What a turn out !!
Great fun all round. Hardly noticed the headwind but did notice my legs. I had perhaps done a little too much before Ditchling so when Matthew, PaulR and I set off long after everyone had gone, and I realised my legs were not quite responding to the signals I was passing them, I was a little concerned that I might actually have to get off and walk. This would have been disastrous given that new bike is about a third lighter than my old one and might have had me questioning the dosh spent on it. Anyhow, going slowly did the trick.
One thing that is unavaoidable on this ride that always amuses me is that we all slog our way up DB, pour out buckets of sweat, and then congregate on the South Down's most exposed point to chat (and slowly freeze).
The murk going down the hill to Brighton wasn't much fun, and this lack of visibility combined with the headwind (I did notice it here) meant that at the speed camera I was doing less than 30. Poor performance. Must do better.
I had been intending to head straight off to the station as soon as we hit Brighton, but we had made such good time that I was able to fill myself with one of the finest plates of breakfast grease I have witnessed in a long time, and still make a train to get me home by 9 in time to take mini-hatler to footy.
A quick doze on the sofa yesteray afternoon and I felt .......
well, knackered. But happy. (And the bike was worth it !!)
Thanks Simon, User10571 and all helpers for once again creating a fantastic ride. It's so well marshalled (and I therefore don't have to think about the routing at all) that having done it three times now I still don't think I could do it without being guided.
Looking forward to whichever one I do next immensely. July is likely to be a Ditchling join-up, with all eyes on whether mini-hatler will cycle his own bike up DB. I may have to set him off well ahead of everyone.
Thanks also to everyone for eating all my cake before the final ascent. It lightened my load significantly.
Great fun all round. Hardly noticed the headwind but did notice my legs. I had perhaps done a little too much before Ditchling so when Matthew, PaulR and I set off long after everyone had gone, and I realised my legs were not quite responding to the signals I was passing them, I was a little concerned that I might actually have to get off and walk. This would have been disastrous given that new bike is about a third lighter than my old one and might have had me questioning the dosh spent on it. Anyhow, going slowly did the trick.
One thing that is unavaoidable on this ride that always amuses me is that we all slog our way up DB, pour out buckets of sweat, and then congregate on the South Down's most exposed point to chat (and slowly freeze).
The murk going down the hill to Brighton wasn't much fun, and this lack of visibility combined with the headwind (I did notice it here) meant that at the speed camera I was doing less than 30. Poor performance. Must do better.
I had been intending to head straight off to the station as soon as we hit Brighton, but we had made such good time that I was able to fill myself with one of the finest plates of breakfast grease I have witnessed in a long time, and still make a train to get me home by 9 in time to take mini-hatler to footy.
A quick doze on the sofa yesteray afternoon and I felt .......
well, knackered. But happy. (And the bike was worth it !!)
Thanks Simon, User10571 and all helpers for once again creating a fantastic ride. It's so well marshalled (and I therefore don't have to think about the routing at all) that having done it three times now I still don't think I could do it without being guided.
Looking forward to whichever one I do next immensely. July is likely to be a Ditchling join-up, with all eyes on whether mini-hatler will cycle his own bike up DB. I may have to set him off well ahead of everyone.
Thanks also to everyone for eating all my cake before the final ascent. It lightened my load significantly.
We ate, drank, had a laugh - and all was well with the world as we set off...
So we whizzed through the mash of traffic to meet in the correct place and receive fair comment on group behaviour en route.
(Is this Pebblehill Road? Trust me - I nearly didn't make it - but felt so good when I did!) No idea where to go next but rolled past Epsom racecourse, through Kingston and home for a quick shower and out. I worked out that I had a 43 hour 'day' before finally getting my head down at 02:00 on Sunday morning after getting back from the Kiwi Kitchen in Fulham (This 'restaurant' will never be awarded a dustpan and brush, let alone a star, by the French...'best avoided' is the printable comment) Man, did that sleep feel good!
