And Then There Were Five - Annual Crawley To Hastings MTB Ride

With only the two of us at Bexhill station we were wondering if we would qualify for our group ticket (minimum of three) .We need not have worried due to a rare appearance of the lesser spotted  Baxter. In what is now becoming an annual event, Paul has come out of winter hibernation but has been even later this year (May) perhaps this is due to the unseasonably cold spring we have all had to endure?

Engineering work meant we had to travel on the Victoria line but the train was in the station ready to go. Jamie got on the train at Polegate but Andy T had arranged to meet us at Three bridges, having decided to ride all the way up on his own before riding back with us (even Nigel the caveman should be impressed by this!)

Great to ride with Jamie for the first time on an mtb ride

The train was packed but of course all the London football teams were playing their last games of the season and the faithful were going up. Steve managed to annoy some of the other passengers by showing Paul some of our club home grown videos at a rather loud volume (what a yobbo)

All the arrangements went perfectly to plan. The four of us disembarked at Three Bridges (Crawley) where we all gathered round making appreciating noises about Jamie’s brand new Jamis  carbon Adventure bike . On escaping from the station, Andy was there to greet us on his Colnago Gravel /Adventure bike, looking surprisingly fresh after already riding around 60 miles.

Why are we all so terrible at navigation? Despite having five garmins between us, and having done this route before there was still the usual faffing about until we discovered the first sign for the Worth way which is a converted sustrans railway track.

Is this tubeless idea really worth it?

We had only gone a mile or so when Paul had a puncture ,he was tubeless so it should not have mattered but the latex decided to squirt out all over him so the tyre  did not seal. Eventually he discovered this was due to a valve unscrewing itself. Fortunately Paul was well prepared and went old Skool by placing an inner tube inside instead.

The Worth way is easy riding with a good quality surface (much better than the Bexhill to Hastings route Steve uses for commuting) The air was cold but there was warmth is the spring sunshine
The terrain is easy and of course no problems with angry drivers so this was very pleasant riding.

Steve was fascinated by Jamie and Andy’s adventure/gravel bikes as by coincidence he has been doing some research into this new type of bike and has considered getting one for the daily commute. Apparently they are the next big thing, there is even a new style of sportive called a CX/gravel sportive that contains a mixture of road and easy off road. Some riders do these on 29er mtbs but about half the riders now do them on gravel/adventure bikes. Steve is keen to try one of these events in the autumn but Derek thinks it’s a waste of money (£25) and that he should plan one himself , advertise the ride for a  tenner and throw in a complimentary piece of grandmas bread pudding!

The cross bikes coped admirably well on the Worth way and then Forest way (another railway track) but they did struggle to find sufficient grip on the three mile stretch we had to do across a muddy field/farm track , although the only rider to slip off was Derek who was riding a hard tail mtb shod with tyres more suitable for the road. Unfortunately he landed in a patch of brambles and would spend some time pulling thorns out of his back side (much to everyone else’s amusement)

After the Forest way there was an 11 mile section on the road following sustrans route 21. Despite being on the road , in some ways this was the best bit as the roads were exceptionally quiet with outstanding views of the countryside. The route was also pleasantly lumpy, which gave the legs of the mtb riders a good workout as they hefted 26lbs plus up and down the undulating terrain

Andy' still smiling even after 90 miles of trails and 30 to go

By the time we got to Rotherfield, Steve, Derek and Andy were badly in need of a sugar fix. Several choc bars later our blood sugar levels were restored and before long we reached the start of the third railway track, the Cuckoo trail !

We diverged from the trail to enjoy an all day breakfast at Wesson (hairy biker) café. Andy T was now (understandably) feeling tired and so decided to give the café a miss and keep riding for home. Derek had somehow managed to bring a long lock with him although it wouldn’t quite go round all four bikes so we left Steve’s pink 29er unlocked, figuring that no one else would be seen dead riding it (a small girl on the trail was heard telling her mum, ‘that bike is the same colour as my dress’)

Re-energised ,we got back on the Cuckoo trail. With the trail fully tarmacked and being slightly downhill all the way to the Sovereign harbour we had to be careful not to go too fast as we always had to be mindful of the local dog walkers that inhabit these parts.

Reaching the coast we were very fortunate to be beneficiaries of a tail wind which pushed us all the way home and complete just over 60 miles (pretty good when you are on 2 inch knobbles)

This was a brilliant day and reminded us just why we love riding off road so much.
Steve has been inspired to plan an even longer (and tougher) train and ride for July

Derek/Steve