14/3 HSLCC Fri Night Ride- Your Life In Their Hands

Glad to be back on the road after a week spent recovering from the double whammy of a collision with a car last Friday and a nasty chest infection, it was most agreeable to see a good turnout of six riders at the Fairlight lodge. One of them was Diego who I have met but never ridden with. Conditions were a little foggy and with the deteriorating condition of Battery Hill I wasn't looking forward to the decent. The nasty pothole near the church has become a lot worse, if you hit this in the dark its going to damage your wheel and have you off. Having safely got round the pothole and made it to the bottom it was a relief to get down to flat riding. We considered riding through the reserve but nobody knew if the pebbles had been cleared away yet, so we had to take the main road to Rye. We rode in a good safe single file peloton around 21mph but this wasn't good enough for some car driver who sat behind us beeping his horn at us now and then. On reaching Rye the car was still behind us and still randomly beeping. The railway barriers were just coming up and the traffic was just beginning to move, as we bunched up I could sense the car driver right behind me getting more agitated. Sure enough he revved the engine and I shouted a warning up front to the others . Simon and Marcus turned round expecting to see a boy racer and were surprised to see a grumpy old man at the wheel with his wife in the passenger seat! After giving them a stern look it was a relief when he dropped a gear and accelerated past us. The 4.5 mile slog to broad-oak was as hard as ever, especially when not 100% well, so I really appreciated Diego's help in dragging me up there. Paul B is going really well on his new TCR although he did complain about the front forks being a little harsh, he is riding so much faster than a few weeks ago when he was struggling even to keep up with me. We were all enjoying the fast riding through Brede when all of  a sudden a very fast car came up behind and accelerated to overtake. Going too fast to be safe, what the driver only realised at the last moment was that he was on a collision course with a traffic island. At the last moment he swung violently to the right , and swerved round it and onto he other side of the road. What an reckless fool. If he had hit the island it would have caused serious injuries to himself and in the process he may have taken out some of our group. The rest of our ride proceeded without any more incidents ( thank goodness), with Diego enjoying his fourth ascent of Stonestile.

Diego Tells Me He Loves This Hill!