ESCA Hill Climb - Firle Beacon - 21/10/12

As no one has posted a Blog about this recent event I thought I would have a go at putting something down.

The morning started with fog, mist and a cold wind and the top of the Beacon was not a pretty sight. In fact you could not even see the top. The Road appeared to just stop in the sky.

 
However, a week in cycling is a long time and the weekend before was a completely different picture as the next photo shows as seen from Edwards camera phone.

Anyway, 33 hardy soles had entered in advance for this event but on the morning seven did not start for one reason or another. Two of which were Hastings riders namely Chris Watson and Joe Jenner. Not sure why Chris wasn't there but Joe wasn't feeling very well and it transpired that he had a urine infection so we will let him off. However, five Hastings riders lined up and because there were only 26 riders everyone managed to secure points for the club. Participating was:

Malcolm Daly              5:21.2
Simon Grogan             5:53.8
Mark Boorman           6:57.5
Edward Jenner            7:20.1
Chris Parker               7:29.6

Overall winner was Pete Tadros of Ingear with 3:49.0. Well done and congratulations to Pete

I'm afraid I only took a photo of Ed coming up as I didn't realise I was going to write up this entry otherwise I would have taken some more. As you can see there was a good crowd near the top to cheer on all the riders.

What is not widely known is what happened on the Beacon the weekend before. Both Edward and Joseph wanted to know why my Brompton was in the back of the car when I took them over to reacquaint themselves with the climb. The answer was that I was going to have a go as well on my Brompton. I was told I was mad and would not be able to do it 'on that thing'. Ignoring the laughter I descended the Beacon at a somewhat reasonable pace (as the Bromptons steering can be a bit twitchy at times) and I did not want to loose it. Anyway whilst the two young guns attacked the hill at a great rate of knots (with carbon fibre, lycra etc) I went for a warm up.

Then dressed in suitable Brompton attire (black shoes, jeans, shirt and Jacket) I started to climb the hill. The gears on the Brompton are of a good range and at my own pace I continued the climb. Must admit towards the end the breathing got somewhat heavy but the little wheels kept turning. And, much to the boys surprise I made it (just). Big smile on my face (after I got my breathe back) and my Bromptons street cred went up a notch or two. Photographic evidence below. The time of 13 mins was nowhere near Mr. Tadros but who cares, the little bike had an adventure and has now gone back to it's day job of commuting. I don't want the bike to worry too much but I haven't told it yet that I may ask it to try and get me up Battery Hill at some stage.

Club Ride 28/10- Even Ivan Power Has LimitsI

Ivan On His Ancient MTB

With many club members out on the Kent reliability trial there were just four of us out on the club run: myself, Ivan, Dan and Steve B. Weather was perfect for a late Autumn ride with low temperatures but plenty of sunshine and best of all almost no wind. Ivan had to use his old and very heavy mtb with road tyres. He has not had chance yet to replace the rear wheel on his fixie since the rim split (due to brake wear) last week. At first this did not seem to hamper him as we set off on the very hilly 1066 ride, with Ivan often setting the pace at the front. This is one of Ivan's favourite routes and is the one he chose to do two week ago when he led the club run. However after 30 miles, as we headed south up the steep hills passing through Beckley woods, his legs went and he had more and more trouble keeping up. Once we got to Brede he decided to abandon the route and to head for home on the main road while we completed the last very hilly ten miles in a big loop that took in Sedlescombe, Westfield and Three Oaks.
40 miles
Ascent 1,200m
Av speed 14.1

Weds Chaingang 24/10- Indian Summer

Derek, Tom And Dave C

Another great turn out of some 24 riders on a warm moonlight night, just five days short of full moon but there was a hint of mist across the sea. Good job it was warm, some hardy souls have yet to find their winter gear and cover their legs……. After a gentle start the pace soon wound up and several groups formed. The back markers were caught by the barriers coming down at the level crossing so gave the faster groups even more time to chat as they waited just short of Pevensey roundabout. Everyone kept together until the pace lifted for Spooky Hill so smaller groups formed and riders soon started working together to set a fast pace.
We have had some 153 rides over the nine weeks so far, averaging 17 people a gang. 26 first claim and one second claim Hastings have ridden so far, with guest from Rovers and In Gear but it is only Kung Fu Panda Giant CC titanium knees (shorts and short sleeves, brrrrrrrrrr) Simon P that has been there every week

C.P

Club Ride 21/10- Team SCR

Puddles At Pett level

Steve B Bags An SCR

With continual rain forecast all morning, only myself and Steve B turned up at the Harrow for the Sunday Club Run. I had prepared for rain and came with my GPS preloaded with a simple 34 mile route over towards Appledore , looping back through Peasmarsh. Having told Steve how great Giant SCRs are for the money he had been scouring eBay regularly and had got lucky and bagged an SCR for just £260 which is an absolute bargain. This makes four of us in the club with SCRs, the ford escort of the bike world! Cycling down chick hill with the rain was a little scary, I always think of what happened to Colin some years ago,when he ploughed into the white picket fence at the bottom. From there it was flat riding over the marsh with some impressive puddles that needed skirting round. On the Appledore road we passed a white haired guy of about 60 on a fixie, we don't know who this guy was but he gave chase and latched onto our back wheels before overtaking us and taking a turn at the front.The three of us worked together as an efficient unit each rider taking turns at the front, pushing our speed up to around 17mph despite the headwind before we peeled off for Wittersham. Steve was made up with his new purchase and was particularly impressed with the comfort of the ride. Riding behind me ,Steve noticed that my hips were rolling and I told him that I have been suffering some hip/back ache lately so we lowered my post , this felt better and later I lowered it again which felt better still, so no wonder my bike has been giving me some aches and pains! Having now had two very wet weekend rides in a row, I feel that I have become used to wet riding and as long as the route is an open one without too many twisty descents, feel pretty safe. I will leave this one on my GPS as a wet weather back up ride as we both really enjoyed it.
34 miles
Av speed13.8

Rain Gang 8 - 18th October

 40% chance of rain it said on XC weather  . . .  at ten to seven the rain was bouncing off the deck in buckets - too heavy " No way I'm going out in that " but by seven o' clock the worst had passed over to the East.  So I quickly got ready and set off. The forecast obviously meant I  had a 60% chance of staying dry, I told myself rather optimistically.

Found some shelter behind a bus, but it was rather  slow antique one; Happy Harold  - so was late for start - again - but maybe no-one else has turned out? As icy drizzle pebble-dashed my South face I was comforted by the thought of all our fast racers summer fitness ebbing away on the sofa.  So when I got to the roundabout 12 miles later, surprised to find six strong cyclists waiting, was my happiness tempered with the tiniest drop of disappointment? Not at all, on the other side of a  heavy rain shower, I was glad of the company  and looking forward to the usual habble on the home run.
They told me seven riders had started out together but one had bailed, during the rain perhaps. Simon still had his shorts on " I dont feel the cold" he said, must have titanium knees. Once warmed up I don't mind the wet, it was still mild 12 or 13 degrees. Its only on stopping that the chill sets in.  An unruly Southerly with violent buffeting gusts helped us on the return leg - as Strava speed graph shows. Watch out for temporary traffic lights just over the brow of the hill on Cooden Drive approaching Bexhill.

With hindsight I realised what the forecast was actually trying to tell us was that it definitely would rain, for at least 40% of the ride, overshoes and mudguards kept feet dry for a while but by the time I got home I was certainly much more than 40% wet, having been out for nearly two hours, still as long as I  kept moving, I was quite comfortable and didn't feel too cold.

"A good effort and a good training ride" said Nathan.  Well done all seven or eight who braved  a rough night for an enjoyable run.

Oct 13 Early Bird- Here Comes the rain

Andy And Peter

John Heneke

Having checked the forecast Friday morning I was looking forward to a dry and sunny Saturday. I was going to take my Raleigh  but decided to go for the Giant SCR instead. At the last minute I thought I would stick a front light on it. Both these decisions turned out to be very fortunate. Not such a good idea was deciding not to bother taking out any food as it was 'only' a 30 miler. Good to see two new, slightly apprehensive faces first time early birders at STAMCO, Peter and John H. Also there were two riders that we haven't seen for about 6 months, Andy and Metin. Making up the rest of the crew were myself, Doug, Duncan,Derek,Steve D and Mike . Steve turned up with what looked like a chav Burberry jacket, which I took the p**s out of  at the time. We set off along Bexhill road and along Cooden Drive. Mike pointed out the dark clouds and said that his two mates who were also going to join him had cried off. I told him that there was no need to worry about rain as the forecast was sunny and dry, Steve D laughed at this and said I should have used the Shoreham airport forecast instead which said exactly the opposite. Sure enough by the time it got to Hooe it was raining hard and visability was poor, I was glad I had stuck my front light on, and also that I was on my Giant SCR rather than the more skittish Raleigh. Mike decided to abandon at Wartling but the rest of us pressed on towards Windmill Hill. At this point there was a tempting easy escape route down to Sidley but having already completed a third of the route we all pressed on. The rainfall got heavier and heavier with some of the worst downpours at Bodle street which is exactly where we suffered our first (and fortunately only ) puncture of the route. Despite the rain I did not feel at all cold, but Derek was feeling it a bit.Steve's chav jacket no longer looked silly, he was warm and toastie being the only one with a water proof. On we went, gaining altitude as we moved up towards Brightling, we welcomed the climbing as the heat our muscles generated helped to warm us up. There was no let up in the heavy rain and we had to take the corners with great caution.At Brightling the rain started to ease up, the worst appeared to be over but our bodies had wasted a lot of energy just keeping warm. By the time we had climbed up Darwell Hill I could feel my blood sugar level dropping and started to bonk , so diverted off the gps route to the little shop on the corner where one (very expensive) mars bar later I was fit and ready for the rest of the route. Unfortunately Derek had not seen us pull over and had ridden past. I phoned him but it turned out he didn't have his phone on him so did the rest of the ride on his own wondering why he never caught up with us. From this point out it was mainly exciting downhill riding and the wind started to dry us out again. At battle we split into two groups with peter, Steve D and Metin main roading it back home while the rest of us pressed on determined to complete the route.Now the heavens decided to open again and for the last 6 miles of the ride the rain was non stop.

Lovely weather For A Puncture!

                            Its very rare for me to ride in the rain as I always check the weather forecast first but I must admit I found this wet ride very enjoyable and exciting. Peter and John needed have worried as they both rode really well and are defiantly up to Early bird ride standard so hopefully we will see more of them.
Distance 32 miles
Av Speed 14.9mph
Ascent 944m

Friday Night Ride 12/10- Broken Hanger

Time To Ring The Missus

Lovely night for a Friday Broad Oak night ride, my first for four weeks. No wind and good dry weather after the heavy showers earlier in the afternoon. I got dropped going down battery hill as it was a really dark night and I was a bit wary going down on damp roads but caught up with the others just before the turn off for the reserve. On the long drag up to broad oak I got dropped (as usual) and without Derek there to keep me company, resigned myself to a lonely ride up to the top. However, this was not to be, as before long I came across Steve B, Jon S and Simon G at the side of the road. Steve was going no further as just like Duncan in France his rear derailleur hanger had snapped leading to the gears getting all tangled up with the chain. There was nothing for it but for Steve to ring up the missus for a lift home but getting a signal this far down the road is easier said than done and Steve had to cross over to the other side and walk up a bit before he could get a decent signal. This led to lots of agitated barking by a pair of dogs belonging to one of the houses on the side of the road and the owner popping out to investigate. We left Steve and rode together to Broad Oak and then on to Stonestile lane. Fortunately any debris on the road had been cleared and we had a safe ascent to the top with myself getting dropped yet again (missing the extra low gear on my triple geared SCR).

Wednesday Chaingang 7: New Record, 27 riders.

George

Jack

Steve Curtis reports "Altogether there were 27 riders which I think is a record. Doing the chaingang for the first time was young George Morris, unfortunately his front wheel was rubbing badly on the way out but we managed to reseat it for the ride back. Barney was there but I didn't get chance to talk to him, was this his first chaingang?

Getting the award for the coldest rider is young Jack (on only his seond chaingang) who was in summer gear and did admit to feeling cold on arrival at Pevensey"

I arrived late again, having opted to test out my roadbike freshly prepped with some new bits for the  hillclimb season, fresh rings and a new custom wheel from Alasdair  Gow at Wheelcraft -  he specced a strengthened drive side after I told him I was always popping spokes, I find box section rims are a bit more comfy compared to the stiffer V section.   Phoenix in Eastbourne also build excellent bespoke wheels tailored to your requirements. Of course I had to return to the  house to torque up the rattling 12-27 cassette I'd just fitted, and later on I had to pull over and adjust my seat which was sinking lower and lower, should have taken it for a prior shakedown.

Seeing the crystal snake of riders approaching across the black marsh I did a u-turn in advance, didn't fancy a chase this week . Usual lively ride back to Bexhill with everyone having a go to crack the group,  only John Cordner escaped just before the end - strong to the finish like Popeye.

Saturday's Bacon Butty ride and weekend plans

It was rather wet over night Friday and early morning Saturday but rain before 7 fine before 11 was as true as it often is.  So quite a few dropped out due to the "wet" but three of us had a great Bacon Butty ride in the dry (OK our shins were wet and grimy from road spray in places) and a good breakfast in Pevensey Bakery since it was a litle chilly for Chilley Farm.

Point of note: I was not using a satchell to carry my shoes, trousers and locks on Sunday.  It was a good old Bonk Bag which is used to carry food to prevent the knock / bonk (when blood sugar drops and could lead to seeing stars in extremis) and rests on the lower back with a cord around the waist and strap over the shoulder, far more comffy than a rucsack and better that these new fangled bum bags!

Runs and activities outline for the coming weekends:

Saturday 13 October:
Chris Parker is not available to lead a bacon butty run. What about someone else?
Steve has an early bird ride, if it is not wet, setting out at 8:00am

Sunday 14 October:
Chris Parker is not available to lead a run. What about someone else? Several of you are keen on having a ride so why not meet at the Harrow at 9:00 and sort out a ride?

Saturday 20 October: tbd

Sunday 21 October: ESCA hill climb Firle Beacon. 10:00 first rider off

Saturday 27 October: tbd

Sunday 28 October:
Kent CA Reliability Trial £3. We have 6 entered for the 60 mile ride from Claygate

Saturday 3 November: tbd

Sunday 4 November: Battery Hill climb sign on 9:00am in Country Park for 9:30

Sunday 11 November: Harrow club run, meet at 9:00

Sunday 18 Novemeber: East Sussex CA Reliability Trial, enter in advance for £4

Chris Parker

7 Oct- Club Run-' Horam Satchel Ride'

Refreshment At The Lakeside Cafe

Fantastic weather for the six of us out on the Sunday club run, so different to the weather we suffered during the week, best of all no wind which makes for much easier riding and communication. Chris led us out on one of the old classic club runs over towards Horam where he wanted us to check out a new cafe he had heard about called 'The Lakeside Cafe'. He had his trusty old 1970s cycle satchel with him as he was planning on leaving us at Horam to go off to Heathfield for a cycle association lunch. We rode directly over to battle before the long climb up Netherfield hill and the well known route past Darwell reservoir and through Brightling. This is one of my favourite places to ride as the roads are nice and wide and there are long steady safe descents where you can really pick up speed. It wasn't long before we got to Horam. We were all very pleased with the new cafe . Lots of choice and a nice view over the reservoir. All  were very impressed with the quality of the coffee, bacon sarnies and eccles cakes and will definitely make this one of our favourite watering holes. Chris left us at this point so we passed the navigation over to Malcolm who has a built in GPS chip in his brain. An enjoyable fast ride down gun hill into lower Dicker followed, but after that (for once)  Malcolm wasn't sure how to get onto the sustrans route leading to Pevensey. Luckily Jon knew the way and we all followed him. Once Paul B was on the front the pace picked up a little and myself and Jon gradually got dropped from the others until they slowed down for us in Bexhill. This last big push helped push up our average speed to 16.4 mph which is a good pace for a club run.Thanks to Chris for leading out such a great route, myself and Steve B have both saved it to our GPS units and called it the' Horam Satchel Ride'.
Distance 46 miles
Ascent 768m

Fri Night Ride 5/10- Hard Core Duo Brave The Weather

Jon And Steve B (two days later!)

As Steve B turned up for the Friday Broadoak ride he thought for a while that he was the only one willing to come out after a day of miserable weather, but as it happened Jon had also turned up and was round the corner having sensed there was going to be a wide enough weather window to get back home before the next batch of the wet stuff. No-one else was brave enough to give it a go, not even Ivan who popped into my house for a chat and a cup of tea on the way home instead. Jon and Steve had made a good call and  apart from some road spray, had a dry ride. Steve pulled off at Westfield leaving Jon to make the ascent of Stonestile on his own. The road was full of some deep puddles and a tree had fallen across the road near the bottom but Jon make it OK to the top. Hopefully the council will have removed the tree by next Friday and the weather will be more settled allowing us thinner skinned mortals to return to Friday night riding?

Wednesday Chain Gang 6: Avant le deluge

Twelve riders - including  a handful of new faces set out to dodge the downpours and successfully  stole a dry chain gang, sharing work for the slog out into the wind.  I was  a late arrival - met the returning bunch after plugging eleven miles on my own,  so did a quick u -turn and had to chase hard to catch them for the speedy whirl back just as they started to wind up the pace - assassins! - forgot to take  pics so my strava graph will have to do -  fixed gear of 74 inches was comfortable into a strong wind, but on way back was spinning  over 150 rpm at 35 mph at times but couldn't hold onto leaders Nathan and Barney making pace with Malc on fixed and a couple others hanging in.


Some of us went for a beer after at Traffer's, with chairman Stuart Crabb, good craic. Just as we left the pub, the lightning flashed, thunder rolled like a great floodgate opening in the sky and we all had to swim home.  Only three riders have made all six rides so far; Malcolm Daly, Steve Butcher and Simon Prior, who can last till April?! No disrespect to our absent commuting brethren who have been soaked twice daily for a whole week!

A traditional club run Sunday 30 September 2012 and weekend plans

The 9.00am Sunday meet at the Harrow (set off at 9:10) has been a regular fixture in the Hastings cycling calendar for over twenty years since the assembly point was moved there from The Briers after a schism. Although there are riders there nearly every week the H&StL CC turn out has been variable for a few years due the programme of other rides, races and sportives etc. So it was great to have a turn out of seven riders on Sunday (local In Gear and Bayeux were elsewhere). I had emailed my intention to be there more than a week ago but it seems it was my text on Saturday that reminded several of the ride. I always decide the route on the morning when I see who is out and what the conditions are like. With a group of strong riders and light early morning winds the ride was nothing like the one I had anticipated!.

We decided to go out to Lydd via Rye Harbour and Camber. Most of it was in classic club run style riding two abreast, when conditions allowed, on each other's wheels chatting away. Paul B bumped in to us at Rye Harbour as he was on the way back from his ride so he turned round and joined us for a while. So lots of extra chatting for a bit. From Lydd we cut though the quiet lanes to the Oasis Cafe at Old Romney. I always liked it but it is even better now under new management. The cheesy scrambled egg is something else and the coffee pretty good. .

We then went on the lanes to Ivychurch before cutting across to the Fleur de Lys roundabout and joining the road to Appledore and on to the Military Canal. By then the wind was up and it had turned to the SW. So Ivan set a superb tempo in to the wind as we strung out single file. Ivan was on fixed (a wheel I always trust, if I can hold on) and I held on tight at six inches from his wheel for over four miles before sitting up to see where everyone else was, leaving Ivan to plough on. I knew Steve B was on my wheel but had not realised that everyone else had let the wheels go. Many thanks to Malcolm who held back and paced the back marker all the way in to the wind, in can be a bit demoralising on your own off the back as company is always appreciated..

The new surface of the Rye to Winchelsea road beats the old concrete slabs with clunky joins hands down. We reassembled on the way out of Winchelsea where the main group ride ended and everyone split to set off home but four of us stuck together to take the lane past Ickelsham windmill, the main road, Three Oaks and Rock Lane..

By the time I got home I had done 62 miles at over 16mph so Ivan would have done the 55 plus mile run at over 17mph (so he was taking it easy for us) and the back markers at 15mph. A great sociable ride in good conditions but rides should be getting out their autumnal kit and wearing quite a few layers to cope with the cooler start and cooling off when stopping. I had the wrong kit last Sunday on a Harrow run with two others when my feet got wet and wind chilled so much that they were numb when I got home and it took 15 minutes before they came round after a warm shower..

Weekend runs etc programme:.

Saturday 6 October: bacon Butty run setting out at 10:00 sharp from Bridge Café Cinque Ports Way. 30 miles with coffee..

Sunday 7 October: meet Harrow at 9:00 to set out at 9:10 for 40/50/60 miles .

Saturday 13 October: I am not available to lead a run. What about someone else?.

Sunday 14 October: I am not available to lead a run. What about someone else?.

Saturday 20 October: tbd .

Sunday 21 October: ESCA hill climb Firle Beacon. CTT entry form 2 weeks before. 10:00 first off .

Saturday 27 October: tbd .

Sunday 28 October: Kent CA Reliability Trial £3. A cheap sportive on lanes further afield! 40, 50 or 100 miles .

Saturday 3 November: tbd .

Sunday 4 November: Battery Hill climb sign on 9:00am in Country Park for 9:30.

Steve will be leading various rides. He has finished off road rides for the year now. Read his emails for his plans..

Chris Parker