ESCA Hill Climb - Firle Beacon - 21/10/12

As no one has posted a Blog about this recent event I thought I would have a go at putting something down.

The morning started with fog, mist and a cold wind and the top of the Beacon was not a pretty sight. In fact you could not even see the top. The Road appeared to just stop in the sky.

 
However, a week in cycling is a long time and the weekend before was a completely different picture as the next photo shows as seen from Edwards camera phone.

Anyway, 33 hardy soles had entered in advance for this event but on the morning seven did not start for one reason or another. Two of which were Hastings riders namely Chris Watson and Joe Jenner. Not sure why Chris wasn't there but Joe wasn't feeling very well and it transpired that he had a urine infection so we will let him off. However, five Hastings riders lined up and because there were only 26 riders everyone managed to secure points for the club. Participating was:

Malcolm Daly              5:21.2
Simon Grogan             5:53.8
Mark Boorman           6:57.5
Edward Jenner            7:20.1
Chris Parker               7:29.6

Overall winner was Pete Tadros of Ingear with 3:49.0. Well done and congratulations to Pete

I'm afraid I only took a photo of Ed coming up as I didn't realise I was going to write up this entry otherwise I would have taken some more. As you can see there was a good crowd near the top to cheer on all the riders.

What is not widely known is what happened on the Beacon the weekend before. Both Edward and Joseph wanted to know why my Brompton was in the back of the car when I took them over to reacquaint themselves with the climb. The answer was that I was going to have a go as well on my Brompton. I was told I was mad and would not be able to do it 'on that thing'. Ignoring the laughter I descended the Beacon at a somewhat reasonable pace (as the Bromptons steering can be a bit twitchy at times) and I did not want to loose it. Anyway whilst the two young guns attacked the hill at a great rate of knots (with carbon fibre, lycra etc) I went for a warm up.

Then dressed in suitable Brompton attire (black shoes, jeans, shirt and Jacket) I started to climb the hill. The gears on the Brompton are of a good range and at my own pace I continued the climb. Must admit towards the end the breathing got somewhat heavy but the little wheels kept turning. And, much to the boys surprise I made it (just). Big smile on my face (after I got my breathe back) and my Bromptons street cred went up a notch or two. Photographic evidence below. The time of 13 mins was nowhere near Mr. Tadros but who cares, the little bike had an adventure and has now gone back to it's day job of commuting. I don't want the bike to worry too much but I haven't told it yet that I may ask it to try and get me up Battery Hill at some stage.

Club Ride 28/10- Even Ivan Power Has LimitsI

Ivan On His Ancient MTB

With many club members out on the Kent reliability trial there were just four of us out on the club run: myself, Ivan, Dan and Steve B. Weather was perfect for a late Autumn ride with low temperatures but plenty of sunshine and best of all almost no wind. Ivan had to use his old and very heavy mtb with road tyres. He has not had chance yet to replace the rear wheel on his fixie since the rim split (due to brake wear) last week. At first this did not seem to hamper him as we set off on the very hilly 1066 ride, with Ivan often setting the pace at the front. This is one of Ivan's favourite routes and is the one he chose to do two week ago when he led the club run. However after 30 miles, as we headed south up the steep hills passing through Beckley woods, his legs went and he had more and more trouble keeping up. Once we got to Brede he decided to abandon the route and to head for home on the main road while we completed the last very hilly ten miles in a big loop that took in Sedlescombe, Westfield and Three Oaks.
40 miles
Ascent 1,200m
Av speed 14.1

Weds Chaingang 24/10- Indian Summer

Derek, Tom And Dave C

Another great turn out of some 24 riders on a warm moonlight night, just five days short of full moon but there was a hint of mist across the sea. Good job it was warm, some hardy souls have yet to find their winter gear and cover their legs……. After a gentle start the pace soon wound up and several groups formed. The back markers were caught by the barriers coming down at the level crossing so gave the faster groups even more time to chat as they waited just short of Pevensey roundabout. Everyone kept together until the pace lifted for Spooky Hill so smaller groups formed and riders soon started working together to set a fast pace.
We have had some 153 rides over the nine weeks so far, averaging 17 people a gang. 26 first claim and one second claim Hastings have ridden so far, with guest from Rovers and In Gear but it is only Kung Fu Panda Giant CC titanium knees (shorts and short sleeves, brrrrrrrrrr) Simon P that has been there every week

C.P

Club Ride 21/10- Team SCR

Puddles At Pett level

Steve B Bags An SCR

With continual rain forecast all morning, only myself and Steve B turned up at the Harrow for the Sunday Club Run. I had prepared for rain and came with my GPS preloaded with a simple 34 mile route over towards Appledore , looping back through Peasmarsh. Having told Steve how great Giant SCRs are for the money he had been scouring eBay regularly and had got lucky and bagged an SCR for just £260 which is an absolute bargain. This makes four of us in the club with SCRs, the ford escort of the bike world! Cycling down chick hill with the rain was a little scary, I always think of what happened to Colin some years ago,when he ploughed into the white picket fence at the bottom. From there it was flat riding over the marsh with some impressive puddles that needed skirting round. On the Appledore road we passed a white haired guy of about 60 on a fixie, we don't know who this guy was but he gave chase and latched onto our back wheels before overtaking us and taking a turn at the front.The three of us worked together as an efficient unit each rider taking turns at the front, pushing our speed up to around 17mph despite the headwind before we peeled off for Wittersham. Steve was made up with his new purchase and was particularly impressed with the comfort of the ride. Riding behind me ,Steve noticed that my hips were rolling and I told him that I have been suffering some hip/back ache lately so we lowered my post , this felt better and later I lowered it again which felt better still, so no wonder my bike has been giving me some aches and pains! Having now had two very wet weekend rides in a row, I feel that I have become used to wet riding and as long as the route is an open one without too many twisty descents, feel pretty safe. I will leave this one on my GPS as a wet weather back up ride as we both really enjoyed it.
34 miles
Av speed13.8

Rain Gang 8 - 18th October

 40% chance of rain it said on XC weather  . . .  at ten to seven the rain was bouncing off the deck in buckets - too heavy " No way I'm going out in that " but by seven o' clock the worst had passed over to the East.  So I quickly got ready and set off. The forecast obviously meant I  had a 60% chance of staying dry, I told myself rather optimistically.

Found some shelter behind a bus, but it was rather  slow antique one; Happy Harold  - so was late for start - again - but maybe no-one else has turned out? As icy drizzle pebble-dashed my South face I was comforted by the thought of all our fast racers summer fitness ebbing away on the sofa.  So when I got to the roundabout 12 miles later, surprised to find six strong cyclists waiting, was my happiness tempered with the tiniest drop of disappointment? Not at all, on the other side of a  heavy rain shower, I was glad of the company  and looking forward to the usual habble on the home run.
They told me seven riders had started out together but one had bailed, during the rain perhaps. Simon still had his shorts on " I dont feel the cold" he said, must have titanium knees. Once warmed up I don't mind the wet, it was still mild 12 or 13 degrees. Its only on stopping that the chill sets in.  An unruly Southerly with violent buffeting gusts helped us on the return leg - as Strava speed graph shows. Watch out for temporary traffic lights just over the brow of the hill on Cooden Drive approaching Bexhill.

With hindsight I realised what the forecast was actually trying to tell us was that it definitely would rain, for at least 40% of the ride, overshoes and mudguards kept feet dry for a while but by the time I got home I was certainly much more than 40% wet, having been out for nearly two hours, still as long as I  kept moving, I was quite comfortable and didn't feel too cold.

"A good effort and a good training ride" said Nathan.  Well done all seven or eight who braved  a rough night for an enjoyable run.

Oct 13 Early Bird- Here Comes the rain

Andy And Peter

John Heneke

Having checked the forecast Friday morning I was looking forward to a dry and sunny Saturday. I was going to take my Raleigh  but decided to go for the Giant SCR instead. At the last minute I thought I would stick a front light on it. Both these decisions turned out to be very fortunate. Not such a good idea was deciding not to bother taking out any food as it was 'only' a 30 miler. Good to see two new, slightly apprehensive faces first time early birders at STAMCO, Peter and John H. Also there were two riders that we haven't seen for about 6 months, Andy and Metin. Making up the rest of the crew were myself, Doug, Duncan,Derek,Steve D and Mike . Steve turned up with what looked like a chav Burberry jacket, which I took the p**s out of  at the time. We set off along Bexhill road and along Cooden Drive. Mike pointed out the dark clouds and said that his two mates who were also going to join him had cried off. I told him that there was no need to worry about rain as the forecast was sunny and dry, Steve D laughed at this and said I should have used the Shoreham airport forecast instead which said exactly the opposite. Sure enough by the time it got to Hooe it was raining hard and visability was poor, I was glad I had stuck my front light on, and also that I was on my Giant SCR rather than the more skittish Raleigh. Mike decided to abandon at Wartling but the rest of us pressed on towards Windmill Hill. At this point there was a tempting easy escape route down to Sidley but having already completed a third of the route we all pressed on. The rainfall got heavier and heavier with some of the worst downpours at Bodle street which is exactly where we suffered our first (and fortunately only ) puncture of the route. Despite the rain I did not feel at all cold, but Derek was feeling it a bit.Steve's chav jacket no longer looked silly, he was warm and toastie being the only one with a water proof. On we went, gaining altitude as we moved up towards Brightling, we welcomed the climbing as the heat our muscles generated helped to warm us up. There was no let up in the heavy rain and we had to take the corners with great caution.At Brightling the rain started to ease up, the worst appeared to be over but our bodies had wasted a lot of energy just keeping warm. By the time we had climbed up Darwell Hill I could feel my blood sugar level dropping and started to bonk , so diverted off the gps route to the little shop on the corner where one (very expensive) mars bar later I was fit and ready for the rest of the route. Unfortunately Derek had not seen us pull over and had ridden past. I phoned him but it turned out he didn't have his phone on him so did the rest of the ride on his own wondering why he never caught up with us. From this point out it was mainly exciting downhill riding and the wind started to dry us out again. At battle we split into two groups with peter, Steve D and Metin main roading it back home while the rest of us pressed on determined to complete the route.Now the heavens decided to open again and for the last 6 miles of the ride the rain was non stop.

Lovely weather For A Puncture!

                            Its very rare for me to ride in the rain as I always check the weather forecast first but I must admit I found this wet ride very enjoyable and exciting. Peter and John needed have worried as they both rode really well and are defiantly up to Early bird ride standard so hopefully we will see more of them.
Distance 32 miles
Av Speed 14.9mph
Ascent 944m

Friday Night Ride 12/10- Broken Hanger

Time To Ring The Missus

Lovely night for a Friday Broad Oak night ride, my first for four weeks. No wind and good dry weather after the heavy showers earlier in the afternoon. I got dropped going down battery hill as it was a really dark night and I was a bit wary going down on damp roads but caught up with the others just before the turn off for the reserve. On the long drag up to broad oak I got dropped (as usual) and without Derek there to keep me company, resigned myself to a lonely ride up to the top. However, this was not to be, as before long I came across Steve B, Jon S and Simon G at the side of the road. Steve was going no further as just like Duncan in France his rear derailleur hanger had snapped leading to the gears getting all tangled up with the chain. There was nothing for it but for Steve to ring up the missus for a lift home but getting a signal this far down the road is easier said than done and Steve had to cross over to the other side and walk up a bit before he could get a decent signal. This led to lots of agitated barking by a pair of dogs belonging to one of the houses on the side of the road and the owner popping out to investigate. We left Steve and rode together to Broad Oak and then on to Stonestile lane. Fortunately any debris on the road had been cleared and we had a safe ascent to the top with myself getting dropped yet again (missing the extra low gear on my triple geared SCR).