FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - London to Brighton - 13th September

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hatler

Guru
Ditchling is an odd hill, in that it isn't really a hill in parts. It was designed for horses to pull carts up so the angle of upness changes regularly. So for a 50 metre section it's steeper then for the next 50 metres it eases slightly, and repeats this regularly. When you can see the horses triangular sign on the left you're just about there.
Turner's Hill seems longer but doesn't have the shorter steeper bits.
(Be warned, @LucretiaMyReflection that it's worth trying to hurtle down the hill into Brighton to try to set off the speed camera. This is an ancient Fridays' tradition.)
I'd like to be with you but Real Life intervened.
Attack the steep bits, back off to go as slow as you can on the less steep bits.
 

hatler

Guru
This ride will be the culmination of a 13 year plan. Mini's first appearance on a London - Brighton FNRttC was shortly before the end of July 2006 (we sneaked in at Ditchling), and after that he has always wanted to do the whole thing.
 

kimble

Veteran
Attack the steep bits, back off to go as slow as you can on the less steep bits.

Or bring a bike with proper gears and twiddle your way to the top at approximately walking speed. I've done it when a fair bit heavier and a lot less fit than I am now (back when I lived in That London, I thought the Bow Flyover was a mountain), often on stupidly heavy bikes, and the only times I've failed to reach the top in one go are when someone has run out of steam and stopped without warning in front of me; it can be challenging to get moving again on the steeper bits.

TBH, I reckon Turner's Hill is worse, if only for psychological reasons. It seems endless, especially when everyone else seems to be going faster than you.

(I can only remember setting the speed camera off the once, and my Strava history appears to confirm that. How fast you can go very much depends on what other traffic is around when you get there. They've probably turned it off now, anyway...)
 

robjh

Legendary Member
My general plan when encountering hills is to go at a steady speed, in an approximation of a plod. Seems to work. It's an unknown descent that makes me nervous.
We'll see.
I don't remember the descent from Ditchling Beacon to Brighton as particularly steep, just long. It's mostly on good roads and you can build up quite a speed if you want to. A very nice end to the ride.

I don't know the exact route we'll be taking, but some of the descents from the North Downs are steeper.
 

GetFatty

Über Member
Or bring a bike with proper gears and twiddle your way to the top at approximately walking speed. I've done it when a fair bit heavier and a lot less fit than I am now (back when I lived in That London, I thought the Bow Flyover was a mountain), often on stupidly heavy bikes, and the only times I've failed to reach the top in one go are when someone has run out of steam and stopped without warning in front of me; it can be challenging to get moving again on the steeper bits.

TBH, I reckon Turner's Hill is worse, if only for psychological reasons. It seems endless, especially when everyone else seems to be going faster than you.

(I can only remember setting the speed camera off the once, and my Strava history appears to confirm that. How fast you can go very much depends on what other traffic is around when you get there. They've probably turned it off now, anyway...)
I only seem to be able to remember the last bit of Turners Hill (up to the pub). I just used to attack that and slowly drop down the gears
 

GM

Legendary Member
Or bring a bike with proper gears and twiddle your way to the top at approximately walking speed. I've done it when a fair bit heavier and a lot less fit than I am now (back when I lived in That London, I thought the Bow Flyover was a mountain), often on stupidly heavy bikes, and the only times I've failed to reach the top in one go are when someone has run out of steam and stopped without warning in front of me; it can be challenging to get moving again on the steeper bits.

TBH, I reckon Turner's Hill is worse, if only for psychological reasons. It seems endless, especially when everyone else seems to be going faster than you.

(I can only remember setting the speed camera off the once, and my Strava history appears to confirm that. How fast you can go very much depends on what other traffic is around when you get there. They've probably turned it off now, anyway...)



Just for you Kimble, here's that mountain being built in 1967

70404694_10156387891921356_8740017306421166080_o.jpg
 

mmmmartin

Random geezer
Sorry, Frank Mitchell is in that one. Ginger is in Chiswick or Hammersmith, apparently.
 

rb58

Enigma
Location
Bexley, Kent
Final email to registered riders has been sent. If you're expecting to ride but haven't had the email, you'll need to get in touch.
 

kimble

Veteran
My general plan when encountering hills is to go at a steady speed, in an approximation of a plod. Seems to work. It's an unknown descent that makes me nervous.
We'll see.

It's fine: Wide road, good sight-lines, not steep, nothing slippery. Even on a Brompton there wouldn't be any drama.

Again, the descent after Turners Hill is more of an issue, as there's some twisty stuff and it'll be dark. People will be taking it slowly. No idea what the current pothole situation is (it's ages since I've done the Brighton ride), but historically there have been a couple of nasty ones.


Anyway, given that my Achilles rebelled after King's Lynn (literally, the pain kicked in when I got off the train at Mordor Central), I'm pulling out of this in order to save it for next week's silly bike racing. Something about riding at other people's pace seems to exacerbate it, and standing around doesn't help. Have a good ride everyone!
 

hatler

Guru
It's fine: Wide road, good sight-lines, not steep, nothing slippery. Even on a Brompton there wouldn't be any drama.

Again, the descent after Turners Hill is more of an issue, as there's some twisty stuff and it'll be dark. People will be taking it slowly. No idea what the current pothole situation is (it's ages since I've done the Brighton ride), but historically there have been a couple of nasty ones.


Anyway, given that my Achilles rebelled after King's Lynn (literally, the pain kicked in when I got off the train at Mordor Central), I'm pulling out of this in order to save it for next week's silly bike racing. Something about riding at other people's pace seems to exacerbate it, and standing around doesn't help. Have a good ride everyone!
Boo hiss !! Sorry to hear this.
 

hatler

Guru
I don't remember the descent from Ditchling Beacon to Brighton as particularly steep, just long. It's mostly on good roads and you can build up quite a speed if you want to. A very nice end to the ride.

Another word of warning. If we are taking the standard Fridays' route after Ditchling past the golf course - Ditchling isn't the last ascent. That caught me out the first time I was towing mini.
 

LucretiaMyReflection

Senior Member
Location
The Flatlands
It's fine: Wide road, good sight-lines, not steep, nothing slippery. Even on a Brompton there wouldn't be any drama.

Again, the descent after Turners Hill is more of an issue, as there's some twisty stuff and it'll be dark. People will be taking it slowly. No idea what the current pothole situation is (it's ages since I've done the Brighton ride), but historically there have been a couple of nasty ones.


Anyway, given that my Achilles rebelled after King's Lynn (literally, the pain kicked in when I got off the train at Mordor Central), I'm pulling out of this in order to save it for next week's silly bike racing. Something about riding at other people's pace seems to exacerbate it, and standing around doesn't help. Have a good ride everyone!

Thanks @kimble sorry to hear about your Achilles.
 
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