31/8 Lewes Loop Off Road

Just three of us, myself, Paul and Malcolm D were up for a new version of the Lewes loop today. This was a tough  off road ride that was going to pack in a lot of climbs within its modest 32 miles. Straight from the car park we were confronted with the climb up to Firle beacon, this was tough with cold leg muscles but at least it was on tarmac and we soon joined the SDW.

Escaped Cows On The SDW!

Malc Enjoying Some Sun!

The Super Steep Kingston Climb!

We have ridden along the SDW towards kingston so many times that we were on auto pilot along this easy undulating section. Our only problem was getting past a large Hereford bull and his harem of heifers that had escaped a nearby field (broken fence) .A bit distracted, we managed to miss the turning that would take us down to the A27 .Having corrected our mistake we enjoyed the rapid descent towards this busy road before crossing safely across the bridge to reach the northern side of the SDW. Now we would have to reclaim all the height we had lost. Paul was impressed with the improvements to the track surface here, with the mass of rabbit holes now all filled in by cinder. Just as well, as this was a steep climb which eventually forced me to get off and walk for a short while. Taking a dogs leg  I made a navigation error and missed a turn by following what seemed to be the obvious way on a  wide clay track, just the sort of wide path  I enjoy. Next thing I know my front wheel has slipped away from me and I am sliding down the track trying to avoid hitting my head on the ground. Finally I came to a stop and waited a moment for the tell tale rush of pain that would have informed me of a broken collar bone, wrist or ankle. Much to my surprise the pain never came, I had gotten away with my tumble and even the bike was OK. All I had were a few bruises and lacerations to show for 
my spectacular slide! It wasn't surprising I had lost the wheel as the damp clay proved itself to be lethal, it was difficult even walking on it let alone riding. Rather than risk  going back along the clay, we cut straight across a field of wheat stubble and joined the track we should have taken. This was much better although some concentration was still required as this was true single track (not my cup of tea). Heading North we eventually rejoined the SDW at Plumpton. Now began one of our favourite descents as gravity pulled us all the way down to Lewes coming out along side the prison. The only thing spoiling the fun were the parts of the track that have become so deeply rutted that if your front wheel brushes the side, it will try to pull you sideways and off. 

Malc Beats The White Climb To Kingston

The promised sun finally appeared after our (expensive!) cafe stop in Lewes. Hopefully we now had enough energy in the tank for the last two remaining challenges of the 'white climb' past kingston and the ascent of the massive bulk of Itford hill (Rodmell).

Only One More Major Climb Left!

 As usual the kingston hill was way past my ability to ride but at least gave me the chance to capture some action shots of Malc and Paul. Itford hill was tough but I managed to grind my way up there using my extra low granny gear. After descending back to Firle we decided to treat ourselves to some delicious beer. The blonde beer that myself and paul tried was fantastic, Ivan would have been in his element!

Tour Of Britain Is Coming To Sussex

Hi all, I expect most of you know this already but here goes.The penultimate stage of The Tour of Britain comes to Sussex on Sat. 13th of September.It comes through Chailey, Uckfield, Horam,Hailsham , Eastbourne, kom finishing at Beachyhead ph, Seaford, Lewes, Ditchling Beacon,for you off-roaders, and finishing on Maderia Drive in Brighton.Everything is on the ToB website, all e.t.a.[ your cousins Lakeside Cafe at Horams e.t.a. Chris Parker is 13.35] and where events are going on and where the big screens are.Velopace are organising a hill climb on the Eastbourne kom section, I am going to do this then make my mind up where I fancy watching the race.We all have busy lives but we dont want our Northen friends to be able to accuse us of not being able to support a bike race !How often will you be able to see Wiggins, Cavendish and all riding our cycle routes ? so lets hope we can give it the support it deserves, regards Simon G

29/8 Fri Night Ride- Bewl Boys Return

Bewl Water Boys Return!

This was to be the last night of the Bewl Water season but with all the recent heavy rain, myself Paul and Derek decided it was going to be too muddy so we were back on the Friday night ride a week early. Malcolm wasn't there so we reckon that despite the mud  he just couldn't resist going to Bewl just one more time . Together with Barney, Susan , Cameron and Simon G this made a solid turnout of seven riders. The descent of Battery Hill was just as hairy as usual but at least there is still enough light to help avoid the manhole covers. Progress through Winchelsea and the nature reserve was incredibly easy due to the strong tail wind at our backs.In no time at all we had started the long drag up to broad Oak.Simon had warned us that just like last season the council have been engaged in surface dressing the top part of the Udimore road. This is where they put down a thin spray of tarmac and then scatter loose chipping all over it. This is hazardous for cycling as many of the chippings don't stick , leaving a loose gravelly surface to ride over. CTC have organised a government petition to help stop this, you can sign it here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/67408
Fortunately it wasn't any where near as bad as last time they did this, perhaps they cant afford as many chippings, LOL. Derek had told us not to wait for him at Broad Oak but we ignored this as he wasn't so far behind us, so we all able to enjoy together, the sweeping smooth descent through Brede towards Westfield. Stonestile lane was just as hard as ever,and had myself and Derek breathing in great lungfuls of cold air which made our chests  sore, so it was a relief to reach the junction with the ridge at the top. Oh, the joys of the Friday night ride, welcome to the 2014/5 season
!

H&StL CC Wednesday Evening TT Series ends on a high note

The last Wednesday evening TT of the series ended on a high note at Broad Oak with 9 PBs, 4 first timers on the course and three seasoned campaigners in the field of 16 riders.
Headlines for the second week going were made by the juniors with another PB by 17 year old Joe Kingsman (19.23) to win the event, one second quicker than last week, a first sub 23 ride by 16 year old Ollie Chapman (22.52) with a PB by 10 seconds and another big improvement of 47 seconds by 12 year old Fabien Large (27.10).Second was series winner Stuart Hodd (19.39) with a PB by 18 seconds and third Malcolm Daly (20.55) a PB by 15 seconds riding sub 21 for the first time.  See the attached table of all comers times for 2014 and SBs for the previous three years.Stuart's best ten placings are 8 first places and two seconds (96+20=116 points). Joe Kingsman might have pushed him harder had he ridden more events but five wins and three seconds with only one event left, if the Battery Hill hill climb is held, (60+30=90 points) means Malcolm is second  with 1 win, 5 seconds and 4 thirds (12+50+36=98 points). Joe stands a mathematical chance of second place if we hold the hill climb.Joe missed several weeks with exams and in part may be saving himself for Rovers Thursday 10s in which he has knocked out some very, very quick times and his 22.12 in our Pevensey 10 remains the quickest 10 for the club in 2014, unless anyone knows otherwise if someone has sneaked off to ride some very fast courses further afield!The event was followed by the end of evening series meal, back in The Rainbow Trout again. Nineteen of us sat down for a very sociable evening.  The series would not have gone ahead without Jamie Beale putting in the Police Notices and Stuart being there every week to erect warning signs, sign people on and set out the field, then push everyone off.  Thanks were also given to the timekeepers and assistants: Chris Parker, John, Vidler, Steve Curtis, Steve Butcher and Angela Chapman. We also had marshals out when required, so thanks again to Mark Ingram, Ivan Johnson, Derek Millgate, Tim Miles, Tom Norris and anyone else who we may have forgotten for the moment!What has added to the series is other members and friends turning up many weeks to support, chat and socialise with everyone with some pleasant post event drinks in various hostelleries.  All in all a good year with quite a few new members trying time trials for the first time and doing very well with much promise for improvements, if they want to do a bit more than have a mid week work out by progressively lowering their PBs.



Chris Parker

19 August- HSLCC Early Bird 'Marsh Blast'

Rare But Welcome Appearance From Gary!

Good solid turnout for a weekday early bird with myself, Nigel, Malc D, Malc C and a rare appearance from Gary. Conditions were cold but dry so we were all wearing sleeves which is unusual at this time of year . We had a choice of two routes either Criss Cross (rolling terrain inland) or Marsh Blast ( flat coastal and marsh). With relatively light winds I decided it was just about OK to do the Marsh Blast. Traffic on the ridge was heavy due to rush hour so we avoided it by heading out to the Marsh via Winchelsea , Westfield and Three Oaks. Now came the long barren stretch of the Marsh out to Lydd. It was hard to work out the direction of the wind but it must have been more behind us than in front as we were averaging around 21 mph. I have never been very good at riding a long time on the flat and with Malc C in the best shape of his life, it was me that was struggling at the back trying to take from the others as much wind protection as I could. Approaching Dymchurch, Malc D and Nigel complained of feeling hungry, we would have to stop at a cafe and have a very early bacon butty. Every other shop in Dymchurch seems to be a cafe so we were spoilt for choice but soon found one fitting our station, i.e something akin to 'Sid's Cafe' from only fools and horses. Suitably refreshed we pushed on through the flatlands of the marsh. It was actually a relief to climb up some hills leading up to Aldington where my stiff thigh muscles enjoyed some respite while my calves did more of the work up the gradients. We were now at our furthest point east and were heading back home. Gary was concerned we would have a headwind all the way back but strangely this didn't happen and we were still averaging a good speed.Travelling along the slightly downhill roads past Rucking was my favourite part of the ride and an area Nigel had never explored before. Once at Ham Street  it was back to the endless flat and from here to Appledore I found it tough. Being in one position for so long was giving me a stiff back and thigh muscles, oh how I longed for some rolling terrain where your position on the bike is constantly changing. At last we reached the Appledore road. Although this is a long straight boring section , psychologically  I found it easier to deal with, as once we got to Rye there was the promise of tea and cake.

Malc C Happy To Be In Such Good Form!

The traffic in Rye was horrendous with lorries trying to get through the narrow road and frustrusted motorists stationally pumping out exhaust fumes, a great deal of careful filtering was needed to get through. Gary took us to a cafe hidden from the wind  behind  the tourist information office where the service, coffee ,cakes and ice cream were all excellent (definitely use this one again). Suitably refreshed, the ride from Rye to the foot of battery Hill wasn't too bad. I had been really impressed with Malc C's improved standard of fitness, all those extra miles he has done in preparation for ride London 100 have really paid off, but I still have the edge over him on climbs and managed to drop him  on Battery Hill (although to be fair this was Malc's first ever climb up this legendary hill). Gary was feeling all the miles now and his legs were hurting but superhuman Nigel had no such concerns and yet again he blasted up Battery Hill  setting a new PB only a week after the last one, moving up six places to 42nd of all time!
       Much as I enjoyed the excellent company I must admit that endless flat riding is not my favourite sort of route, perhaps I will use Lee's 'Climbing Coffe And Cake Ride' as a  good excuse to avoid the 'Rye Rotary Ride' the day after?

Please support 'Climbing Coffee And Cake Ride' on Saturday 27 September

Hello all

Not sure if you've seen any of the advertising on the telly but Macmillan cancer support are promoting self organised nationwide coffee mornings at the end of September to raise money.

Lee has had an excellent idea of how the club can raise money and get a good ride in at the same time

On Saturday 27th of September, we hijack the usual 'Bacon Butty ride' and instead make it a 'Climbing Coffee and cake Ride'
We'll meet at the Bridge cafe as usual, leaving at 10:00.
Instead of the usual ' Bacon Butty ride'  we will do a nice ride with some climbs that Lee has mapped out, and we'll call the day 'Climbing, Coffee and Cake'.
The end of the route will finish back at Lee's house on the abbey green in Battle, where Lee's other half Louise has very kindly agreed to bake some cakes, if we have a big turnout then other wives could bake too.
(David morris has volunteered his wife already)
We'll lay on coffee too.
All we ask is a small donation for the coffee and cake that all goes to the charity.

Please support this event that Lee is organising.

Lee needs to know how many people are doing the ride

Please email Lee to let you know you are coming on this ride
Lee's email is

 leeray42@icloud.com

15/8 London To Whitstable With The 'Fridays' And Beyond....

After hearing good things from Nigel on his London to Southend ride a few months back,

All Ready To Go!

First Scheduled Stop At Strood!

we (Nigel, John v, Steve Butcher, David Morris and son George and myself) decided to do the 'fridays' London to Whitstable ride.For those of you not familiar with the fridays, they're are a cycling club that regularly do rides that leave London at midnight to all sorts of exotic coastal locations in the south east such as Brighton, Southwold, Southend and Clacton. We arrived at Charing cross station and made our way to Hyde park corner to meet the rest of the riders, about 75 in total, just in time for ride leader Simon's rigorous safety instructions.He was very insistent that all the riders were well drilled and gave plenty of warning of the obstacles ahead with the usual cries of 'HOLE, GLASS, BOLLARD, DRUNK BLOKE ETC', the fact that 75% of the riders didn't wear helmets, seemed to be largely ignored.So, we set off at midnight at a casual pace through Parliament square, along the Embankment, over London Bridge and towards Greenwich.It certainly was a unique experience to ride through a largely deserted London and apart the many drunk people along the way, one bloke who thought we were the Tour de France and car full of Yardys asking were we were going, it was largely uneventful.We made our way out of south east London, out towards Dartford and Gravesend, at a slow and sometimes frustrating pace (10/12mph average). As we stopped every ten minutes and waited for everyone to catch up with the temperature plummeting, we wondered whether this was a good idea after all.Anyway we ploughed on through the industrial delights of North Kent to our first scheduled stop at Strood at I think around 5 o'clock (things were getting a little hazy at this time), to be welcomed at the village hall with tea, cheese rolls and bread pudding. After an hour there, we finally pushed on to be greeted with a glorious sunrise across the marshes towards Faversham via more waiting and then some more waiting and finally arriving in Whitstable with 65 miles on the Garmin at about 7ish....as i said before, painfully slow.

Arrival At Whitstable!

Time For A Nap!

Steve Tries To Recharge His Energy!

```````After a bit of expensive (coffee, bacon & egg bap with 1 rasher of bacon £6) breakfast, we went our separate ways. David and George (wisely) had left their car at Whitstable, so went on their way back to Battle.While Nigel, Steve, John and I (stupidly) decided to ride back. We decided to pussy out and do the 'Short' route back around the coast, about 90 miles.So, we made a steady pace along the coastal paths via Herne Bay, Margate, Minster, Sandwich and Deal. Only delayed briefly as Nigel punctured conveniently opposite a doughnut shop.

Punctures Are Always A Good Thing When Donuts Are Available!

 We then pushed around the coast westwards into a strong headwind, up and over Dover and into Folkestone.By this time the our increasing pace and the wind was taking its toll on Steve and he was beginning to lag back, so we decided to drag him along to Hythe for a lunchstop. We refuelled briefly, Nigel even had time for a quick nap, before pressing on.As we pushed on across the marshes to Appledore and up the Military Canal it was clear that Steve had bonked in Kie-esque proportions, so we took turns to shelter him from the relentless winds.We finally bid adieu and split in two as Nigel and Steve headed down Brede Hill and John and i pressed onto Battle, even finding the energy for a quick chain-gang into Sedlescombe, before our legs had been well and truly been shot to pieces with 157 miles on the clock.

Lee Trying Not To Think About How Many Miles Are Left!

Over and out
Lee s

16/8 Single Track Heaven In the Surrey Hills

Whilst Steve and most of the other off roaders did Cissbury Ring I had arranged to meet a group in Surrey Hills. This is a different sort of ride as it involves a lot of singletrack riding.
Route we did starts below  Leith Hill .  After a short ride through woodland you get to the start of the first single track descent which is a fast winding track with lots of jumps a tight bends.
Then the ascent up to top of Leith Hill . Fantastic views from here as far as the south downs. The descent from Leith Hill is through a wood with no marked path but with some frightening drops and bowls.
You follow Greensands Way until you get to the top of Holmbury Hill again great views over to the downs. You then have another very long winding descent on singletrack to Homlbury village with its pub and shop that sells really nice pies. Then back up the hill and from top lots of singletrack  then follows more singletrack under the telegraph poles . This is one of the renowned descents for this area. back up to Leith Hill then lots of technical forest riding all the way back down to the car park.
Its about 3 hours riding this route, I forgot to start my garmin so missed the first singletrack section.
Only downside is its about 90 minute drive to get there but well worth it.
Came off twice and both times because of the clip in pedals , not easy getting out of these if you misjudge getting out of a bowl and start going backwards but then they are great for going down so feet don’t come off the pedals on the jumps

(Video kindly provided by Tim Heal)

Derek

Great Views From Leith Hill!

16/8 Cissbury Stretch

last time we rode in the Bramber area we had a desperate time navigating and getting through all the mud of Angmering forest, we said never again! This was a shame as there was some good riding in the surrounding hills . After  some searching on the web  I found a route that someone had put together that avoided the forest. Having downloaded and modified the route we decided to give it  ago. With an almost perfect temperature for riding all went well as we climbed from Bramber all the way up to Chanctonbury Ring before descending down the awfully steep and rubble strewn SDW down to the A24 where he had to risk life and limb crossing the dual carriageway (a footbridge is badly needed here). Thank goodness we would not have to climb up this section on the way back!

No Navigation Problems At Chanctonbury Ring !

 We came off the SDW at a place called Down's farm but this is where our navigation let us down. We followed the only obvious track ignoring the distress signals from the GPS informing us we were going wrong. At first we made rapid progress along this track but after a while it became more and more overgrown. Maybe we should have gone back to the farm but we were too stubborn for that and assumed we would eventually join the planned route. Eventually the narrow track joined a nice wide more obvious bridleway.  We felt we were heading the right way and so followed this promising track only to realise we were heading in totally the wrong direction , ending back up on the SDW when we should have been heading south away from it. Fortunately we had a paper map of the route and realised that this track would lead straight down to Burpham from where we could rejoin the planned route, so we headed south back down the track. Our newly discovered track proved to be fantastic fun with mile after mile of gentle descending all the way down to Burpham on my favourite type of path (wide with little vegetation) . Once in Burpham we soon discovered the GPS route again  but were surprised to see it followed a footpath. From years of experience we know that some footpaths are as wide as bridleways so we carried on only to find it getting narrower and narrower and totally unsuitable for riding. We gave up on this footpath and decided to take a different bridleway from Burpham . We were now off route so the GPS was useless but thought we would eventually rejoin the route. It wasn't long however before we came across a farm with a big notice that there was no public way through the farm. We tried to go around the farm but just ended up doing three sides of a corn field with no way out. We had no choice we would have to try to get through the farm, hopefully without being seen by some angry farmer (I know that farmers are particularly wary of trespassers at the moment due to all the farm thefts on the news) Bravely we cycled through the farm as quickly as possible trying not to be seen, our nerves were not improved by the sight of  an army tank and some other combat vehicles parked up at the farm! Unfortunately there were no name plates anywhere on the farm and nothing seemed to make any sense , what we could see did not match the map or the GPS. However, the only thing we could recognise in the distance was the sinister bulk of Angmering forest . My heart sank I I really do dislike this forest with its confusing mass of muddy trails but there was nothing for it, as it was the only point of reference, we would just have to ride through it. My gps has a compass function and we realised that if we generally followed an easterly direction we would eventually escape the clutches of the forest. This was easer said than done as there were so many trails and their directions kept changing. Fortunately the trails were less muddy than last year and it was with a great sigh of relief that we escaped our woody prison and made it into open space. Heading east we could see sings of human habitation, hooray we were saved! Not having a clue what village we were in we had to ask some people only to discover it was Patching. We were only a couple of miles away from Myrtle Grove farm. Once there we were back on the planned GPS route. Now we could relax, and had some tea and sandwiches at a bland  little place called High Salvington. Our navigation problems were over and the rest of the route was excellent taking us around one side of the world famous Cissbury ring (largest hill fort in Europe) before a brilliant steady long drag back up to the SDW , finishing with a awesome super-fast descent on a concrete path back down to Bramber.

Paul Happy To Be Back On Track!

This was certainly a day to remember. Myself and Ivan actually rather enjoyed getting lost and going back to basics following  a compass bearing . I am not so sure Paul enjoyed it though, lol. What we do all agree with is that there are some excellent sections in this area and we are not giving up on it yet . Looking at the GPS data for where we went I can now see where we went wrong and have remapped this area yet again. Third time lucky next year?

CLUB BROAD OAK TIME TRIAL RESULTS Wednesday 13 August

Despite it being a cooler evening with a stiff wind and temporary traffic lights there were some great times on the Broad Oak course this Wednesday. Two juniors stole the headlines with 17 year old Joe Kingsman joining the elite few that break 20 minutes with a winning time of 19.24, a PB by 41 seconds, and 12 year old Fabien Large knocking a massive two minute off his PB with a time of 27.57 which shows his training for the GHS National Uner-17s final on 13 September is going well.

 Stuart Hodd (19.58) was second and Malcolm Daly (21.33 SB) third.

 Nigel Tamplin (22.30) set a PB by just under a minute and Mark Ingram (23.56) by 23 seconds.

Three new members set very useful times on their TT debuts: Alex Smith (23.40), Ben Whitmore (23.49) and Dan Selmes (24.59).  Please see the attached table for all the times.

Some nine years after being introduced to club cycling, TTs and road racing as a junior Sam Wadman was back from Newcastle, where he has been competing in triathlons and road racing, to ride the circuit again, but added a leg to Northiam to his ride having missed the left turn at Horns Cross!

 Last week's event was cancelled due to the road between Horns Cross and Staplecross being closed for redressing the surface with chippings which make for a slower ride. It seemed that all would be clear this week but temporary traffic lights were set up after Cripps Corner and just before Ellen Whorne Lane due to a sunken drain cover on the south side of the road that could easily wreck car wheels. Rules of the road must but obeyed when riding TTs but fortunately the lights were only twenty yards apart and changing every 15 to 30 seconds so only a few rides lost ten or so seconds timing their ride to go through on green.

 Next week's TT on Wednesday 20 August is the last evening event of the series, sign on earlier at 18:15 for first rider off at 18:45. It will be followed by a meal in The Rainbow Trout, places to be booked with Chris Parker by Sunday 17 August.

Chris Parker

12/8 Early Bird- Reverse Wet Wittersham

With a week off work I was able to chose any day for a week day early bird and so chose Tuesday as it promised to be the driest day of the week. So, I was surprised in the morning to see heavy rain outside my window. Checking the forecast again it was supposed to be sunshine and showers improving later so undeterred I set off for the harrow . On the way there the heavens opened and the rain was descending in biblical proportions. The sky was so dark it felt like 8:00 pm and all the cars had their headlights on. Waiting at the Harrow was the lonely figure of  Andy Lancaster on his first ever early bird. Having made my introductions to Andy it was clear that Andy was going to have to go home as he had not rain jacket with

Brief Interlude From The Rain !

him and was totally soaked through. Steve B had also turned up in his car but we both agreed that it was too dangerous to ride. Just then Nigel also turned up, being dropped off by car. We were just about to tell Nigel that we were cancelling the ride when suddenly the rain stopped and a beam of sunlight shone down upon us. The ride was back on but Steve had also failed to bring a raincoat so we agreed to meet Steve back at his home at Broad Oak to give him a chance to pick one up. Setting off along the A28 to Westfield the heavy rain had started again , I was shocked to discover that when pulling on the brakes very little happened, rim brakes and water are not a good combination. I squeezed off some speed but then suddenly the sharp dogs-leg past the car scrap yard was upon us. Normally I would have scrubbed off some more speed but this was impossible so bracing myself for a Chris Froome style slide I tried to get round as smoothly as possible and somehow made it. It was a pleasurable relief when we reached Brede hill and could generate some useful body heat climbing the hill faster than normal  (not surprisingly I got a pb on this), in fact so enjoyable was the climbing we actually rode half a mile past Steve's house and had to ride back. After being fortified by snack bars and coffee we emerged to see the weather had indeed improved and it was now sunny and quite warm. After a few miles we had to take off our rain jackets as we were overheating but within a few minutes it had darkened and the rain had started again. This pattern was to repeat itself throughout the ride, as soon as we overheated and the jackets had to come off, the heavens would respond by sending another deluge onto us. The route we were following was the Wet Wittersham route but we were doing it in reverse, this proved to be just as good as a route as the 'normal' way round. Slowly the weather was improving and by the time we reached Rye harbour it was actually really pleasant. Nigel and Steve B suggested a breakfast stop at the 'Bosun's Bite'. Our timing proved perfect as no sooner had we sat down than a torrential downpour of rain and hail came down battering our poor bikes outside. This was to be the last of the rain, from now on sunshine was back in charge. The combination of high tide and a strong easterly wind had brought the level of the sea level to a height we had never seen before, the water threatening to overflow the cycle path out of the harbour. It was a relief to finally get to the base of battery hill and get out of the wind, having had an easy ride I suggested  Nigel went for a PB and sure enough Nigel blasted off leaving myself and Steve floundering in his wake, hats of to Nigel who did indeed get a PB moving into the top 50 of all time. I'll try to organise another week day early bird early next week, hopefully the weather will be rather easier to cope with?

A New Cafe Stop For HSLCC!

4/8 Early Bird Ride- Xmas 2011 Route

great start For James!

Its been quite a while since I have organised an early bird road ride and it was a pleasant surprise to have a good turnout of seven riders, including James Thorton only his first ever HSLCC ride. After the usual scary descent of Battery Hill we headed along the coast towards Winchelsea where we used Float lane to reach the Udimore road. Last time I rode Float lane it was a mass of potholes but the council have managed to plug most of them and it was now OK. This was like an extended version of the Friday night ride as we road up the long drag to broad Oak and beyond to Cribb's corner and Woodman's green. After all the off road riding I have done recently it seemed so much easier riding on the road and all the climbing seemed easier than normal to me today so I made good progress leading from the front much of the time.James was doing well and was only a little off the pace on the long drags but was actually faster than some of us on the shorter climbs.Having done an impressive mileage recently both Nigel and John were happy to take things easier than normal do but this didn't stop John coming out on his Genesis Croix De Fer rather than his much lighter Villier carbon bike. There were signs to say that part of Netherfield road was closed to traffic but we ignored this feeling sure that we would get through, unfortunately some of the workman took a dim view of this and hurled some abuse our way.

Loving The Brightling Climb!

Keep Smiling!

 It was worth the ticking off as our planned route took us up to the top of  Brightling from where our reward was the fabulous descent all the way down to Ashburnham .By the time we reached Sidley the pace was beginning to tell on James and he took a wrong turn. Fortunately he had heard us discuss meeting for bacon butties at 'Cafe On The Beach'  and was there when we arrived. Thanks to those who came for the ride today, this reminds me how much fun these shortish early bird can be!

Great Turnout For A Weekday Early Bird!

3/8/2014 Clayton West Off Road

Gorgeous Views On The Downs!

last year I mapped out a new ride westwards from Clayton. This was one of the best rides of last season and I was keen to repeat it. Together with myself were Derek , Duncan and Paul Baxter. Traffic was very light and we managed to get to Clayton in under an hour which was a nice surprise. leaving Clayton we descended the steep single track that leads down to the main road before reaching more open ground around devil's dyke. With a cooling breeze the riding felt a lot easier than the SDW last weekend and before long we reached the furthest western point. Here we left the SDW  and headed south towards lancing on an excellent track that had previously been unknown to us. On reaching lancing we had to use the roads for a few km to hook up back to the SDW but these are very pleasant roads with almost traffic so I rather enjoyed this section (my hard tail probably being better for this surface than a full suss). Ahead of us lay one of my least favourite ascents on the SDW, the rocky narrow and steep Beeding Hill. Normally I have to get off and walk part of this track but with the aid of a strong tail wind we all managed to cycle up it without to much bother although I did have to remount at one point where my front end lost control.There were some much more enjoyable  steady climbs up to Devils Dyke whose escarpments looked gorgeous in the sunshine and we were rewarded with a lovely steep descent down to the

220 years Between Us And Still Going Strong!

Hiker's rest' at  saddlescombe where we enjoyed some snacks and hot tea. The initial climb out of here is very steep and rocky before reaching an equally steep grassy climb. There was no way I would get up the rocky section but I did make it up the grassy climb, Derek was riding much better than last week and managed the whole climb. Unfortunately we were concentrating so hard on making it up the climb that by the time we noticed the turn-off for the eastern loop it was too late to shout out to Ivan and Paul who were too far ahead so we simply continued along the SDW all the way back to Clayton which made for an easier overall ride than we planned. Despite missing out the western loop, this is still a great ride, made even better by the refreshing breeze (unlike the stifling heat of last week)

Jason Kind Is Selling A Brand New Specialized Venge Frame And Forks

Jason Kind is selling a brand new Specialized Venge frame and forks. Details from Jason Kind below.

My Specialized Venge was recently returned from repairs at Specialized and was broken in the Post!

The good news is they are sending me a brand new and unused Specialized Pro Frame and Forks.

Is it possible to put a message out to the Club as its for sale at £1500

I wont be using it for a while….. Its just what you see in the picture, brand new and unused…….
Its a 58cm Frame
Here is the Spec

If you are interested you can contact Jason via email jasonkindltd@btopenworld.com

FRAME
FACT 10r carbon, FACT IS construction, aero tube shape, compact race design, tapered 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" head tube, internal cable routing, carbon OSBB

REAR SHOCK

FORK
Venge Pro FACT carbon, full monocoque, OS race for 1-3/8" bearing