19/2- HSLCC Early Bird- 1066

First Of The Three Punctures!

Nigel's Diet Is Going Well!

On Lee's suggestion I decided to organise a mid week early bird ride and was delighted that Nigel, Ivan and Mick were also able to join us. Chris Parker also rode with us a little while but soon bade us farewell as he was saving his legs for the evening's chaingang which was sure to be well attended. The route was one of the first ones that I had ever mapped out, long before garmins were even a glint in some technician's eye. This is a tough route being graded in hills as very hard, so I was glad to have a breather when Nigel got a puncture just outside of Robertsbridge. Passing through Bodium I was looking forward to seeing the flooded plains around the castle but amazingly most of this water had disappeared and all that was left were a few large puddles, what a difference a fortnight makes.!Steep hills around Beckley put paid to any light conversation, dropping a little back from the others and climbing out of the saddle I noticed my front tyre was flat. Ivan kindly found a couple of bits of flint embedded in the rubber and we were on our way towards the familiar Broad Oak junction where Mick left us to head directly home. Swooping down the hill my instincts wanted me to continue on the Friday night route but the '1066' had a more devious and taxing course in stall which first involved descending down Steep Hill Lane towards Sedlescombe. This lane was in such shocking condition that even the Hailsham audax would be impressed. Shouting warnings to the others I descended as safely as I could trying to avoid mud , patches of gravel and numerous potholes. Regrettably I clipped the edge of one of the smaller craters which was sufficient to give me a rapid pinch puncture but fortunately this was near the bottom of the lane so I was able to steer the rapidly mishandling bike to the side. We were now only twelve miles from home but these were very tough miles as we peddled past Pestalozzi, Westfield and Rock lane. I had not eaten very well the last few days owing to a stomach bug and Nigel was
on a reduced calorie diet so we were both riding on empty by now. Still, salvation was at hand, all downhill through Ore and down to an old town cafe. lee and myself arrived there first, and we waited for Ivan and Nigel who were just behind us, but after ten minutes there was no sign of them. A phone call from Nigel informed us that Ivan's chain had come off and they were on their way. I didn't think much of us until they duly arrived and told us how on the steep descent of 'Old London road , the loss of the chain had caused Ivan's back wheel to lock up and throw him off. This left Ivan sprawled across half the carriage way still attached to this pedals. Fortuitously the vehicle behind them was an ambulance which pulled over to check that Ivan was OK . Ivan was fine and the only damage was a small hole in the backside of his lycra.