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

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.