Wiggonholt AGM

The truly terrible weather of Saturday had all but disappeared by the time I set off on Sunday – the wind had died down and there were only a few spots of rain in the air. However, the road surface was littered with debris and there was plenty of evidence of how much rain had fallen in the previous 24 hours: big puddles everywhere and strandlines of leaves and other materials across roads and paths alike.

I used my usual Forest Road route to Horsham and arrived late (again) so we didn’t hang around and the six of us got going immediately. I set Anton as tailgunner with Martin, John H, Barbara, Norman and me (Bob) making up the rest of the group. As leader I decided to use the easy route away from Horsham – over the golf course, along Robin Hood Lane and down through Broadbridge heath. As I led the way over the roundabout and onto the A264, I felt my bike squirm a bit and realised I’d picked up a rear puncture! I blamed the bad weather – all that wind and rain had moved the bits of flint and glass normally found at the edge of the road into the middle of the road and there hadn’t been enough vehicles around to sweep it back again. As we were tight on time, half our party carried on (they knew the route) and I replaced my tube having removed the offending piece of glass from my tyre. It only took a few minutes and one pair of very dirty hands before we were going again.

Eschewing the road through Barns Green, we took the following road and climbed the short hill that ensured the next few miles would be mainly downward. The climb made us hot and coupled with the now sunny sky meant that we stopped at the top to remove our jackets. Both Anton and I regretted wearing our warm, waterproof winter gloves but kept them on as neither of us had any lighter gloves. We were making good progress now but didn’t catch the rest of our party until we reached Woods Hill. There was no time to catch our breath as we only had 10 minutes to get to the RSPB centre at Wigginholt which was still about 4 miles away.

In an effort to make the start of the AGM, Norman and I rode on ahead but this proved to be a technical error as the middle portion of our now fragmented group rode straight past the RSPB entrance. Fortunately Anton spotted this and managed to round them up.

The AGM had started as we entered the hall but we’d only missed the election of the meeting chairman and the minutes secretary. There were some 30 odd members present and in a break with tradition, Barbara wasn’t the only one from Horsham and Crawley! In fact, John V. had also turned up. The AGM content will be reported separately on the West Sussex CTC website.

The meeting finished at about midday and so we headed off for lunch. We headed back the way we came – past the Panda hideaway, along a drier than expected Stream Lane and back to West Chiltington where we lunched at the Queens Head. We all had a nice pint of Harveys Sussex Ale and our sandwiches came with chips and a ramikin of nice fresh salad.

I suggested using a different route back to Horsham but the consensus was to mainly retrace our steps before going through Barns Green and Two Mile Ash up to Tower Hill. On reaching the town centre we went our separate ways with John V. and I heading back to Crawley. As ever, I found the first part of Forest Road a struggle but it didn’t take long to get to Pease Pottage and then back home. This week I clocked up 48 miles.

Next weeks ride is led by Anton and is an Easy ride from Horsham Park Pavilion at 10:00 hrs with a lunch break at Notcutts Garden centre, Cranleigh and with the option of tea and cakes at Capel. It should only entail about 4 hours in the saddle.