A Group 22nd February

A grey start at Leatherhead, but sixteen hard riders were eager to explore the wilds of Gatwick and points South.  A shabby bit of route-finding at first, as I ignored my chirruping GPS because I was chatting to Neil.  But we recovered, setting a good pace over Headley and down Pebble Combe heading for Leigh.  Not such a good pace after that, with a strong wind on the nose, but still steady enough until we got to Horley.  Memory lane for some, as we were reversing the Tri-Vets route, and, to keep the memory alive, it started to drizzle.

Here we picked up the cycleway that leads through Gatwick, which is actually pretty good.  There's a lot of bike parking and many airport workers evidently commute by bike.  We stopped for a few minutes at the glide-path lights, wanting to see a plane.  

The first was rather a dud, changing its mind having set up for landing and going round again.  (I expect the people in it thought that too...).  But the next, the ever-reliable EasyJet, did the job nicely.

A bit further down the cycle-way we stopped again to see the Beehive, the original Gatwick terminal built in 1936.  An architectural triumph in its day, it looks a bit small now.  Then cycleways again to the centre of Crawley, which, oddly, we have never previously visited.

At the White Hart they were ready for us and provided a good lunch, with the thoughtful addition of jugs of water on the table - someone there is a cyclist.  Then, back on the road.

Another short piece of cycleway and, suddenly, Crawley was behind us.  It is salutary to note just how close what we view as countryside is to the airport and the town.  

The wind, which an optimist might have described as a tail wind at this point, gave us  a bit of help, and the damp mizzle gave us the motivation, so the miles to Denbies passed pretty briskly.  Farewells for some, tea and cakes for others.

Not a bad outing for a windy February day.  My thanks to Geoff Gregory for his exemplary back marking, and to all the corner makers who allowed us to traverse a complicated route without problem.

Next week - Stanstead.

Mark

Picture credits - Geoff Gregory