Littleworth

Todays ride should have stopped for lunch at The Windmill in Littleworth but as we were running a bit early we carried on and visited the cafe at the Camelia Botnar garden centre again.

It was bitterly cold at Three Bridges for the start and Norman, having ridden over from Horsham, was so cold that he decided to head for the warmth of a train back home - I don't blame him!
The remaining four of us (Richard, Michael, Gordon and Bob), headed off through Furnace Green and Tilgate to warm up on the climb of Pease Pottage Hill. From here an interesting route took us via Handcross, Staplefield, over the Warninglid flyover and across the A272 just west of Bolney before turning into Bob Lane at Twineham Green. We headed south through Wineham then west on the B2116 before heading north to Shermanbury. Here we first headed towards Partridge Green and then north through Littleworth (passing the Windmill well before opening time) to arrive at the cafe.

Lunch was very good and all too soon we re-emerged into what seemed to have become an even colder day! The route home took us north over the A272 and up to Maplehurst where we headed east along the ridge before turning north once more along Newells Lane. Next we headed to Lower Beeding then took Church Lane up to Hammerpond Road. Turning left we crossed the Hammerpond and then turned right for the long drag up Grouse Road. Soon enough however, Grouse Road took us to Pease Pottage and then the usual route back home retracing our steps past K2 and through Tilgate and Furnace Green.

Here's a slide show of most of the route:

Camelia Botnar Garden Centre

Didn't come on the ride - experience it here, all 28 miles of it from Horsham to Crawley.......

Video in Facebook

Next weeks ride starts from Three Bridges station at 10:00hrs and will go to Littleworth for lunch at the Windmill. It will be fairly easy and about 30 miles.

Beginners Ride

"Beginners Ride" it said on the runs list but all four of the attendees were just a bit on the experienced side!

Not surprising really as the weather was cold and wet - definitely "Wintry Showers". However, Pete S led Ros, Gordon and Bob out into the less-then-encouraging weather and out on the Turners Hill Road which soon warmed us up as we climbed past Tulleys Farm to Turners Hill Church.

At the crossroads we headed straight on and enjoyed the two miles of freewheeling downhill it offered, although the cold wind and cold spray whipping across my face made me wish I had a full face helmet on! As ever it was hard work climbing up to the crossroads to turn right onto Saint Hill Road, but as there were several other cyclists around we had to grin and bear it whilst pretending it was no sweat.......

The other cyclists were taking part in an Evans organised Sportive and would be on the same route as us for the next four miles or so as we headed first to Saint Hill Green, then down and across the tail of Weirwood Reservoir (looking the fullest it has for many years), before the long drag up Legsheath Lane.

We regrouped at the crossroads, next to a refreshment point for the Sportive riders, before we turned left and headed down Priory Road and into Forest Row. The A22 through Forest Row was busy with cars but we were soon across and pulled up at the Riverview Cafe on Station Road. We recommend this cafe to anyone in the area - you'll always get a friendly welcome, the food and drink is very good and they don't throw a fit when a bunch of soaking wet cyclists suddenly turn up.

After half an hour or so drinking coffee, eating cake and chatting with each other and various other folk, we headed back out into the cold and wet.

We'd had our fill of hills getting to Forest Row, so we decided to use the Forest Way to get back home. In spite of all the recent rain and snow, the surface was firm enough to ride with slicks (as I was doing) and, in spite of all the dirt flicking up, we had no scary moments on the ride back to East Grinstead. Here, Ros left us to go home, and Pete, Gordon and myself played "dodge the p*llock in a car that doesn't know what they're doing" down the High Street and on to the station.

The station buildings have been replaced but the steps to the overbridge look the same to me and still have that awkward spacing meaning you have to really concentrate to ride up them - I'm guessing, because of course I would never ride up them ;-)

As The Worth Way is slightly downhill from East Grinstead, we were going along at a fairly brisk pace and were feeling nice and warm with just the odd cold toe or finger having a little moan. This also meant we were spraying a lot more mud and dirt everywhere making some of our gear changes a bit slower and noisier than usual. Crawley Down was soon behind us and next I knew we were at Worth. Here Pete peeled off to head for home leaving me to lead Gordon down through Maidenbower and through the tunnel into Furnace Green where I could finally pull up leaving Gordon all alone to negotiate the climb of Pease Pottage Hill to his house.

Before putting my bike away I gave it 5 minutes of attention with first a jetspray (don't spray the main bearing areas) followed by an oil spray (to repel the water). Then I needed 5 minutes attention to get the mud and other detritus off my shoes and (mainly) my lower legs.

Next weeks ride (10th February) is a Horsham Pavilion in the Park start at 10:00hrs. It will be an easy  loop to the south of Horsham calling in at the Camelia Botnar Garden Centre for refreshments and involving no more than 3 hours or so in the saddle. Go on, layer up, waterproofs on top, waterproof gloves (with extra warm liner gloves), waterproof socks and something warm on your head - you'll be able to ride with a smile on your face and an intense feeling of superiority over the oafs in the wheeled boxes!  I know I do :-)

Balcombe Cafe

The phone rings.  It's Ros.  "Bob, where is tomorrows ride supposed to start from?" "Crawley" I say, "Oh!" she responds "Only it says Horsham in the Runs list and Crawley at the end of last weeks blog!"
 I groan, "I messed up there.  Better go with the Runs list and have a Horsham start then."

This just serves to remind you all that the Runs list is the DEFINITIVE version of what ride should be occurring and where from.

So there I was, all psyched up for a lie-in and with a route planned from Crawley but now I had to come up with a new route and make sure I was out of bed earlier :-(

Amazingly I was up nice and early and as I was getting ready I received a text from Gordon arranging to meet on the ride over to Horsham. It was bitterly cold but as everywhere was bone-dry, there was no evidence of frost and the road surface was perfect (obviously, apart from all the potholes!!).

Pease Pottage Hill was hard work as I still don't seem to have any energy, so I was a bit late meeting Gordon but at least we did meet up and we carried on over to Horsham through Colgate and Roffey. At Horsham Park Pavilion we were met by Pete E, Mike and Frank. We hung around chatting for about 10 minutes but no further riders arrived, so we set off. Firstly back to the Railway Station and over the road bridge before cutting through by the Salvation Army HQ and heading east along Depot Road.

We turned right onto Comptons Lane and left onto Hammerpond Road. Pete was a bit worried about this road as he has had a couple of "offs" along it previously, but in spite of there being a lot of running water and loose gravel near the Roosthole car park, he had no problems today. The sharp climb from the Hammerpond up to Church Lane felt particularly brutal even though it's only short and the lesser climb that follows it seemed more noticeable as well. However, we were soon negotiating the crossroads by The Wheatsheaf and carried on to Slaugham Pond.

I thought about turning right there in order to add a few miles to the ride, but realising it would add three more hills as well, I decided against it and we carried on to Staplefield. Here we didn't even have to stop at the crossroads and just sailed across without a car in sight. Gordon told me the story about how The Victory pub here got it's name - basically the pub at the top of the village (frequented by the Nobs) didn't want the pub at the bottom of the village (frequented by the workers) to exist and tried to get it closed down, but in a court case, the workers pub won and promptly christened itself The Victory in recognition of the event.

Brantridge Lane was a little wet and messy at the bottom corner but was quite pleasant (in spite of the climb) and we were soon at the top end. Going past The Wings Museum, I made a mental note to perhaps arrange a ride there sometime - it's open every Saturday and Sunday from March to October.

At the junction near the water tower we turned left onto Redbridge Lane and enjoyed a relaxing freewheel for the best part of 1.5 miles before turning right and then bearing left and into Balcombe. As eve the cafe windows were all steamed up and I had to poke my head around the door to check there was enough space for us. There was and we found a table for five and sate down to enjoy pots of steaming hot tea and various sandwiches/cakes.

For the return trip, Frank headed north on the Balcombe Road and the rest of us retraced our journey back up Redbridge Lane but when we got to the water tower we took the B road past High Beeches towards Handcross. From here, the easiest route home for everyone meant heading to Pease Pottage where Pete and Mike carried on along the Forest Road to go through Colgate and Roffey back to Horsham, whilst Gordon and I had but a short journey back to Crawley.  I was home by 14:00 hrs and had ridden a mere 30 miles - but there'd been a fair few hills!

Next weeks ride is a Morning Ride aimed at less-experienced riders. Members and non-members are welcome. Starting from Three Bridges station at 10:00hrs, it will probably go down the Worth Way. Travelling at the speed of the slowest rider (that may well be me) we will return to Crawley sometime around midday. Hope to see you there. 

The Foresters Arms, Kirdford

The snow had completely disappeared following the recent thaw and a night of heavy rain and high winds. The trouble is, when I awoke the heavy rain and high winds were still with us. However, the weatherman's prediction came true and by the time I ventured out, the rain had stopped and the wind had dropped appreciably. I sent a text to Gordon telling him I'd be at The Black Swan at 25 past nine if he wanted company on the ride to Horsham and set off. Within a few yards I remembered that I hadn't raised my saddle back to it's normal position after lowering it for last weeks ride in the snow, but having set myself a time to be at Pease Pottage, I couldn't afford the time to readjust it. My knees were soon aching and so I did a fair chunk of the climb up Pease Pottage Hill standing on the pedals. I stopped at the Black Swan and raised my saddle whilst waiting to see if Gordon would take up my offer. No show, so on I went through Colgate and Roffey to arrive at Horsham Park Pavilion shortly before ten.

Norman was there and mentioned he had a rubbing sound on his bike. It was a cyclical noise associated with his wheels and we soon identified the problem as a broken spoke - or more accurately, a broken spoke nipple. We reasoned that discretion was key and riding on that wheel was probably not wise, so Norman headed home.  That left three of us on the ride as by now Mick and Mike had joined us from the cafe.

We headed out of Horsham over Rookwood Golf Course and Robin Hood Lane and shortly after we were crawling up Rowhook Hill. There were quite a few people running along this road (in the opposite direction) although we didn't find out whether it was a club run or some other organised event.

We turned left to Ellens Green and then left to Cox Green where we took the road to Baynards. The Downs Link bridge there looks to be undergoing some extensive repairs. From here we sped down a verey wet Cooks(?) Hill and then crossed over the A281 to reach Tisman's Common. We ignored the lure of Drungewick Lane and carried on to Loxwood. Here we headed south and crossed the canal and a rather flooded river before climbing up the hill and past the church. We took the first left and headed for Ifold before turning south once more for the final two miles or so to Kirdford.

The landlady and staff at The Foresters Arms were very welcoming and they are not at all fazed by wet, cold and grubby cyclists turning up on their doorstep. All three of us managed a couple of well kept pints of Sussex and some very nice sandwiches/baguettes.

Getting back on our bikes, we felt a bit cold - but that may have been because we'd just left a very nice open fire behind us!

For the route back I took us through Wisborough Green and up to Roundstreet Common onto Drungewick Lane. It may be worth noting that Southwater Cycles have relocated from Southwater to a Farmyard business estate half way along the east side of Drungewick Lane.

We carried on back to Tisman's Common and then to Bucks Green where we said goodbye to Mike as he went home to Rudgwick. Mick and I then turned south and crossed a very swollen River Arun to go past The Haven and on towards Five Oaks. Reaching the A29 we turned left and then a mile later, right to get to Slinfold. From there it was back to Horsham through Broadbridge Heath, along Robin Hood Lane and returning over the Golf Course.

Now I was by myself and followed the usual route through Roffey and Colgate back to Crawley via Pease Pottage and K2 to arrive home shortly before 15:30 having travelled about 54 miles.

Next weeks ride will start from Horsham Park Pavilion at 10:00hrs and will be a relatively short (less than 30 miles) ride to the south of Crawley with a refreshment/lunch stop at the Cafe in Balcombe. Hills will be unavoidable but I'll try to keep it as easy as possible because I don't seem to have much energy at the moment!!

Don't forget to send your Anniversary Lunch menu choices and money to Mick by the end of January.

Snow Ride

The snow meant that we cancelled the planned ride to Chiddingstone (it will now take place towards  the end of April) and instead we went for an out-and-back ride along the Worth Way. I met Gordon on the way to the station and then Pete arrived. In place of a proper blog I'm trying an experiment and have (hopefully) attached a movie comprised of still pictures shot every 10 seconds from the bridge on the Black Path all the way to Crawley Down - it might give a flavour of the ride!

***** Stop Press *****

TOMORROWS RIDE (CHIDDINGSTONE) IS CANCELLED DUE TO THE WEATHER.

Instead, we will be running an off road (and through the snow) ride along the Worth Way. Starting from Three Bridges Station at 10:00hrs and returning at about 12:00hrs.  Put your grippiest tyres on whichever of your bikes has the most clearance and come out to play - I mean, practice your bike handling skills!