Nine hardy “Boys” assembled at the 'drome under a bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine, but unfortunately a temperature of only 4 deg C for the not quite so “looonnggg” G2 ride to Lewes.
Ian, Mark, Keith, Dave B, Alex, Andy G, Hedley, Rick- that’s eight – oh, and Phil.
No ladies? They seemed to prefer the murky waters at Hever over the company of this remarkable show of male talent!
Anyway, the climb up Turners Hill and the distinctly lumpy route to Fletching warmed most of us up, but those who'd made the unwise wardrobe choice of shorts seemed anxious to stop for coffee. So our first Break, at 22 miles into the ride, was at the bike-friendly cafe on the right side of Fletching High Street (anyone know what it’s called?) which served up really good coffees and teas to warm us up.
All refreshed, we were guided by our Routemeister Keith southwards over more lumpiness towards Lewes. Clearly the six weeks of intensive effort on his Garmin had paid off as we joined the route of the Brighton Cycletta, with signage, marshals etc., but unfortunately the ladies were going in the opposite direction. And talking of wrong direction, there was consternation in the group as he appeared to be leading us the wrong way up the A26/27, soon relieved when we saw the cycle path!
So onwards to Lewes and Break number 2 at Bill's cafe. Slightly more serious this time – full breakfast all round (except for Ian, who paid the penalty for being different, or difficult, of having to wait ages for his bacon buttie). Here a key discussion in the group was about the next break – should it be for tea or should we go straight to the pub or both. About an hour later (really) our ride management team felt we should move on, actually Andy told them that we ought to go because Hedley was getting very concerned about the weather depression was bearing down upon us.
Shortly after leaving Lewes the 3 man ride management team (Ian, Mark and Keith – who was actually leading changed depending on which of them you asked) recruited a new member as Route Consultant - Dave B who politely suggested an alternative to the A275 for getting to Wivelsfield
Needless to say, no sooner had we started to cycle quickly (for the first time) with the wind now behind us, Andy suffered the dreaded “P” word. No ordinary “P” this, it took 2 people, 2 pumps, a CO2 cylinder and 2 onlookers a looonnggg time to fix. Everyone else took the opportunity to recover from the two large cups of coffee taken at Break number 2.
But eventually onwards and very much upwards to Lindfield and Balcombe.
Now at this point the first cracks started to show in the 3+1 ride management team’s decision making process. The team had successfully made two decisions at Break number 2 – the first was that the next break would be at 2pm at the first suitable hostelry – tea room or pub, whichever. This decision was blown out of the water but the “P” problem which took us way past 2 pm. The decision now needed – to go either to a known tea stop or to go to a known pub began to cause much debate amongst the team – particularly as the first pub chosen had just closed as we got there. The second decision taken at Break number 2, quickly made, but ultimately flawed was to delegate the task of ride reporting to me. I did warn them.
The chosen route was then modified a little by our Route Consultant to avoid Haywards Heath, but as we got to Balcombe, the real problem arose as the chosen route via Balcombe Lake was barred because of a road closure. With no option but to use the B2036 London Road and the slog over Cowdray Hill in traffic, the team made an amazingly quick decision to stop at The Cowdray. Unfortunately, the sign said “closed for kitchen refurbishment”. We began to think that these places had seen us coming.
So management team decision making again – Tulleys for tea or the Crown at Turners Hill for coke or tonic water etc.? Needless to say, the Crown won (fairly quick decision this time). So Break number 3 was finally done and dusted.
The ride home was quite quick as the tail wind caused by Hedley’s “depression” helped, but it made it distinctly chilly too. Hedley, Alex and Dave peeled off at various places leaving 5 of us to go back to the ‘drome.
71 miles, 5000 feet and a G2 pace. Still a “looonnggg” G2 ride by any standards. Nice route Keith, great Breaks and good company – what more could you ask for? Well done Team!
P.s. Must do the ride again – next Spring?