As I cycled up to the Fairlight Lodge in thick fog , unable to see due to the mist all over my spectacles,I half expected to find that no one had been silly enough to come out for a ride in such poor conditions and that I would soon be rolling back down the hill, arriving home to watch some TV. Not only were there seven riders but Simon Newell was also there on his first ever Friday chain, what a night to pick!. I suggested we switch to the Weds chaingang route but most wanted to ride at least to Rye to see just how bad it was further along the route. We have never gone so slowly down battery Hill but once at the bottom the visibility improved a little and I felt slightly less apprehensive. Steve Denny was there which was reassuring as I knew that I could stick to his back and let him be my eyes for the evening. The batteries in his rear LED were almost dead so as much for his sake as mine I lent him one of my three rear LEDs. The first part of the climb up the drag to Broadoak was fine but about half way up the fog suddenly thickened and visibility dropped to just a few feet, to make matters one of my rear lights fell off and we had to retrieve it, this meant we lost touch with the others, leaving us on our own, with our lights sending out beams into the fog. Eventually we regrouped with the others at Broadoak. Duncan (spectacle wearer) had had similar problems to me, saying how he kept almost running into the verges on bends. The rest of the ride was Ok, we had left the really thick stuff behind us at Broadoak. The ride up Stonestile was the best bit because we didn't have to worry about running off the road. The average speed reflects how slowly we completed the course but at least we did it!
22.5 miles Av 15.2 mph
S.C
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