Reigate Garden Centre

Beautiful sunny day today, just perfect for a bike ride. I left home early and had an enjoyable ride along the Forest Road into Horsham. In fact, I was so early I had time to sit down with a coffee in the Pavilion Cafe (along with a surprised Michael - he hadn't expected me to be so early).

Having finished my coffee I went outside to be met by a crowd of riders - Barbara, Val, Michael, Mick, Norman, Pete E and new rider John, all eager to get going. Just then my phone rang - it was John C to say he was running late and would try and intercept us somewhere along the route.  

We set off and left Horsham via Wimblehurst Road, North Heath Lane, Pondtail Road and Pondtail Drive. We walked our bikes over the bypass having waited for quite a bit of traffic to go past and then headed up Langhurstwood road. The pong wasn't too bad and we were soon away from it. We carried on up to Capel where we were briefly accompanied by a small group of roadies. Mid rook Green Road took us on up to Trig Street from where we headed east to Newdigate. At this point, Barbara and John turned south to head back to Horsham whilst the rest of us carried on to Parkgate and Leigh. Although Flanchford Road was blocked with "Road Closed" signs, we went past them, reassured by the fact that several cyclists were coming from that direction. Sure enough we got through - the bridge parapet was being repaired and road narrowing bollards had been installed but bikes could easily get through. Only a mile later we arrived at Reigate Garden centre and, as I locked my bike up, John C arrived.

Although most of us were served our lunch quite promptly, Val didn't get hers even after two reminders, so remained I refreshed as we set off on the return ride. The return route retraced our steps as far as Parkgate where the Michael headed west and the rest of us went south, through Charlwood and then through Ifield Wood. On reaching the Rusper Road, Pete, Val and Norman turned right to go back to Horsham leaving just john and I to go through Ifield, West Green and the town centre to get home.

Easy Ride - suitable for Beginners

The second Sunday of the month means that our ride is an easy one suitable for anyone and everyone.

The funny thing is that we seem to have more and more of our members turn up on these rides, this week was no exception. In total there were eleven of us!! In addition we had two guests as well.

Pete S (with Marian) had the pleasure of leading Barbara, Sandra, Val, John V, Michael, Ken, Norman, Pete E and myself as well as guests Malcolm and Rob. I had hoped that we would be going for a jaunt along The Worth Way, but the consensus had leant toward winging our way to Redhill Aerodrome instead. As Pete E was still on the train, I let everyone else start riding whilst I waited for him to arrive. We were only about15 minutes behind everyone else, but cracked along at a fair pace. I thought we would catch up with the "peloton" somewhere in the Industrial Estate but, even though we streaked along the Gatwick straight in excess of 20mph, we didn't manage to make the join until the traffic lights in the middle of Horley!

As we crowded along the shared use foot/cycle path leading north through Horley, we had a minor incident where one of riders was so engrossed in looking out for motor traffic as we crossed a road that she didn't notice a bollard and rode into it! Fortunately we weren't going fast and although she came off, she wasn't hurt. We carried on and Pete made sure we avoided the bumpy bridleway and took the smooth tarmac route along Orchard Drive. The end of this road has an unusual feature insofar as, where it joins up with Cross Oak Lane, what should be a T-Junction is instead a limited access junction. For some (stupid in my opinion) reason, the road layout and signage prohibits anyone from turning right onto Cross Oak Lane. I'm guessing some combination of Surrey/Horley/Salfords road planners and local Nimby residents got their knickers in a twist about the possibility of people driving through the local lanes rather than the choked up A217. What this means for cyclists is that, rather than break the law and ignore the no-right turn signs, we have to ride past the junction then turn right onto a strip of the old road surface that takes us east along the lane in the direction we want (the A217 is no place for cyclists if they can avoid it).

From here, we just had to ride up Picketts Lane, then Masons Bridge Road before turning right onto Kings Mill lane which took us to Redhill Aerodrome and the Chef on the Road cafe for a brunch stop.

It was quite crowded but we managed to get a table outside, where we could sit, eat, drink, chat and watch the various light aircraft and helicopters that were taking off and landing.

Our return journey exactly retraced our outbound route and I would like to say that it was pretty uneventful.

Our next ride starts from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00 hrs on Sunday 16th March. Bob will lead us on a fairly easy 20 mile route to the cafe at Reigate Garden Centre and return on a shorter but just as easy route. Come along - the weather forecast is really good, I reckon it's going to be a great day out on your bike.

Pootle to Partridge Green

Happy Birthday to us! Our club was formed at this time of year some thirty odd years ago, so it was good to see a couple of founder members out riding with us today. In fact, I was pleased to see eight riders joining me for today's ride: Mick, Val, Norman, Malcolm, Pete E, John V, Pete and Marian S.

I'd made a tactical error in setting up the runs list in that I had two consecutive Horsham starts that headed in the same direction. Anton had given us a good ride to Maplehurst a fortnight ago and there was a risk today's ride would use a lot of the same roads, so I deliberately worked out a zig-zaggy route to avoid that. 

We left Horsham by crossing the golf course, going under the A24 and onto Robin Hood Lane. Broadbridge Heath was very quiet and we were soon negotiating the new road layout at Newbridge. From here we took the next left to Christs Hospital and on to Two Mile Ash. Next we went up Bonfire Hill to Southwater.

Here I outsourced the ride leader role to Norman and he skilfully guided us through the avenues and alleyways of deepest, darkest Southwater. We crossed over the A24 near the RSPCA HQ then headed south from Newfoundout to use Jackrells Lane/Polecat Lane on to Copsale. I'd forgotten about the little hill on this Lane but huffed and puffed my way up it all the way to Maplehurst. We regrouped for the final two hills before lunch but, as we hit the second, Pete and Marian's tandem was making some horrible crunching noises from the area of the bottom bracket. Shortly after we crossed the A272 their bottom bracket gave up the ghost and the chain kept coming off, meaning they had to walk the last mile or so to the pub.

We had a lovely lunch at The Partridge in Partridge Green, all of us opting for one of their range of baps. The pub is run by the local Dark Star brewery I believe, and between us we sampled there excellent brews - I had a delicious pint of brown ale from the local. Pete and Marian arranged for their son to come and pick them and the broken tandem up, whilst the rest of us remounted and headed back home hoping to beat the rain which was forecast for 3p.m.

I'd considered using the Downs Link to avoid some hills but looking at the map I reckoned it would be shorter by staying on the roads. So we retraced our morning route back to Copsale, with Jon V leaving us to head back to Crawley via Newells Lane whilst the rest us headed up to Kerves Lane. This took us on up to Horsham where we split into two groups, one heading back to the start and Norman, Mick and myself heading for the Roffey area.

From Roffey I used the Forest Road, but just short of Pease Pottage the rain finally started. As it was fairly fine rain I decided to keep going and not bother stopping to put on my waterproofs. The rain got heavier as I raced down Pease Pottage Hill so I decided to go through Tilgate Park in order to get some shelter from the trees. I took my usual diagonal route across the grassy slope but it was very slippy - a combination of my slick tyres and the extremely wet ground conditions.  Here's a video of the trip down Pease Pottage Hill and through Tilgate park (it's speeded up a bit):



If I'd had my knobbly tyres on I'd have been quicker through the park but would have been absolutely covered in mud from head to toe, so maybe carefully skating along on slicks was a good idea? It certainly helps hone your concentration!!  As you can see, the track alongside the golf driving range was badly potholed with an expanding selection of muddy puddles of indeterminate depth but I was soon home and amazingly not too covered in crud either. I chucked a couple of buckets of water over my trusty bike and then sprayed it with light oil before putting it away having checked to see how many miles I'd ridden - 46.

Next weeks ride is an Easy ride aimed at beginners and will start from Three Bridges Station at 10:00 hrs, come along, enjoy riding your bike in good company.

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.