28/11 HSLCC Fri Night Ride- Black Friday

Just occasionally riders on the Friday night ride have to suffer insults from ignorant members of the public or more often, car drivers, but on this 'Black Friday' we were to have no less than three such incidents.

Arriving at the lodge Diego was a bit anxious after a black pick up truck followed him and Simon up through Ore village before overtaking them with just a few inches to spare, then just as we were about to set off, the truck appeared again and someone aggressively shouted out 'get some road tax'.This rather unnerved us and I secretly hoped we would not run into the 'black truck' again.

Diego And Simon Unnerved By 'Black Truck' Man!

The weather didn't help our nerves as it was supposed to have been bone dry but it was now raining. This was particularly worrisome for Malcolm who was on a fixed wheel . Myself and Malc descended Battery Hill a minute ahead of the others at a safe sedate space . By Winchelsea we were all back together as one group and even managed to get a 'through and off' going up to the entrance to the  reserve. Thankfully the rain had now stopped and we could now appreciate how mild and windless the night was. No-one seemed to want to push the pace and we rode very sedately through the reserve and along the harbour road.

Our second incident took place as we went past the chip shop in Rye. Some overweight gentleman clutching a steaming back of chips, nearly walked straight out in front of us before just stopping in time. Annoyed at this he called out 'you are all gay!' which caused much merriment . Now began the serious task of the five mile drag up to Broadoak, Malc and Steve B lead the way with the others doing through and off in an effort to catch them. I myself was content to ride at my own pace and was just pleased to arrive not too long after the main pack . The constant climbing in such mild weather had caused me to over heat  and it was a relief to take off the wind proof and let some sweat evaporate.

Even without Marcus present, we descended Brede hill at a fast pace and I managed to bag a second fastest PB without any stress.

Just Stonestile now  awaited us but our numbers had dwindled somewhat as JV and Steve B had broken away for home while Malc on a relatively high geared fixie had decided to stick to the main road instead . All went well despite the return of the rain, until an impatient car driver at the top of the climb informed us that we were all a bunch of 'wankers', charming! I for one am glad its only
Black Friday' once a year!