L2B(2L) - Saturday April 25th
Discussion
Can we get an update on this list so that we know who to wait for on the common.
Riders
1. Gruffy (LBL)
2. JT (LB - will probably pull out last minute because ghey)
3. Tony Hetherington (LBL)
4. Pete (?)
5. tobinen (LB - maybe LBL depends on how the legs feel)
6. richardxjr (BL)
7. cos18 (TBC)
8. Black Can Man (LBL)
9. Jorrocks (?)
10. j00pY (LBL)
11. Anthony (LB)
12. Yellowjack (?)
13. JustinF (RV @ cafe in Hartfield)
ALawson?
neenaw?
TheLemming?
Riders
1. Gruffy (LBL)
2. JT (LB - will probably pull out last minute because ghey)
3. Tony Hetherington (LBL)
4. Pete (?)
5. tobinen (LB - maybe LBL depends on how the legs feel)
6. richardxjr (BL)
7. cos18 (TBC)
8. Black Can Man (LBL)
9. Jorrocks (?)
10. j00pY (LBL)
11. Anthony (LB)
12. Yellowjack (?)
13. JustinF (RV @ cafe in Hartfield)
ALawson?
neenaw?
TheLemming?
TonyHetherington said:
I want you to know, G, that as much as I love you, I'm going to be swearing a lot at you on Saturday. At about 0400. Then probably 1100. Then definitely around 1500. And certainly on Sunday morning.
I've got some choice language reserved for myself but I figured it's going to be worse in Yorkshire in a couple of weeks. 
JustinF said:
(the Hartfiled timing is based on you hitting there at 3, if you will be past there I can adjust and intesect, will give us a chance to try out the whats app location thingamybob).
I'm hoping to be passing Hartfield by 14:00-14:30 ideally, but that may not be realistic. I'll keep you posted on WhatsApp once we've left Brighton.If anybody needs the route it can be exported for Garmins etc here https://www.strava.com/routes/1546844
It was a grey, damp and blustery start as seven riders gathered at the bandstand. We'd made it as far as Tooting before the puncture fairy struck her first blow.
The first climb was Farthing Downs, where you'd normally be treated to a great view across London. Spirits where high and so were we, having warmed up and got a bit of climbing under our belts.
The fairy waved her wand again once we'd crossed the M25. My turn this time. With that dealt with we cracked on again but had lost a bit of time. Shortly afterwards the rain eased but the early delays meant our rendezvous with Justin at Turners Hill wasn't possible. I got a picture message to show me where we could find his secret stash of goodies, which the gang were properly chuffed to find after climbing Turners Hill. We thought the packet of avocados was an odd choice but were very pleased when we took the rain soaked glasses off and discovered they were actually chocolate muffins. "Chapeaus" all round to Justin!
Eric got another visit from the puncture fairy at Ardingly. He and I set about fixing that while the rest of the group pressed on to Ditchling Beacon. Unfortunately we'd now exhausted our supply of spare tubes and canisters - neither of us carrying a pump - so I called ahead to ask the guys to stop a little sooner. We nervously made our way onwards.
We got as far as Haywards Heath when the fairy paid Eric another visit. At this point, with no supplies left, he called in the cavalry (who was waiting to meet him in Brighton). I reluctantly pressed on and found the group waiting just 300 metres down the road, so Luke and I headed back up and set about repairing things again. We'd found the sneaky little flint that was causing the problem but the new tube we tried to replace it with had a whole straight out of the box, so there was a lot of faffing around figuring out what was 'wrong' with the pump first. While the guys were patching the new tube up I shot off to find a bike shop in Haywards Heath to restock our supplies.
I'd bought two tubes at £10 each before realising my wallet had just been violated. I'd love to offer LBSs more support but sometimes it hurts. Some Haribo would've help to soften the blow.
We were at least now fully restocked and feeling confident again. We toyed with the idea of grabbing a coffee somewhere in Haywards Heath as most of the group had no been standing around for 45 minutes and was a bit cold, but the unanimous decision was to press on and get to Brighton. Eric had succumbed to the morale-sapping efforts of the puncture fairy (three or four visits, depending on how you count them) and it was a real shame to bid him farewell as we left Haywards Heath. We were now six.
It wasn't long before Ditchling Beacon began to loom large in the distance. For those doing one leg this was the big challenge of the day. Most hadn't ridden it before so it has a kind of mythical lore about it. It can certainly look intimidating when you see it from a few miles back, with perspective slowly eroding and the steepness of it seeming to grow the closer you get to it.
The front group set a tidy pace up the climb. Of course, while we were at the top high-fiveing each other on a great performance another rider came sprinting past us like it was downhill, just to keep our egos in check.
I think it's fair to say Black Can Man is built for rugby rather than cycling but he was a machine up the Beacon. Chapeau to him.
The sun was now starting to poke through and it was a lovely descent into Brighton for a late lunch at the Velo Cafe. It's a lovely spot with lots of toilets, bike parking that you can see from the cafe, great food and friendly service (would you like your bottles refilled gents?). At this point Anthony headed off to meet a friend and the five that remained made our way to Madeira Drive to see the coast. When we got there the road was closed for an event. Happily, a motoring event.
We couldn't leave without a cheesy team photo.
Pete and Neil made their way to the station and Luke, Tony and myself pointed it north and started the journey back. The return leg was quite a bit longer and hillier, to try and replicate Stage 1 of the Tour de PH in a couple of weeks time. We were late setting off so the decision was to keep a steady but relentless pace with few stops but be brutally efficient. This quickly became a struggle when first me and then Tony met the man with the hammer. I'd been unwell the previous few days and was struggling to get anywhere near enough food in while riding. Both of us had the same issue now: our heart rates were still very low but we just had no strength to turn the pedals. There was just no fuel in the tanks to burn. We rolled perfectly fine on the flats but Tony and I ground to a halt whenever the road pointed upwards. Luke on the other hand looked like he was riding a single speed, which he pedalled at a constant speed regardless of the gradient. The rolling terrain out of Brighton was beautiful but the highlight of the return, for me, was the ride over Ashdown Forest. I didn't capture any photos to do it justice but it's a lovely spot with great views, a decent climb and a lovely descent.
After that descent we planned to stop at a cafe but nothing was open so we followed our windy route towards Edenbridge, over some punishing hills. By this stage Tony and I were running on completely empty tanks. I still had a jersey full of food but was so bloated I just couldn't bring myself to get any of it down. It sounds ridiculous typing that out now. At Edenbridge we found a helpful Italian brasserie that served us up some garlic bread, fries and Cokes. Luke nailed it when he said those Cokes were like Popeye's spinach. We knew we had two big climbs to tackle yet and the light was fading. We left Edenbridge at 18:45 and made our way to Westerham via Crockham Hill. I was now in familiar territory as this is one of my regular ride routes.
The slow grind up Westerham Hill was a b
h. It's not the steepest climb of the day but it has a steep ramp about 3/4 of the way up that comes at just the wrong time. I had to pause here for a minute and try to muster some strength. Once we'd hit the top of Westerham Hill we knew it was, genuinely, 'all downhill from here'. Even with our empty tanks it took no effort to charge along at 45kph to Biggin Hill (where we waved goodbye to Luke) and into Bromley, where I waved goodbye to Tony.
Huge huge thanks to Justin in particular, but also to richardxjr (sorry we didn't get to RV with you!) and to the whole PH peloton for a great team effort. The ride was so much more challenging than it needed to be, but served to be a great reminder (for Tony and I) that we can't muck about with our fueling. It's not a bad reminder before the Tour.
The morning after and reports are coming back that everybody feels pretty spritely. With some food in my belly I'm feeling fresh as a daisy, which bodes well for Yorkshire.
https://www.strava.com/activities/292496930
The first climb was Farthing Downs, where you'd normally be treated to a great view across London. Spirits where high and so were we, having warmed up and got a bit of climbing under our belts.
The fairy waved her wand again once we'd crossed the M25. My turn this time. With that dealt with we cracked on again but had lost a bit of time. Shortly afterwards the rain eased but the early delays meant our rendezvous with Justin at Turners Hill wasn't possible. I got a picture message to show me where we could find his secret stash of goodies, which the gang were properly chuffed to find after climbing Turners Hill. We thought the packet of avocados was an odd choice but were very pleased when we took the rain soaked glasses off and discovered they were actually chocolate muffins. "Chapeaus" all round to Justin!
Eric got another visit from the puncture fairy at Ardingly. He and I set about fixing that while the rest of the group pressed on to Ditchling Beacon. Unfortunately we'd now exhausted our supply of spare tubes and canisters - neither of us carrying a pump - so I called ahead to ask the guys to stop a little sooner. We nervously made our way onwards.
We got as far as Haywards Heath when the fairy paid Eric another visit. At this point, with no supplies left, he called in the cavalry (who was waiting to meet him in Brighton). I reluctantly pressed on and found the group waiting just 300 metres down the road, so Luke and I headed back up and set about repairing things again. We'd found the sneaky little flint that was causing the problem but the new tube we tried to replace it with had a whole straight out of the box, so there was a lot of faffing around figuring out what was 'wrong' with the pump first. While the guys were patching the new tube up I shot off to find a bike shop in Haywards Heath to restock our supplies.
I'd bought two tubes at £10 each before realising my wallet had just been violated. I'd love to offer LBSs more support but sometimes it hurts. Some Haribo would've help to soften the blow.
We were at least now fully restocked and feeling confident again. We toyed with the idea of grabbing a coffee somewhere in Haywards Heath as most of the group had no been standing around for 45 minutes and was a bit cold, but the unanimous decision was to press on and get to Brighton. Eric had succumbed to the morale-sapping efforts of the puncture fairy (three or four visits, depending on how you count them) and it was a real shame to bid him farewell as we left Haywards Heath. We were now six.
It wasn't long before Ditchling Beacon began to loom large in the distance. For those doing one leg this was the big challenge of the day. Most hadn't ridden it before so it has a kind of mythical lore about it. It can certainly look intimidating when you see it from a few miles back, with perspective slowly eroding and the steepness of it seeming to grow the closer you get to it.
The front group set a tidy pace up the climb. Of course, while we were at the top high-fiveing each other on a great performance another rider came sprinting past us like it was downhill, just to keep our egos in check.
I think it's fair to say Black Can Man is built for rugby rather than cycling but he was a machine up the Beacon. Chapeau to him.
The sun was now starting to poke through and it was a lovely descent into Brighton for a late lunch at the Velo Cafe. It's a lovely spot with lots of toilets, bike parking that you can see from the cafe, great food and friendly service (would you like your bottles refilled gents?). At this point Anthony headed off to meet a friend and the five that remained made our way to Madeira Drive to see the coast. When we got there the road was closed for an event. Happily, a motoring event.
We couldn't leave without a cheesy team photo.
Pete and Neil made their way to the station and Luke, Tony and myself pointed it north and started the journey back. The return leg was quite a bit longer and hillier, to try and replicate Stage 1 of the Tour de PH in a couple of weeks time. We were late setting off so the decision was to keep a steady but relentless pace with few stops but be brutally efficient. This quickly became a struggle when first me and then Tony met the man with the hammer. I'd been unwell the previous few days and was struggling to get anywhere near enough food in while riding. Both of us had the same issue now: our heart rates were still very low but we just had no strength to turn the pedals. There was just no fuel in the tanks to burn. We rolled perfectly fine on the flats but Tony and I ground to a halt whenever the road pointed upwards. Luke on the other hand looked like he was riding a single speed, which he pedalled at a constant speed regardless of the gradient. The rolling terrain out of Brighton was beautiful but the highlight of the return, for me, was the ride over Ashdown Forest. I didn't capture any photos to do it justice but it's a lovely spot with great views, a decent climb and a lovely descent.
After that descent we planned to stop at a cafe but nothing was open so we followed our windy route towards Edenbridge, over some punishing hills. By this stage Tony and I were running on completely empty tanks. I still had a jersey full of food but was so bloated I just couldn't bring myself to get any of it down. It sounds ridiculous typing that out now. At Edenbridge we found a helpful Italian brasserie that served us up some garlic bread, fries and Cokes. Luke nailed it when he said those Cokes were like Popeye's spinach. We knew we had two big climbs to tackle yet and the light was fading. We left Edenbridge at 18:45 and made our way to Westerham via Crockham Hill. I was now in familiar territory as this is one of my regular ride routes.
The slow grind up Westerham Hill was a b
h. It's not the steepest climb of the day but it has a steep ramp about 3/4 of the way up that comes at just the wrong time. I had to pause here for a minute and try to muster some strength. Once we'd hit the top of Westerham Hill we knew it was, genuinely, 'all downhill from here'. Even with our empty tanks it took no effort to charge along at 45kph to Biggin Hill (where we waved goodbye to Luke) and into Bromley, where I waved goodbye to Tony. Huge huge thanks to Justin in particular, but also to richardxjr (sorry we didn't get to RV with you!) and to the whole PH peloton for a great team effort. The ride was so much more challenging than it needed to be, but served to be a great reminder (for Tony and I) that we can't muck about with our fueling. It's not a bad reminder before the Tour.
The morning after and reports are coming back that everybody feels pretty spritely. With some food in my belly I'm feeling fresh as a daisy, which bodes well for Yorkshire.
https://www.strava.com/activities/292496930
2 CO2, patches and just a single tube (should've been 2 for a 200km ride but pockets were stuffed with food/cape). We just got unlucky/naive in sending the group on while Eric and I fixed punctures, before realising that we were the two who were already low on supplies.
Naturally, once it dried up we didn't have any more problems and the posh new tubes are now safely tucked away in my vault, waiting for the assessor to come and value them for insurance purposes.
Naturally, once it dried up we didn't have any more problems and the posh new tubes are now safely tucked away in my vault, waiting for the assessor to come and value them for insurance purposes.
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