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Previous Saturday's Ride
Previous Sunday's Ride
Previous Tuesday's Ride
Previous Saturday's Ride.
It was another nice sunny day on Saturday 29th August as I drove down to
Patching pond and found Richard, Chris, Phil and Andy all ready to go. I quickly
unloaded my bike and joined them but I noticed my handlebars were not in line on my
old full-suss clunker so after borrowing an allen key, I put them straight and we were
finally ready to go.
Richard was supposed to be away this weekend so I was down to lead
this ride but luckily for me, his plans had changed and so he led us north through
the village of Patching to Myrtle Grove. Turning right, we headed down the big
dipper and up the long climb to the top of the Long Furlong where we again turned
north and headed for the South Downs Way at Chantry Hill. Following the SDW, we had
great views across The Weald to the North Downs....
....but then Richard swung left and took
us down a long fast 20+mph descent. He had previously warned us about a left turn
halfway down but there was still a flurry of dust from locked-up rear wheels at
the junction!
Now heading south, we cycled on....
....to the next series of long fast descents down the side of Wepham
Wood and I saw 25mph come up on my computer! At one point, Andy took his eyes off
the track and dropped into a deep rut which caused him to stand his bike up on his
front wheel but somehow he managed to recover the situation without coming a cropper!
Reaching the northern edge of the Angmering Estate, we turned east and seeing
as the tracks had been bone dry, we headed straight on to the normally-muddy section.
There was still some mud but very much reduced from the usual state of the track,
however, I still managed to get stuck in it!
Following the edge of the Angmering estate, we made our way back to Patching
village and the final fast descent to the Worlds End pub where we stopped for a pint
before making our individual ways homeward.
There are no more planned Arun-Adur off-road rides but if the weather is good, we
may meet up for an occasional Saturday ride so keep watching this website!
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Previous Sunday's Ride.
The early morning sunshine was rapidly disappearing as we assembled outside The Pavilions
in Horsham Park at 9.30am on Sunday 16th May. Bob, bubbling with enthusiasm, handed
out his very comprehensive route sheets and questionnaires whilst giving us some
constructive comments about todays I-Spy Ride.
I teamed up with Brian in his car as we were both incapacitated and unable to ride bikes.
Meanwhile, Louise decided to make a rare appearance on her bike and teamed up with the
Arun-Adur crew of JW, Richard and Sue. The Horsham section were represented by two teams
while Gill, being the only one from Chichester, joined the Arun-Adur group. Apparently,
Colin arrived much later having cycled all the way from Chichester and so set off in a team of one!
The route instructions, interspersed with questions, took us out of Horsham via
Doomsday Green to Grouse Road and then Faygate via Colgate. Being in a car had its disadvantages as well as its advantages - we were out of the weather which continued to
deteriorate to the point of some light rain, but we had to avoid causing traffic problems
whenever we stopped.
Skirting around Rusper to the west on a series of country lanes, we made our way to
Ockley and the very picturesque Weare Street which brought us to our lunch venue, The
Punchbowl at Okewood Hill. Bob collected the answer sheets for the first half of the ride
while we all tucked into a very good pub lunch andd then he handed out the second half of
the route sheet.
Now heading south, we passed through Rowhook and Warnham which brought us back to Horsham
where we regrouped at the finish, the Cafe in the Park. Half an hour later, all of the
participants had arrived and Bob calculated the results while we tucked into tea and cakes.
Being familiar with Bob's super-critical way of thinking, naturally the Horsham section
came first! However, we all had a good day out and the weather didn't manage to dampen the
event after all.
David
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Previous Tuesday's Ride.
The ride on Tuesday 27th April met at Havant Station with Ernie as the leader while I
(Edwin) rode over to the start. Avryl also joined us there after leaving her car at Havant
Station. Coming by train to the start were Ernie, Peter and Richard.
It was a really pleasant sunny and warm day with temperatures up to 19C although there
was a little high cloud later in the day.
Ernie led us, first on back roads to Rowlands Castle, then on to Finchdean before a quiet
lane to Chalton.
From Chalton with its thatched Pub, there was a steep climb up to the A3 where we took
the flyover and into the Hampshire Hogg Pub for coffee. This made for a welcome and refreshing stop as we were starting to warm up.
After refreshments, it was a fairly direct route although with a hill in the way. namely
the lane up Butser Hill. From the south, the climb is fairly gentle. On reaching the top of the hill, there were views, albeit a little hazy, towards Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
The descent was very steep with views of rolling downland and the Meon Valley so we were soon settling down in the garden of the Isaac Walton Pub in the pretty village of East Meon.
The return route avoided Butser Hill taking in pleasant lanes to the south of Petersfield
and then across to Buriton. Then, it was the short, but very steep climb, over the downs of Buriton Hill. Avryl was delighted to be able to ride all the way up for the first time whereas Ernie resorted to the 24inch gear!
As we regrouped at the top, we had to give a double take to make sure our ears were not deceiving us. Wafting up over the Downs was the sound of bagpipes - good place to practice without annoying the neighbours! Consequently, we were piped down the first part of the descent. The good part about this route is that it is a long descent on a quiet lane through really pretty woods.
We continued down to Finchdean and Rowlands Castle where Avryl left us to return to her car in Havant. The rest of us continued to Chichester with a stop for tea at Stansted House Cafe.
Mileage starting from Havant and finishing in Chichester was 38 whereas my mileage from home was 61.
Edwin