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!