The Plough at Leigh

I still don't know how to correctly pronounce the name of the village, but that didn't mean that Anton couldn't lead us there.


The last Sunday in September dawned with glorious clear blue skies and on arrival at Three Bridges Station there were a couple of new faces joining us for the ride. Anton led Eric, Sebastian, Michael, Christine, John C and myself out through Three Bridges on NCN 20 and into the Industrial Estate (coincidentally, using the same route that I do on my way to work). The roads were fairly quiet and we were soon on the smooth path running alongside the River Mole towards the Airport terminal building. The lake at Horley was looking very picturesque in the sunshine and then Anton took us through the middle of Horley and over the corssroads by the Air Balloon pub. Meath Green Lane/Lonesome Lane was very smooth and we realized that we were running a long way ahead of time, so decided to fit in an extra stop.

Accordingly we pulled up at Reigate Garden Centre to have a quick drink and ablutions break...


On the road again, Anton took us on some pleasant lanes to Betchworth and past The Dolphin pub before fitting in a little extra loop to ensure we arrived at The Plough in Leigh bang on midday -  Anton scores maximum points for timing.


We sat outside in the sunshine and were met by Barbara who had ridden up from Horsham.




The beer was good, the food was good, the conversation was good but the weather eclipsed them all - a full-on summers day.

We remounted and headed west before turning south to get to Parkgate. From here it was west and south again to Newdigate and then further south to Rusper. We stopped there for a while (and some of us had an icecream) before Barbara headed off towards Horsham and the rest of us headed back to Ifield. We took advantage of the new Ifield to West Green cycle route and then used the backstreets of Southgate to get to Hawth Avenue and thence Furnace Green where I left the group. Anton carried on, under the railway to Maidenbower and then guided the last couple of riders back to Three Bridges Station.


Next weeks ride is Gordon's B-Ride - it starts from Three Bridges Station at 10:00 hrs .(or 08:00 for Breakfast at Gordons) then follows a mixed surface route out to Horsham on the NCN 288 route and back via St. Leonards Forest. Mountain bikes or strong tourers are recommended.  Why B-Ride you ask - well, it features breakfast, bacon butties, banter, bikes, bridleways, Bob(probably), bumps, bunnies(maybe), bananaskins, babies - that's enough b's! Ed.

The Crawley 100

Each year we stage a 100 mile ride - as befits the name of our club we start it at either Crawley or Horsham. This year it was a Crawley start. The current route was devised by Mick a few years ago and has had just a couple of minor adjustments since

One hundred miles is a pretty intimidating distance, so in recent weeks I had been talking to fellow club members and trying to encourage participation in the event at a level people were comfortable with - ride part of it, half of it, join us at a refreshment stop, wave as we ride past - whatever suited. I was very pleased to be met by six riders (Pete S, Malcolm, Ken, Anton, Pat and Frank) as I pulled up at Three Bridges Station at the unearthly time of 7 am! Mick had intended coming over by train but due to a cancellation had to rejig and arranged to meet us at Doomsday Green.

So, we set off through Furnace Green and Tilgate to K2 and the first climb of the day, up Pease Pottage Hill. The roundabout was very busy with cars queuing to get into the car boot sale so it was very easy and a lot safer than usual to negotiate. Everyone enjoyed the fast ride down Grouse Road, although Hammerponds Lane was less well received. My timetable said that we should be at the Doomsday Green/A281 crossroads between 07:45 and 08:00 - we were just 5 minutes into the window so, having met up with Pete E, Mick and Michael, we had a couple of minutes for a breather.

The roads were not very busy and the weather was just perfect for cycling as we headed on south wards to Copsale and then eastwards to Maplehurst. Here we continued east before turning south to head towards Littleworth. Pat and Frank turned north instead as they had to head for home. after Littleworth we used the A281 towards Henfield but turned left onto the B2116 before going north to Wineham. After passing the Royal Oak we turned right onto Bob Lane and a mere couple of lanes later we popped over the A23 and pulled up at the breakfast halt - the Bolney Little Chef - bang on schedule, 09:30hrs.

Here's a string of pictures Anton took to illustrate the journey so far:

http://youtu.be/Ep2CwJKiW1g

Breakfast was enjoyable and the service was impressively quick and accurate but we were still a few minutes behind schedule setting off again and the second half of the morning 50 miles had just a few hills in store for us!

The route took us on a couple of very quiet lanes east then north, across the A272 and up to Brook Green before heading east to Whitemans Green and on to Borde Hill. Copyhold Lane took us further east and then it was north to Ardingly. Here are two views of the run down to the reservoir - I tried (but failed) to put them side by side but could only put them one after the other.

http://youtu.be/RYhklX1NTnw

After the stiff climb away from the water, we carried on north and on to Turners Hill. Now it was all downhill or level to lunch and we arrived at Stepneys cafe in Maidenbower exactly at 12:30, right on schedule.

Malcolm was suffering from a bad ankle so headed home - hope it's better now Malcolm. Pete S had to get back home for a family activity so there were just six of us sitting down for lunch. however, Pete E and Michael headed straight back to Horsham (stopping off for a pleasant beer or two at The dragon in Colgate).

This left just four of us to set off for the afternoon fifty miles. The first twenty five miles were fairly level as we used NCN21 and Lonesome Lane up to Reigate and some quiet lanes westwards in the Betchworth and Leigh areas before we passed through Newdigate and arrived at Capel Church for tea.  

The tea and cake was superb but it was time to get going again. Just a few minutes later we were enjoying a very pleasant run down Weare Street but then it was the short hill into Okewoodhill. Rowhook Hill soon followed but thankfully downhill. I was getting tired by now and even though we were in Horsham I was dreading the last few miles back to Crawley. Mick had peeled off as he was close to home, leaving just Anton, Ken and myself to endure Hammerpond Lane and Grouse Road. Looking at the map I reckoned we didn't need to do the Lambs Green loop to get the mileage right but when we finally got to Pease Pottage, Ken decided he needed to go to Handcross and back to ensure his Garmin ticked over to 100 miles. Meanwhile Anton clocked up his 100 just before we got back to Three Bridges Station (he'd put in some extra distance at lunchtime by going to his car and back) and my speedo registered 100 as I cycled home from the station. 

Thanks to everyone for taking part, hope you all recovered quickly (it took me just over a day).

The next ride is on Sunday 3rd August and is a DA Event, the Picnic. We'll start from Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 09:30 and ride to Wisborough Green for the picnic, before returning - it should be a fairly easy 35-40 mile trip. The hardest part will be packing and carrying your picnic - mine will be crammed into my bum bag so will of necessity consist of fairly firm foodstuffs like cheese, chorizo, hard boiled egg etc.   Come on, rise to the challenge, see you on Sunday.

Easy (apart from the weather)

It was -1oC with a strong north-easterly wind when I left home to lead the easy ride.  The weather forecasters were predicting, with wind chill, a perceived temperature of about -7oC.  So on my way to Three Bridges station, I’m thinking an early bath for me today!  So why did ten people turn up?  I can only conclude that it is my personal charisma and magic personality that draws people out on days like this – it surely couldn’t have been the promise of ‘two hours easy’?!  On this day we were joined by some familiar faces and were pleased to also welcome Zack as a first-timer with Crawsham CTC.

So we set off to do what it said on the tin – and visit Redhill aerodrome – but we went in an anti-clockwise loop today to vary matters somewhat.  This had the side benefit that we did most of the journey before coffee, with this leg being predominantly into the wind, with only a short, fast (well relatively) squirt home.  So we set off up Worth Road, having persuaded the traffic lights at the station to change for us, by enticing a car over the detectors (why don’t they change for cyclists!!!)  This warmed us up ready for the steep down in to the lovely ‘Old Hollow’; as usual several cars joined us but mostly they were well behaved.  Where would we be as a club without Bob?  He valiantly did his ‘maintenance thing’ on one of the bikes making it an easier ride for the rider prior to negotiating the tricky roundabout at Copthorne where we went up a little, to turn right at the Prince Albert. Noticing the wind a little on this open stretch we reached the cross roads for straight on towards Smallfield.  Turning right we followed a narrow and, on this occasion, car free lane to reach the foot of Scots Hill.  This was slightly lumpy, but goes through pretty countryside to reach the Marl pond at the top.  A left turn, with a quick view of Outwood windmill -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwood_Windmill - and then a fork right past Outwood Church, took us to the M23 bridge with views of the aerodrome.  Several people remarked that although we had mostly travelled these roads on multiple occasions in the other direction it still all looked new and unfamiliar; it’s odd how the mind works, isn’t it?

With relief we arrived at the café – as usual it was crowded, particularly as it was Mother’s day, but we all managed to get a seat and some warm refreshments.  Not much aircraft traffic today, but there were a couple of helicopters on the move.  And so to sprint (metaphorically speaking) back to Crawley.  Again, it was odd to observe that the wind had completely dropped on our return, or was it that we were travelling down-wind at about wind speed?  (It’s all to do with the ‘apparent’ wind….)  It seemed to take no time to ascend one minor ‘slope’ before passing through Horley.  And then along by the pond at Gatwick – this seems to get nicer all the time and is a little oasis between the River Mole and the A23.  Passing quickly through Manor Royal we arrived back at Three Bridges for about one o’clock.

Thank you all for turning up and making our little ride a fun one.  Hope to see you again soon.

Peter Smith

Crawsham CTC RtR

Our next ride starts from Horsham Pavilion in the Park at 10:00hrs on Sunday 17th March. It will be a fairly easy loop to the north and east of Horsham with a refreshment stop at Reigate Gatden Centre (probably). 

CTC beginners ride - Woodhatch garden centre

We always seem to get a good turn-out for our monthly ‘introductory’ rides for some reason.  Maybe we should be able to figure that out?!  So it was, that this Sunday we had seven riders – Sandra, Sandy, John C, John V, Norman, Bob.  

My stoker was still tucked-up ‘al la duvet’, so I was on my hack bike in case we went along the Worth Way.  But she had suggested Woodhatch garden centre and so we set off in that direction as everyone else thought that this was a good idea.  

The route 21 took us to Horley on a bright but chilly morning and there we carried straight on through the town centre to the cross roads with the A23.  Once over we arrived at Lonesome Lane.  Well it’s not as Lonesome as it used to be when I commuted daily down it in the 70’s, but it is still very pleasant and the light traffic was well behaved.  Arriving at Woodhatch we found that the garden centre had some kind of seasonal fund-raising event on, but fortunately we were able to get in to the café.  

After refreshments and a natter we crossed Woodhatch to the west of the A217 by a diverse route through the back doubles, courtesy of John V.  Although I lived in Woodhatch for several years John still manages to know routes that I don’t!  I don’t know how he does it.  Arriving at the A217 we turned right to the south and hurried along for about 500 metres to the right turn for Irons Bottom at Sidlow Bridge.  I don’t think that I will speculate how this village/hamlet got it’s name!  This road was lightly trafficked and we had a quiet ride through pleasant countryside, to Povey Cross where we said goodbye to Norman as he headed back directly to Horsham, and we headed through the back entrance to Gatwick.  

After retracing our steps through the terminal we arrived back at Three Bridges.  Total ride duration about 4 hours including long coffee break.  Distance about 25 miles and average speed around 8 mph.  Anyone can ride at this speed and we’d love to see you at the next one – Sunday 10^th Feb, 10.00 at Three Bridges Station.  Go-on, put it in your new 2013 diary now!

See us and Crawley related Cycling on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/123008357770954/

Peter Smith

CTC Crawley/Horsham

Skimmington Castle

Six riders on five bikes turned up for todays ride - Frank was leading with Pats help, Pete and Marian were on their tandem, John C was on his Van Nicolas and Bob was on his Kona.

It was a bit foggy/misty and as we left Crawley and headed over the M23 it seemed to be getting thicker (and colder). We were expecting Old Hollow to be cold and it was, but we were not expecting a King Charles Spaniel to be sitting on the middle of the road - and Frank did not expect that he would have to put so much effort into pedalling in an effort to outrun the crazy pooch! After about half a mile the little dog (how did its legs go so fast?) turned off and rejoined its owners, leaving us to carry on and Frank to get his breath back.

We crossed the A264 into Copthorne then went along Copthorne Bank to head for the Black Corner crossroads. Just before we got there the lady driver of some 4x4 Tesco Trolley told Frank off for riding two abreast - Frank was so surprised by this that he says he didn't manage to get a reply in, so it looks like Mrs "I don't know how big my car is but you cyclists should scurry along in the gutter" has got away with it this time....

We headed west of Smallfield and crossed back over the M23 before turning north at Weatherhill (reminds me of Weathertop in The Lord of The Rings). After two small climbs and a a wiggly lane we arrived at Redhill Aerodrome and the prospect of a nice hot drink. The cafe was quite busy but we managed to find a table for six - right by the window so that we could keep an eye on our bikes - and we were soon tucking into teacakes and mugs of tea.

There was no flying action today - I think these two pictures give some clue as to why not:




Suitably refreshed we remounted and headed south then west to cross the A23 at Salfords. Soon after we joined Lonesome Lane and headed north before slipping through the southern outskirts of Reigate. Reigate - famous for two things (as far as I'm concerned) - (i) it's where I bought my Kona (ii) The Cure recorded the scream at the end of a track on their first album in Reigate Tunnel.

We followed Slipshatch Road as it became Clayhall Lane and then turned right onto Flanchford Road. After a small uphill section it was an equally small downhill before the road emerged into more open country, occupied by a golf course. We then turned right onto Bonny's Lane which led us up to the lunch halt, The Skimmington Castle.


We hadn't booked a table and all the tables were reserved, but the landlady managed to fit us in - though we had to promise to vacate the table by 13:15 hrs. Not a problem, we had about an hour to eat our lunch and have a pint - easy!

Pete and Marian arrived a couple of minutes later having taken a different route from Reigate in order to "case a joint" on the way ( although Frank suggested they were perhaps reliving their youth).

As promised, we finished before 13:15 and were back out on our bikes. It was still misty but the sun was making a gallant attempt to break through.

We headed west along Trumpetshill Lane and Wonham Lane to arrive by The Dolphin at Betchworth. From here we turned south then west again when we reached The Seven Stars. The next left took us southwards once more until Parkgate and The Surrey Oaks. Here we turned left down the hill and left again onto Blanks Lane and then Stan Hill.



As you can see, it was still misty as we made our way through Charlwood and passed the Half Moon and The Rising Sun before hitting the Ifield Road which took us all the way back to Crawley Town Centre



It wasn't long before I was back home with about 40 miles on the clock - very pleasant and not at all arduous.

Next weeks ride starts from East Grinstead Railway Station at 10:50, although there is the option of leaving Three Bridges at 10:00 hrs to ride the Worth Way across to East Grinstead.
From East Grinstead we will head south to have lunch at The Bessemer Arms at Sheffield Park Station on the Bluebell Railway. I've been told that the ride there is easy but that it's a little hilly on the way back - I reckon that could be a cue for a rail trip behind a steam engine!

Hopefully the Indian Summer will continue over next weekend and give us yet another pleasurable days cycling, see you there!

Autumn Colours

The weatherman had promised a clear and dry day but with lower temperatures starting to become a feature - he wasn't wrong and I chose the right things to wear with two layers on top, leggings below and a pair of long-finger gloves. For the first few minutes I pondered stopping to put a hat on under my helmet but, by the time I crested Pease pottage Hill I was plenty warm enough. The Forest Road was a bit chilly in the shade and the odd pocket of mist also took the temperature down but made for photogenic countryside:

I arrived at Horsham Pavilions in the Park on time but none of the bikes were familiar. I was mentally planning a slightly different route for what looked like being a solo ride when I noticed a cyclist approaching - I didn't recognise him but he was looking for me. "Horsham CTC?" he asked. "Yes, good morning" I replied. Johnny had found us on the internet and wanting to join us on our Cutty Sark ride had decided to check us out on this ride beforehand.

We had a chat for a few minutes during which time I reckoned he would easily be able to cope with my planned route and having checked he was OK with it, we set off.

We went across a misty golf course and then through Broadbridge Heath and thence to Itchingfield. Visibility was good but there was still a certain mistiness that the sun hadn't yet broken through. At Barns Green we headed over the railway crossing (after waiting for a train to pass) and carried on south to Dragons Green.

I styled this ride "Autumn Colours" but I forgot to take any pictures as we rode around, so I've included some pictures I've taken on a previous autumn.

From Dragons Green we crossed (carefully) over the A272 and then went past The Countryman Inn with Shipley Windmill invisible in the mist to our left and then crossed the A24 at the garden centre.

Now I thought I would be adventurous and turned left onto the bridleway through The Lock Estate. A few hundred yards further and there were several young cattle just hanging around on the path - Johnny was really surprised that, though I had been scared by a labrador dog that came bounding up to us earlier, I wasn't at all fazed by these much larger animals. I think it's that I find a hulking vegetarian a lot less frightening than any size of toothy carnivore!

I was following this part of the route by memory and it's about ten years since I last rode it, but I remembered the first couple of junctions correctly. However, when we came to the part that I thought went diagonally across a large concrete apron and then left onto a concrete track, the fingerposts didn't seem to back it up and the concrete track had all but disappeared! I trusted my memory though and a Bridleway fingerpost confirmed we were still legal. It looks like there has been some rerouting of rights of way and closure/removal of old/creation of new tracks around here (a quick look at the satellite view when I got home confirmed this). We emerged back onto the public roads at Partridge Green and from here we headed east then turned south onto the A281.

Just before the River, we turned left onto the bridleway taking us past Shermanbury Church. At first this is a broad, tree-lined avenue but on reaching the Church it becomes a fairly narrow bridleway, albeit with a good surface. Eventually we emerged back on the road at Wineham where we headed north, past The Royal Oak before turning right onto Bob Lane.

This lane goes past a major National Grid substation. If you look on an OS map, it's possible to see no fewer than seven different Electricity Transmission Lines converging on this substation - all but two of which go to ground some way off from it (the furthest would appear to be just west of Crabtree).

After Bob Lane we headed north on Bolney Chapel Lane and after waiting several minutes before being able to cross the A272 headed up Foxhole Lane and then Colwood Lane up to Warninglid. From here it was but a short ride up to Slaugham Pond and then along Hampshire Hill to the lunch stop - The Wheatsheaf at Plummers Plain.

Over a pint of Sussex and some very tasty (and promptly served) food, I had a chat with Johnny about Norway (where he's from) and about our club and the riding available in our neck of the woods.

He intends meeting up with us next week (at the Cutty Sark) for our Greenwich to Crawley ride.

It was nice and sunny in the shelter of the pub garden but eventually we decided it was time to head for home. As both of us live in Crawley, we took the sensible route over the B2110 onto Hammerpond Road and then up Grouse Road to Pease Pottage. From there it was just a mile and bit to arrive home just after 14:00hrs. Looking at the speedo, it was reading only 46 miles, but they were very pleasant and I found myself wondering if that would be the last dry ride of the year?

The plethora of berries on the Holly trees and other bushes gives hint to a hard winter according to the Old Wives Tales, so I thought I would finish off with this little fella:

Next weeks ride is the Greenwich to Crawley NCN20 ride.

Make your own way to London and meet either at Cafe Ritazza in Victoria Station at 09:00 hrs or on the west side of The Cutty Sark at 10:15hrs. Pete S will be leading this day long ride of approximately 60 miles. The morning is lamost all tarmac, the afternoon has a fair amount of mainly stone dressed off-road. Touring bikes will be more than capable.

Latest Train service news is that trains will not be running from Horsham this Sunday. the service from Three Bridges is unaffected.