Spurred on by Stuart N’s posted suggestion about it, Bruce’s forum comment "Sometimes it takes a prompt from another to act" and as there were just 4 experienced G2ers (Heidi, Ray, Hedley and Rob) choosing my longer ride option, I proposed that instead of doing a standard G2 to Stooks we should be adventurous and do a longer ride out to Stan’s Bike Shack in Partridge Green.
Pretty standard route out via Faygate, Tower Hill, Mannings Heath and Nuthurst at a fairly brisk pace, passing Camelia Botnar though there were one or two looks of how much further. Well, just a couple of miles actually.
Turning into the lane to the Shack, we were somewhat surprised to see the staff putting out signs to welcome us. Well, we momentarily thought it was us until we noticed that as well as “Welcome cyclists”, “BHF” and “off-road” featured on the signs. The staff were somewhat surprised too to see cyclists arriving so early – they clearly thought we were very fast riders and had not noticed we weren’t on mountain bikes.
That’s the trouble with these spur of the moment decisions, you don’t get the chance (as I usually do) to check for events that might clash with our route. Would I have checked for an off-road event? Probably not, but Stan does make a point that his Shack is right on the Downs Link which the BHF use for their London to Brighton ride. Heigh-Ho.
Never mind, we arrived earlier than all but a few genuine L2B riders who clearly weren’t intending to take a tea stop, the coffee was good and the frangipane tart hit the spot. Heidi spent most of the time indulging in some industrial espionage sending texts about the place to Domestique!
So back the slightly longer way via Horsham, Rusper, Newdigate (so Rob could buy his newspaper – the things we do!) and back to the ‘Drome.
Good weather, good company, good ride, good tea-stop, and good way to spend Saturday morning (and a little bit of the afternoon). Thanks to Hedley for back-marking(!) and to Heidi for doing a long stint on the front (shame on you guys!). And I think my bike will recover from being taken for a mountain bike.
A longish G2 of 56 miles at a G2 pace (just) of 14.9mph. Should I mention the 3400 feet of climbing? Probably not.