East Sussex Mystery Ride

A quick thrash along The Worth Way to East Grinstead for Ken, Malcolm and Bob before meeting up with Ros, Pete, Rachel, Paul, Annie and Denis.

Ros led us on a very nice ride through Forest Row and up onto Ashdown Forest and Nuthurst for lunch at Fletching. Great views, great weather, great company.

Pooh Sticks

The weather forecast for Sunday was "unseasonably warm with occasional showers".  Waking up to a dull,  overcast day with dampness in the air I though the forecast must be wrong and was feeling a bit glum as I waited at Three Bridges station to see if anyone else would turn up. I'd already arranged to meet up with Ros and in response to a John V text, I'd arranged to meet him at the same place, so I knew there would be three of us but then Michael emerged from the rail replacement bus laden car park.  Due to the time I'd arranged to meet Ros and JV, we left Three Bridges bang on 09:30 and just a few minutes later I received a phone call from Ken asking where we were - we must have missed each other by seconds!  Anyway, we all managed to find each other at Keepers Cottage and continued along the Worth Way to East Grinstead. There was a bit of splatter coming up from the surface - it didn't trouble anyone though: everyone else had mudguards and I didn't care about getting muddy!


It didn't take us long to get to East Grinstead and here we split up, more or less according to bike type. The road and hybrid riders used a road route through the town and on to Forest Row, the mountain bikers tackled the station steps, the ascent of the west face of Grinny High Street and the motorway standard bike path that is the first part of the Forest Way before arriving at the Café (by the tip) in Forest Row (ahead of the road/hybrid johnnies).


The café was 10 minutes or so from opening so we didn't hang around but carried on east with the skies starting to clear a bit and allow the sun to warm things up a touch. We seemed to fly along and it was only a short time before we were at Hartfield. We rode up through the village and on up past the Gallipot Inn (I collected some sticks and twigs on the way). As we were paused to regroup at the crossroads we had a chat with some poor bloke who'd just filled his diesel car up with petrol and was waiting for a breakdown truck to arrive (he'd already been waiting about two hours!!!).


I had to ride carefully along the bridleway/private drive as I had a whole handful of sticks ready for the coming competition. As usual, I said hello to other people as we passed them and remember doing so to an oriental couple shortly before arriving at Poohsticks Bridge - they seemed amused that I had brought my own Poohsticks.


We had a good few games of Poohsticks and also spotted a rather large crayfish in the river - although it disappeared when a large dog jumped in and started hauling an eight foot long branch through the water!

As it was now 11:45 it was time to head for the pub, so we climbed up through the woods to the car park and then enjoyed the quiet lane heading West. As I approached the ford it looked like it was really deep - at least two feet - but on closer inspection it was only about 5 inches deep so I rode backwards and forwards through it a few times, washing the mud off my wheels and demonstrating to the others that it was easily negotiable.


From the ford it was just a half mile up the lane to the pub at Colemans Hatch (not Chucks Hatch as I keep calling it). The pub was busy and full inside, but it was pleasant enough to sit outside and we quickly got our beers and food ordered. Unusually for pubs these days, this one did a good range of sandwiches on a Sunday. The beer was very good and the sandwiches (which were very nice) arrived pretty quick. We would definitely recommend this pub for cyclists (as would the other twenty odd cyclists that were also there).


I gave everyone the choice of a road route home or to use the Forest Way/Worth Way again. They all opted for the latter which pleased me as it was the one I wanted to do. The ride back to East Grinstead was very pleasant with the sun flickering through the trees and colourful leaves swirling around in the wind, which we were just beginning to notice (it was now in our faces). Arriving at East Gribnstead station we said goodbye to Ros and just before we pulled off I noticed the oriental couple we'd seen earlier just going to catch a train (I said hello again).


We made good progress back along the Worth Way with the trees sheltering us from the effects of the headwind and reaching Worth we said goodbye to first Ken then John before I left Michael to head back to the station by himself.  I swooped down through Maidenbower and used the newly reopened second tunnel under the railway - it's all neatly surfaced and illuminated now. Just a couple of minutes later I was home and getting ready to head across town to a family party.


Our next ride is on Sunday 26th October and will have an 09:15 start from Horsham Pavilion in the Park (it's not early, you'll have had an extra hour in bed due to the clock change). Going via the Black Swan at Pease Pottage at 10:00hrs, Mick will lead you on a very nice, clockwise loop to the south and on to lunch at Newbridge Garden Centre. This will be a medium rated route entirely on road and about 35 miles in total.


Before then, it's our AGM.     Please come along to the Dog and Bacon in Horsham on Wednesday 22nd October at 1930 - help make your club work for you.

Worth Way

Pete was unable to lead this months easy ride so I stepped in. I fancied putting the knobbly tyres on my bike and riding the Worth Way, so that's what we did.

The weather was nice and I ventured out in shorts for the first time this year. I was joined at Three Bridges station by John C, Val and Malcolm before we set off along Billington Way and onto the track. Spring had arrived and the Worth Way was lined with Bluebells, Wood Anemone, Celandine and lots of Blackthorn blossom.

The ride out to East Grinstead was really pleasant and it was good to see lots of families out on their bikes.

Here's a video of the ride through East Grinstead and out on the Forest Way:

http://youtu.be/kiYLhwJQCyA

We stopped to nip up to a viewpoint and look across to Weirwood reservoir, but now that apple trees have been planted in the field up there the view has gone. Once we got riding again, I took a little detour on some single track and then we all took another to view Brambletye House before carrying on into Forest Row.

http://youtu.be/eE8oSZdzy10

As you can see, we headed through the back of Forest Row and past a gathering of car enthusiasts before pulling up at the Java and Jazz cafe.

After a pleasant lunch (chocolate milkshake and a toasted sandwich for me), we headed back.

It was a really nice ride, pleasant and completely uneventful.......

The Green Man at Horsted Keynes

I rated this ride as Easy/Medium on the runs list because it would be easy in terms of mileage but medium because there would be some hills - you just can't avoid hills if you go south of Crawley. After the wet and miserable weather of recent, it was a pleasant surprise to wake up to a nice sunny day, albeit a tad nippy. The sun brought out four other riders - John C, Val, Michael and Norman.

I avoided the Pease Pottage climb and didn't use the Turners Hill one because I don't like it. Instead I led everyone through Maidenbower and then up the Balcombe Road as far as the bridleway which took us east to Whiteways Lodge. From there we headed on through Worth Abbey before turning south into Back Lane. This lane gave us a nice two mile plus, generally downhill, quiet, run before launching us steeply down to the reservoir. There was a lot of water running down the sides of the road and at the bottom it was obvious that the road had recently been completely flooded. It was clear enough for us to get through though and then we had the second climb of the day. There was a lot of clear running water cascading down and in some places, across, the road.

Having reached Ardingly we turned right onto the Lindfield road for another downhill run which continued as we turned left and then right and up to Horsted Keynes railway station on the Bluebell Railway. The railway station is over a mile away from the village which gives it its name and is the location of our lunch stop. However, we'd made good time so we stopped on the way into the village  in a sun trap of a spot with a convenient bench. 

As the pub was about to open, we got going again and covered the last few hundred yards to the Green Man. As we locked up our bikes Anton arrived and as we settled down inside the pub with our beers, Pat and Frank turned up. Not bad - eight cyclists out on a cold January day!. We spent a pleasant hour eating and drinking as well as discussing future rides and some facets of a planned end-to-end ride Anton, Norman and myself will tackle in 2016. 

The homeward route took us east then north away from Horsted Keynes then, near Birchgrove (where Harold Macmillan used to I've), I tried to take a debris strewn downhill corner too fast and ran out of road! Luckily I got away with it and managed to regain the tarmac without falling off :-)  Next, one of my favourite lanes took us through a ford and then presented us with a short sharp climb. Continuing north the next Lane took us gradually up as did the following lane, which is called Chilling Street. At the top of the street we turned left and headed through Sharpthorne then West Hoathly and on to Turners Hill. This meant that the last few miles of the ride were all pretty much downhill.

Getting back to Three Bridges station I could see that we'd only covered 24 miles - although Norman reckoned we'd climbed something like 20 hills!

Our next ride should be a bit flatter. Michael will be leading us from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00 hrs and take us to lunch at either Kirdford or Barns Green - depending on who turns up. It's rated as an easy ride and should only be about 30 miles - sounds enjoyable to me, perhaps I'll see you there.

The Bluebell Railway

Looking forward to today's ride, I opened the curtains to be confronted by a torrential downpour. Hmmmmmm. Do I still want to go for a bike ride? Well.... I had washed and re proofed my waterproofs during the week, so maybe here was an opportunity to test out my handiwork?

As usual I was late arriving at the start - this week my excuse was the length of time it took me to fit my rear rack and associated mudguard, my front mudguard and pull on my nice, clean waterproofs, but - the rain had stopped!

Waiting at Three Bridges were Pete E, Michael, Norman and Narinder. A quick text conversation with Ros and we'd arranged to meet her at East Grinstead, another text conversation confirmed that Gordon would not be falling off joining up with us this week.

The Worth Way provided a firm and reliable surface, although a lot of muddy water was getting picked up and sprayed around by our tyres. We sped along through Rowfant and Crawley Down until we arrived at East Grinstead station where we met Ros and Carol in the railway carriage cafe:

After this brief encounter there were now seven of us and we headed up the High Street and onto The Forest Way for the quick sprint down to Forest Row (Ros used the road in order to avoid getting as besmattered as we were). 

From Forest Row we used Priory Road to climb up into Ashdown Forest. It was a stiffer climb than I was anticipating and we stopped at the crossroads to get our breath back before turning left and then right onto Twyford Lane. This is one of my favourite lanes and I freewheeled down it at about thirty mph. Towards the bottom of the hill it gets a bit bendier, steeper and narrower but today it was also muddier and slippier. I splashed through the ford which was disappointingly shallow, and waited for the others with my video camera running all the way:

Left at the scissor-shaped crossroads and climb back up until we were once more on the main Ashdown Forest ridge. From here we went across to Chelwood gate and on to Nutley before turning south on the A22 and then right onto Nether Lane which becomes Down Street - another really excellent lane for riding. Now it was just a case of going through Splaynes Green to get to Sheffield Green where we turned left for the short run down the A275 to the Bluebell Railway.

Here we had a nice meal in the Bessemer Arms before doing some sightseeing around the station. Someone was acting like an over-excited schoolboy (I shan't say who, but he had a purple jacket on) and kept up a non-stop commentary on all the railwayana surrounding us.

He didn't even stop once we got on the train! Ros may well have had enough though, for she decided to cycle back to East Grinstead.

The journey up the line was however most memorable for the fact that the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain - we'd avoided getting wet whilst cycling and now we were warm and dry in our own compartment as the train splashed through the torrential downpour (we did think about Ros though - has she dried out yet??).

Bang on cue, the sun came back out just as the train pulled into our stop at East Grinstead - timing!

Here's the magnificent loco that was pulling our train - it's a Class 9F, the last class of steam locomotive built for British Rail. Ask Norman what the wheel arrangement is...

The ride back to Three Bridges along the Worth Way was uneventful but once more splattered us in muddy water. We didn't mind, we'd had a really nice day out (in spite of the weather).

Next weeks ride is hopefully timed just right - it goes to Winkworth Arboretum, a National Trust garden that has spectacular autumn colours, so bring your NT card if you've got one. There is a cafe there (it's just outside the garden so you don't need to pay entry/show your card if you just want some refreshments).  The start will be from Horsham Park Pavilion at 09:30 hrs for a ride of about 30-35 miles and I would rate it as easy-medium.  Don't forget, the clocks will have gone back on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so it will be brighter in the morning.

Pooh sticks

Nice sunny weather in the week before the ride had me imagining a bright, warm Sunday but no, it was overcast and there was a cold wind blowing from the northeast. I arrived at Three Bridges station to be met by four riders - Barbara, Michael, Norman and Ken. Shortly after John V arrived and a few minutes later we set off.......... Only for me to wheel back because I'd forgotten to get some money out of the cash machine. I'd told the others what route we were using and once I'd got my cash I headed after them. Up Billinton Drive and onto the Worth Way. I was impressed with how far the others were ahead of me and I still hadn't caught them when I got to Worth Church where I spotted an old work colleague but couldn't stop to chat. I carried on and then heard a shout from behind - it was John, but he was by himself. As he explained that he'd seen the others missing the turn onto Billinton Drive my phone rang and Barbara told me the same and that they were now waiting at Compasses Cottage on the Worth Way just ahead of us. A couple of minutes later we'd all joined up and were continuing along our way.

We were cracking along at a good pace as we were sheltered from what was quite a stiff headwind and were soon at East Grinstead. Barbara turned back at this point and John left to go to a family party No steam engines at the station so we continued on up the High Street and onto the Forest Way.

It's slightly down hill all the way to Forest Row and then fairly level to Hartfield. Here we turned onto the road and headed up through the village and further up to Upper Hartfield. On the way we all collected several twigs so we were ready for the competition to come. Here's a short video of the route from the road to the bridge:

Having been soundly beaten at Pooh sticks by a family we met there, we climbed up through the woods to a lane and then headed east. At the end of the lane we crossed through a ford and then headed up the hill to arrive at the lunch halt - The Hatch at Colemans Hatch. We ordered our food, got our beers and sat down inside - next to an open fire - in June!!!!!

The beer was good, the food was excellent and we had a good old chat in the comfort of the pub.

For the return trip we had a nice fast downhill to Forest Row where we regained the Forest Way and headed back through East Grinstead (still no steam engine) and back to Crawley having covered just about 35 miles.

Our next ride is at 10:00hrs on Sunday 16th June and will be a Mystery Ride led by Pete E from Horsham Pavilions in the Park.  Where will he take you? One things's certain - he won't take you anywhere near Turners Hill or Ardingly because the London to Brighton Bike Ride is on the same day.  It's also Fathers Day.