Clayton West Off-Road

This summer is turning out to be  a great off road season as even though its not been a hot summer, it has been a very dry one so the trails are wonderfully ridable. Unfortunately lots of our off road pals have been indisposed so its sometimes been up to me and Ivan to keep the off road branch of HSLCC alive.Today we were delighted to have Duncan F riding with us, even though he had already completed a big off road ride from London the day before.

last week myself and Ivan had a great time following the  'Cissbury Stretch', this ride has caused us some navigational problems in the past but my gpx amendments has turned it into one of our best off road routes.

This time it was time to do Clayton west' which is already one of our trusted favourites

The free car park  Jack and Jill Windmills (Clayton) is a fantastic place to start as from, as here you get  one of the best views of the entire downs , which looks out over the impressive hills of Saddlescombe and Devil's dyke .

On The Western Loop!

Before we had even started Ivan had to fix yet another puncture on his front wheel. This is the third puncture from the same batch of cheapo ITS inner tubes I purchased for him last year ( I think Ivan's instructions were,' buy me the cheapest ones you can find'!) , on all three occasions the valve failed at the join with a sudden deflation. These were definitely not a good buy.

Another Blown Valve!

Enjoyable South Downs riding  soon took us to our furthest point west . From here we left the downs for an exciting bridleway decent all the way down towards Lancing college as we completed the western loop.

After a stretch of quiet road riding some pleasant road riding we were soon back on the south downs way  and struggling up Truleigh Hill.
The first part of this hill is one of my least favourite climbs as its narrow, overgrown and there is some rubble which lifts the front wheel. Having lost a few pounds over the summer has made  a big difference as this time I made it up without too much trouble, looks like all this off road training is paying off.

After crossing over the devil's Dyke we  dropped down to the fantastic 'Hikers Rest' at Saddlescombe farm (best carrot cake ever!). Just as we finished the steep decent there was  loud hiss and sudden deflation sound from Ivan's front wheel . Yet another ITS inner tube valve blown. If this had happened a few minutes earlier , the consequences for Ivan could have been serious! I offered to lend Ivan a replacement Continental tube but he decided to use his last remaining ITS tube, surely this would survive long enough to get back to Clayton?

ITS Stands For 'Its Totally Shit'!

All that was left was the Eastern loop. In the past we have sometimes been lazy and not bothered with this loop but as it was still early we decided to complete the ride fully. Unfortunately a few minutes into the loop there was the by now familiar hiss from Ivan's bike, this latest ITC tube had lasted all of half a mile! Ivan was just relieved to get rid of the last ITC tube and my continental soon got him moving again.

We were all glad we did as this final loop as it  made a nice change from following the  SDW as it has a great mix of  single track, fast gravel descents and long grassy drags

Another excellent off road ride completed, lets hope the dry weather continues so we can make maximum use of what's left of the summer off road season.

Steve C