This was our fourth annual off road ride to Brighton with three riders: Dave HH, Paul B and Josef doing it for the first time. The weather was glorious with warm sunshine and no wind. This was my first ride as the official owner of the pink on-one 29er hard tail that had bought second hand from Dave HH ,so it was going to be interesting to compare the journey with previous rides on my old marin
We started with a cup of tea and a piece of cake at cafe on the Beach but Ivan didn't see us sitting there and it was only the quick actions of Colin shouting out Ivan's name that brought him back to us.The road section to Eastbourne was fast with speeds hovering around 20 mph despite the drag of the knobbly tyres. After Dave switching bikes (he had ridden to Hastings on a road bike) , the hardest part of the ride started, that is the long steep climb up the golf course to the top of Butt's brow. For me on my new bike this was much easier than previous years. Josef was on a £2000 carbon 29er hard tail that he had borrowed from the Marin factory where he works and he was really impressed with how it climbed and how it rolled over the bumps, he too is now considering selling his 26 full suss and getting a 29er hard tail.Colin found out he had a puncture (puncture number 1) on the front tyre, unfortunately the spare inner tube valve wouldn't fit through the hole in the rim but Josef had some self adhesive patches which fixed the tube. From the top of butt's brow there is the incredibly rocky and bumpy descent down the other side, even 29 inch wheels don't help much here and those on hard tails were badly shaken up. Instead of the normal route on the main tracks Dave HH offered to take us to the same destination via lots of single track, this isn't my cup of tea but everyone else wanted to try this out. While he was talking there was a hissing sound from Dave's wheel, this was puncture number 2. Dave was surprised at this as the inner tube had been filled with slime but it turned out to be the valve which had been damaged by a flying piece of rock on the descent, we fixed the puncture but before reaching the single track Josef had to stop with a puncture (puncture number 3). Dave's single track went on for an impressive distance and included a few bomb holes where Dave was able to demonstrate his handling skills but I was glad when eventually we hit the main track in the forest and headed to the Exceat cycle shop to buy some more inner tubes. Unfortunately when we asked for 29er tubes the guy thought we were talking about the size of the frame but at least they did have some 26er inner tubes so we bought two of those. Off to Alfriston to meet up with Steve d who had come straight from work on the train. Before we got there we had to stop for another puncture (puncture number 4). Colin decided that he had had enough of the off road and decided he would cycle on the road to Brighton get himself a Tai meal and some cold beers so we split up but arranged to meet up later. We were all pretty hungry by Alfriston ,so refuelled with sandwiches and pasties (excellent quality) from the big shop in the centre. There was only one major climb to go which is the steep chalky climb up Kings ride. I felt comfortable on this hill and decided to keep riding up to the top of the next hill where I would hold the gate open for the others but after waiting for what seemed ages there was no sign of them. Eventually I phoned Ivan and was told Dave had had yet another puncture and with only one 29er inner tube between four of us they had had to use another one of Josef's dwindling supply of self adhesive patches (puncture number 5). Eventually we were all back together and rode across the top of the Downs before coming to the steep rocky descent down the side of Rodmell hill. Unfortunately Steve D hit a rock and suffered a snake bite puncture (puncture number 6) which couldn't be repaired with a patch so we had to use one of the brand new tubes we had sensibly purchased at Exceat. We were now down to one 26 and one 29er inner tube between all of us! On passing Rodmell church both Dave and Ivan noticed that their back tyres were very soft, so yet more punctures (punctures 7 and 8)!. With only one spare tube Ivan decided to leave his tyre as it was and just ride on with it very soft but we had to fix Dave's as it was almost completely flat. we didn't want to use up the last inner tube so had to fix it with another self adhesive patch. These patches are not as good as the permanent repair type patches but we did manage to find the hole and fix it. The rest of the ride proceeded without any more punctures but it was now past 6 o'clock and the sun was low on the horizon, so rather than take the off road track to Brighton we took the easy way straight down the main road. Our exciting day was completed with an excellent steak and chips at a cheap restaurant down the lanes. Thanks to everyone who came we all had a really good day and (apart from Colin) didn't mind the punctures at all as it gave us plenty of time to admire the stunning scenery.
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