Mince Pie Ride

We had a very pleasant post-Christmas ride.

The day started badly for me as I overslept and found I had just 20 minutes to do my 40 minute ride to Horsham, however, Val saved the day and gave me a lift. We were the only two riders at the start and so we set off and arrived at Barbara's a few minutes later. Along with Barbara and her mum, we launched into some very nice mince pies and, in the words of Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks, damned fine coffee. Ros then arrived thus giving us an excuse for second helpings all round. Ros was on her way by train and bike from East Grinstead to Winchester and it was good to see her.

Eventually we ventured back outside, Ros headed for the station, Val and I back to where her car was parked. 

Rendezvous Ride

A rendezvous ride is one where there is no defined start, start time or route, just a destination and time. The rendezvous point in this instance was The Wheatsheaf at Plummers Plain.

I was unable to take part and I've not heard from anyone else who did. If you took part, please let me know and give me something to write about.

Christmas Dinner

Guess what?  It's that time of year again. This year we decided to have our Christmas Dinner at a pub we've never visited before, the Holmbush at Faygate. Two groups of riders set off, one from Horsham (Barbara, Pete, Norman, Mick and Sandra) and one from Crawley (Val and Bob). We were met at the pub by John C, John V, Michael, Ken and Anton and four of our WAGS. The beer was good, the food was excellent with ample portions and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Our next ride is on Sunday 22nd December and is a Rendezvous Ride. This means that you all ride your own route, starting at whatever time you want, and just meet up at the lunch stop, The Wheatsheaf at Plummers Plain at 12:00 midday. After lunch you all ride your own route back home. If you want to ride with someone on the way there, I would suggest trying to contact them and arrange a place and time to start....

Unfortunately I will have to miss this ride, so I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas.

Mince pies at Gordon's

As Christmas is approaching, Gordon kindly volunteered to lead a ride to his house where he would treat us to refreshments. There were five people waiting for me at Horsham Pavilions - Gordon, Jacqui, Norman, Val and Sandra.  This was flagged as an easy ride, but that rating was based on the short mileage and not on a lack of hills. The route chosen involved Hammerpond Lane and, as any fool knows, it does have a couple of hills I'm afraid! There wasn't too much moaning from the assembled crew and everyone managed the hills, each in their own way, and we were soon at Slaugham. Here we took the Bridleway, north out of the village and up to Handcross. On the way we had to pull up and stand to one side as a tractor came down the track carrying a twenty foot Christmas Tree. We also pumped a bit of air into Jacqui's decidedly flat looking rear tyre.

Once in Handcross, Gordon went on ahead to get the heating on at his house, leaving me to lead everyone else in his wake.  I thought we could take the short detour over the two bridges crossing the A23 but having crossed the first bridge and continued west for another half mile I realised I'd got it wrong and had in fact only crossed the second bridge and we would have to turn around (or end up back at the bridleway we'd left two miles away!).  At this point we noticed that Jacqui's rear tyre was completely flat and we couldn't get it reinflated so changed it instead - thanks to Val for providing a spare. By this time Gordon was wondering where we were and phoned me, I let him know and assured him we'd only be about ten minutes.

Sure enough, ten minutes later we pulled up at Gordon's and stepped inside to be greeted by a roaring fire and a table full of mince pies, cakes and other delights. We all sat around eating, drinking and chatting. Topics included the number of words that a dog is capable of understanding. Some of us thought it was somewhere around ten, others thought it must be many more than that. Later on someone looked it up on t'interweb thingy and came up with a figure of over a thousand!

Eventually it was time to head back. Norman was volunteer leader for those going back to Horsham and he decided to go down Grouse Road and then Hammerpond Road back to Horsham - I understand he almost had a rebellion on the way back (eh, ladies?).

Many, many thanks to Gordon and Jacqui for hosting us - it made for a very enjoyable day.

The Plough at Leigh

Anton led us out on a cool but not cold December morning. The climb through Pound Hill warmed us up and the run down Old Hollow cooled us down. Copthorne Bank was quiet and Smallfield quieter still. Heading West we crossed the motorway and then headed North, skirted Redhill Aerodrome and East Surrey Hospital before crossing the A23. Anton next took us along the Woodhatch Road but then nipped through some residential roads for an easy crossing of the A217. Heading west on Slipshatch road, we'd passed a "Road Closed" sign but had been assured it was passable by a cyclist coming in the opposite direction and so it was - bikes and pedestrians could get through, but not anything bigger.

We were now close to the pub but half an hour early, so Anton took us on a little loop north and west of Leigh before taking a couple of left turns and pulling up at the pub with just enough time to lock up the bikes before the doors opened.

The four of us having enjoyed our lunch headed back home, due south to Charlwood and then through Ifield Wood. Barbara now turned right to ride back to Horsham via Lambs Green leaving Anton, Val and myself to go through Ifield, West Green and Southgate to finally clock up a total of about 33 miles.