Report for A group - 19th April

 I'll leave most of the commentary to my sub-leaders Clive and Dave F. Suffice for me to thank them for following my slightly fiddly route across the western edge of Crawley from Ifield to Pease Pottage. This idea for this has been in gestation for a while  and it was good to have the opportunity to put it into practice though the steps were a bit of a surprise on the first recce. We were blessed with a sunny if windy day. My main concern apart from the weather was making it back to Brockham in time for tea. I needn't have worried - fit groups and good service at the Eight Bells meant we were were all back in good time.  

My group was a select four following Patrick's puncture enroute to Tanhouse: just myself, Richard, Ged and Neil C. 

Clive's report:

My group was first and was made up of: Janice, Neil W, Andy H and Mike R. We set off pretty much on time, despite the loo queue, turning right out of Tanhouse heading for Rusper and ultimately the village of Bolney, in West Sussex, for lunch.

It felt like we reached the outskirts of Crawley pretty quickly, where we turned off Rusper Road and into an off-road section that took us around the mill ponds of Ifield Mill. After Crawley we passed through Pease Pottage and into the Western reaches of the High Weald where we cycled along quiet country lanes admiring the picturesque countryside and views across the fields to what I assume are the South Downs in the distance.  We then began a long general descent towards Bolney and lunch; a descent that could mean only one thing.

Lunch was at the Eight Bells in Bolney, a very traditional village pub (it’s good to see some of them still exist) where I had an excellent gammon, egg (double) and chips. Everyone else’s ciabattas looked pretty good too. 

After lunch was the expected and unavoidable climb. Nothing too steep, but it felt like we were going uphill pretty much all the way to Faygate with just the occasional downhill section providing a break. It was somewhere around here that the headwind, the hills and not being very good at pacing myself, began to tell and I was starting to run out of steam. Thankfully, the peleton came to the rescue and first Andy (who broke off for home at Lambs Green) and then Janice provided welcome support by leading the pack on the homeward stretch to Brockham. After some much needed refreshment and rest, for me anyway, at the village tearoom we headed home; Janice and Neil via Punchbowl, me and Mike via the golf course.

Thanks to the members of my group for the company and for sub-sub-leading and, of course, to Brian for organizing a very enjoyable day out.

Dave's group was next:

I led the sensible souls who had opted for Brian's "steady paced" group, which included some seasoned riders looking for a more leisurely pace on Wednesday. So, constrained by a queue resulting from only one functioning loo at Tanhouse, my group of  Mark, Geoff, Sue, Dave V and Pete set off 10 mins late. We made a reasonably good pace on the outward leg  as the wind was from the NE. There were favourable comments about Brian’s clever route around Ifield Watermill and Mark made light work of getting his E-bike up the later stair hazard. "Walk assist" did come in handy. Before too long  we were in narrow traffic free lanes through the  heavily undulating Sussex Weald with some with some bluebell fringed verges and stunning  vistas.

We made better than expected time to the pub where pre-ordering the food again resulted in good service and Brian had successfully negotiated a relaxation of the 10% service charge encountered on our Recce. Unfortunately the first group had finished off the Sussex Best bitter, but substitutes were found to mixed reviews. So we managed to depart within about 45 mins of arrival, giving us a better chance of getting to Brockham Reading Rooms before they closed.

Half of the hills of the full ride were stacked into the few miles immediately before and after lunch, so a few further grunts and groans were soon required. Having broken the back of it, one of our group elected to seek solace in a train from Horsham but the rest of us soldiered on. The NE wind seemed to be more blustery than the morning and some stretches less protected, so the 22 miles back to Brockham were hard work and slower than the outbound leg.  At the Reading Rooms we overlapped with both the first and last groups and the coffee and snack was extremely welcome. From there riders headed wearily for home solo or in groups of two or three having enjoyed a rare dry sunny day. Thanks again to Brian for an excellent route, to Geoff for back marking and to my group for being great company.

 

 

PS: the loo queue at Tanhouse was all the result of a lock malfunction. Shortly after the Clive and Dave left the staff were made aware and sorted it in seconds with a screwdriver!