8/1/2015 Fri Night Ride - Stonestile lane closed, what a 'shame'!

For the last couple of weeks, numbers on the Friday night ride have been very low with only Dan and  Nathan keeping the flame alive, so I was determined to turn-up as long as the forecast said it would be dry.

With a dry forecast on Thursday, myself and others committed ourselves to riding but by Friday evening the forecast had changed to rain at 9;00 but hopefully we would still get round with just a soaking at the end?

Dressed all in black but at least Nigel has a hi-viz head

Arriving at the Lodge I was grateful to see a good turnout of riders. This time Dan and Nathan would have Simon, Capt. Caveman, and Shadow for company. JV had emailed me earlier during the day to let me know that Stonestile was closed (flooding?) and so we would not be able to mount its hallowed slopes. Instead of cries of disappointment the news was greeted with cries of 'thank f**k for that'!

As usual, I took a one minute head-start down Battery Hill where particular care was needed down the damp road. Near the bottom there was a cyclist clad in fluorescent yellow with very bright lights this could only be Paul Baxter. It seems after Wednesday he was still  out of hibernation mode and expressed his love for the Friday night ride which conveniently passes close by  his front door.

Paul wondered where the others were as we cruised through Winchelsea but it wasn't long before we were surrounded by an assortment of bright lights.Our numbers increased by one as Mark was waiting for us inside the reserve. Nobody really seemed in the mood to push up the pace and the only interesting thing that happened before the Rye turn was when Paul's water bottle came flying off causing some frantic braking.

Paul was worried about keeping up on the Broad-Oak drag but I felt more tired than usual and we were an even pace as the others disappeared into the distance. About halfway up, the heavens opened with a heavy deluge of rain. Hoping it was a brief shower we pressed on but it soon became clear that the rain was  set in for the rest of the ride so we had to pull into the side and quickly pull on pack away jackets.

Regrouping with the others we were surprised to see Malc D there waiting for us. Malc had missed the battery Hill departure by just a couple of minutes. While we were travelling through the reserve he had stuck to the main road and so actually got ahead of everyone on the Broad- Oak drag.

Due to the Stonestile closure we  decided to stick to the main road up to Westfield with all riders riding at their own pace. Heading down Brede hill was particularly difficult for me as my spectacles were covered in water droplets so I couldn't see where I was going  and soon got dropped.

I felt safer once the road eventually levelled off and wondered if any of those impressive Xmas decorations were still on show in Westfield but all that was left was a rather forlorn solitary soggy Xmas tree dripping water off its sparkling lights.

When's the next bus, I'm not cycling in this weather any-more!

The others  seemed content to ride quite slowly in the rain so I was able to catch them up before the steady climb at the end of Westfield lane.  Here we stopped at the bus shelter for brief self congratulations for doing our bit for the Friday night ride despite the awful weather .

Steve C