2/11 Club Ride

A hardy bunch of 8 gathered for the morning ride. The forecast was for strong winds and possible rain mid morning, so after 5 mins wait we set off presuming that nobody else would show up. As we set off a panting Kie came zooming up to us, running a little late and fearing he would have to ride hard on his own to catch us.On the approach to Battle, Malcolm pulled over with a faulty gear cable, and decided to head home and change his bike.
The rest of us cruised into Battle and we soon getting warmed up on the the climb of Netherfield hill & the rolling roads to Woods Corner & beyond. We took to the shelter of the lanes as we turned towards the coast & into the stiff headwind. We headed through Hailsham en-route to Pevensey for a cafe stop. 5 of us felt that we had worked hard enough to treat ourselves to a cooked breakfast for homeward fuel. We then doubled back to the Pevensey lights and up the Wartling road towards Boreham Hill, with Ivan commanding a relentless pace ( made all the harder with a full stomach), proving that a cup of tea was all that he needs.
We now faced the long drag up into Ninfield, fortunately with the wind in our favour ( it's all in the planning......), and through to Sidley & along Bexhill Road. We regrouped at the bottom of Filsham Road, before all going off in our homeward directions, making it home just before the rain started.
I expected to see more club members out for the ride as there were no main events on this weekend. With only Ivan, Malcolm D and Peter Baker from the club in addition to the regular Sunday Early Bird Riders, could it have been the weather forecast that kept people tucked under their duvets? Let's hope for a better forecast this coming weekend and hopefully a large field of riders & a good showing for the new club kit!!!

J.V