Sitting at breakfast this morning, looking out at the weather, it was a pretty depressing sight. Thick mist, more than a hint of dampness. It looked chilly, and not much of a day for a ride. But hope springs eternal, and I slowly convinced myself that it was lighter to the South East. Worth a shot - what about the Ashdown Forest?
It was indeed worth a shot. By the time I got to East Grinstead I was completely out of the mist, into cloudless blue sky and bright sunshine. It was even fairly mild, at 12.5C.
Down past Stone Farm Rocks, over the bridge at Weir Wood and up the long climb to Sharpstone. A dogleg here, then along the very pretty ridge that leads to Horsted Keynes. I stopped at the Green Man for a photo - it was closed, of course - but happy memories of summer rides to meet our East Sussex friends.
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| We'll be back ... |
On to Chelwood Gate, then steadily up to the High Road, at the top of the Forest. Grand views from here, and the fog bank from which I had escaped was visible in the distance.
Down to Chuck Hatch, then down again past the Pooh Sticks bridge to the stream at the bottom of The Wall. A horse was standing in the ford, taking a drink, which was a good excuse to go over the bridge. Up towards The Hatch - also closed - then along The Ridge towards Wych Cross. Lovely views again from here, the fog bank again being visible, this time to the North.
I was evidently in a sunny hole in some pretty tedious weather, but it was a lovely afternoon for riding. There were a lot of cyclists and horse riders out, and everyone looked pretty pleased with themselves.
'Start on one star', as my old mountain guide used to say, and sometimes it works. When I got home it was still foggy, and Maggie told me that it had been dreary all day.
A spot of luck.
Mark
2 comments:
Well done Mark. The sun always shines on the righteous.
Dave V and I followed your route to the Leith Hill Tower today. Hundreds of people were there, all looking out into the mist at the view of not very much.
Hopefully all socially-distanced and not ecstatically exhaling into a mushroom cloud of covid19 micro-droplets.
Were the police on hand to disperse the crowds, or were they all in London, trying to disperse the lockdown-deniers in Oxford Street? Is Surrey Tier 1, 2 or 3?
I am beginning to feel like a lockdown Scrooge or a flat-earther.
Jeff
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