were enjoying our chatting and coffees so eventually we all decided to forego cycling for the day and just head for home. We'll try and run the ride later in the year. 

The Green Man at Horsted Keynes

I rated this ride as Easy/Medium on the runs list because it would be easy in terms of mileage but medium because there would be some hills - you just can't avoid hills if you go south of Crawley. After the wet and miserable weather of recent, it was a pleasant surprise to wake up to a nice sunny day, albeit a tad nippy. The sun brought out four other riders - John C, Val, Michael and Norman.

I avoided the Pease Pottage climb and didn't use the Turners Hill one because I don't like it. Instead I led everyone through Maidenbower and then up the Balcombe Road as far as the bridleway which took us east to Whiteways Lodge. From there we headed on through Worth Abbey before turning south into Back Lane. This lane gave us a nice two mile plus, generally downhill, quiet, run before launching us steeply down to the reservoir. There was a lot of water running down the sides of the road and at the bottom it was obvious that the road had recently been completely flooded. It was clear enough for us to get through though and then we had the second climb of the day. There was a lot of clear running water cascading down and in some places, across, the road.

Having reached Ardingly we turned right onto the Lindfield road for another downhill run which continued as we turned left and then right and up to Horsted Keynes railway station on the Bluebell Railway. The railway station is over a mile away from the village which gives it its name and is the location of our lunch stop. However, we'd made good time so we stopped on the way into the village  in a sun trap of a spot with a convenient bench. 

As the pub was about to open, we got going again and covered the last few hundred yards to the Green Man. As we locked up our bikes Anton arrived and as we settled down inside the pub with our beers, Pat and Frank turned up. Not bad - eight cyclists out on a cold January day!. We spent a pleasant hour eating and drinking as well as discussing future rides and some facets of a planned end-to-end ride Anton, Norman and myself will tackle in 2016. 

The homeward route took us east then north away from Horsted Keynes then, near Birchgrove (where Harold Macmillan used to I've), I tried to take a debris strewn downhill corner too fast and ran out of road! Luckily I got away with it and managed to regain the tarmac without falling off :-)  Next, one of my favourite lanes took us through a ford and then presented us with a short sharp climb. Continuing north the next Lane took us gradually up as did the following lane, which is called Chilling Street. At the top of the street we turned left and headed through Sharpthorne then West Hoathly and on to Turners Hill. This meant that the last few miles of the ride were all pretty much downhill.

Getting back to Three Bridges station I could see that we'd only covered 24 miles - although Norman reckoned we'd climbed something like 20 hills!

Our next ride should be a bit flatter. Michael will be leading us from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00 hrs and take us to lunch at either Kirdford or Barns Green - depending on who turns up. It's rated as an easy ride and should only be about 30 miles - sounds enjoyable to me, perhaps I'll see you there.

North and West of Crawley

The first ride of 2014 was preceded by the news that two of our riders had fallen off their bikes in recent days. One due to ice and the other due to a pothole. Both riders are recovering but won't be riding for a few weeks yet. Get well soon gents.

Weather wise we were lucky to have a nice clear day. There had been a light frost but with a 10:00 hrs start all the roads were ice free. part from myself, today's riders were Barbara, Val, Frank and Gordon. 

I'd produced a nice easy and relatively flat route which took us up NCN21 through Gatwick and then out of Horley via Meath Green Lane/Lonesome Lane. We took the bridleway across to the A 217 then headed south to Black Corner where we forked right towards Ironsbottom. From there we headed to Charlwood then Russ Hill and finally Rusper. We were the only people in the pub for about half an hour and our food arrived really quickly.

The weather forecast suggested rain in the mid afternoon so we headed straight back home from the pub