Warm cosy bed or freezing cold icy ride?
Sod it if the sun comes out it'll be lovely, however cold it is, so got up
and put on my warmest kit, not so warm in places as it turned out.
Riding along Hastings seafront my Garmin said -2.2 deg C and my toes were
chilly despite my overshoes. Bloody hell this is cold, do cyclists ever
actually get frostbite? I opted not to go up Galley Hill and stayed on the
salted main road.
Di Paolo's had a good number of riders I was pleased to see and spirits
were high which I find infectiously uplifting. Chris P briefed us on giving
warnings to others if ice was spotted and off we went about 10am as normal,
lovely sun shining by now!
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| Despite ice worries there was still a good number of riders at Di Paolos |
The pace was gentle, bit of time needed to get warm again, plus maybe
slight trepidation on the road conditions. Little Common roundabout was passed
without problem, time to get on with the ride. The riders ahead of me took it
slower than normal down Whydown Road hill as it's quite fast but with a couple
of slightly tight bends. Towards the bottom there were definite ice patches and
it was a case of concentrating hard to try to pick the driest route, quite
nerve wracking. We re-grouped at the end of Straight Lane and waited for the
second half of the field. I thought they had stopped for Derek whose chain came
off at the top of Peartree Lane hill, but in a few minutes they arrived and
Malc C had got caught on the ice and come off. Fortunately he wasn't hurt too
much and bike was ok, so was happy to continue the ride.
Patrick P suggested avoiding Tilley Lane as even last week it was iffy. All
agreed it was better to stay on the main road through Magham Down and onto
Hailsham. Up Boreham Hill my legs felt good and I caught up a group of three
riders including Peter B. We stayed as a four taking turns on the front and
travelled at a fair old pace up hill and down dale, super.
 |
| Lord Buss gives ice the two fingers |
We all regrouped at the roundabout on the approach to Hailsham. Off we went
up the hill mixed with slow moving traffic. The Hailsham drivers were kind
enough to bib their horns about five times as we went up, how friendly they
are, not. After going through a set of lights in Hailsham I found myself in a
group of four with Patrick, Neil and Theo, hey ho this is going to be fun.
Patrick went pretty fast with Neil myself and Theo swapping around in his
wake. I was encouraged by the thought that the cafe couldn't be too far away,
so gritted my teeth and hung on for 20 minutes. In the end we couldn't stay
with Patrick, he appeared to be on a mission to get there first. He eventually
eased up a bit and we arrived at a sunny Pevensey Bay cafe together. The main
group arrived a little while after having taken a longer route through
Hailsham.
All enjoyed some grub. I think that's a great cafe, all the staff are very
friendly and helpful and every week my poached eggs on toast and tea are just
fine.
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| Slightly modified route this week |
We set off back to Hastings the back way past the caravan site and had a
gentle warm down ride back to Bexhill. In difficult conditions an enjoyable
ride was had by all I think, even Malc C who will probably be a bit sore Sunday
morning.
Duncan H
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