Here's this week's news & reports...

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RIDE REPORT by Laurence
London to Brighton - One Week Late 28/06/09

20 cyclists met at E Croydon Station benefiting from a £7.50 group
saver return fare to Brighton. The contingency plan, should anyone not
be able to get onto the train to Horley was to get the first train to
Gatwick where the group would meet. Everyone gets on the Horley train.

One more cyclist on a 2 wheel recumbent met the group at Horley
Station. We followed Route N21 passed the end of the Gatwick runway
and the Beehive Building just north of Crawley.

To avoid Crawley and the stop start progress trying to follow the
cycle routes with a large group of cyclists, a small detour around the
east side of Crawley on quiet country rounds was made. A little more
traffic was encountered cycling back west passed Three Bridges Station
to find the Tilgate Forest cycle route. A very short section of
pedestrian path has to be used to continue along the cycle route and
then more pedestrian paths to divert to the morning break at the
Tilgate Forest Golf Centre.

After the break the pedestrian paths across a number of golf course
fairways was used to rejoin the cycle route where it crosses over the
M23. A short section of sandier but dry path leads through Tilgate
Forest to a quiet road which leads west to Pease Pottage. Cycling
south along the old Brighton road parallel to the very busy A23 leads
to Handcross and we see larger numbers of cyclists, many of whom are
participating in the Capital to Coast (C2C) Charity Cycle Ride.
Cycling across to the west of the A23 we join the C2C route north of
Warninglid and follow the C2C signed route for a while towards Bolney.
Members of the PHC group marshal the cyclists at a road junction
making sure the PHC riders make the turn towards the lunch stop at the
Eight Bells in Bolney. The Eight Bells has a big garden with big
umbrellas providing shade, the food is very nice and reasonably
priced, the service good and efficient.

After lunch we quickly rejoin the C2C route which this year is using
slightly wider country roads than the 2008 route. By pure coincidence
the new C2C route from Bolney to Devil’s Dyke is the one planned for
the PHC group. There is some high milky cloud and a few drops of very
light rain giving some welcome relief from the warm temperatures. This
year’s C2C route uses the country roads west of and parallel to the
A23 through Twineham. At the bottom of Newtimber Hill the long climb
up towards Devil’s Dyke on roads closed to motor traffic spreads the
PHC group out which meant a puncture repair at the bottom of the hill
didn’t hold up the group as a whole. After the big climb we met at the
top of the South Downs ridge by the Dyke Golf Club. Looking south
Shoreham power station and Brighton are clear to see. 5 PHC riders
decide to leave the group and ride to Brighton Station, the rest of
the group cycle the short distance “off course” to the Devil’s Dyke
Pub on the north side of the South Downs ridge. Just before you reach
the pub you can actually see the Devil’s Dyke on the right hand side,
most didn’t see it as they battled head down up the hill just 20
minutes earlier.

Now at the highest point on the ride we are at over 700ft above sea
level. The visibility isn’t perfect, but you can still see the North
Downs in the distance. Most of the PHC cyclists buy ice creams from
the van which is there nearly every Sunday even in the winter. One of
the group finds out how inefficient the service in the pub is, taking
about 15 minutes to get served a drink. There are no Hang Gliders or
Paragliders flying today probably because the wind is blowing in the
wrong direction. In the last 2 months the National Trust has
introduced pay and display parking at Devil’s Dyke, which I think is
very unfair to the Flying Club members who are there throughout the
year whenever there is a north westerly wind blowing. The NT were
trying to ban the Flying Club despite the fact the Flying Club have
been flying there since the early 70s before the NT gained control of
this small piece of ground.

From Devil’s Dyke it’s almost downhill all the way to Brighton.
Leaving the Devil’s Dyke Road onto the Hangleton and Hove Cycle Route
28 we make sure the C2C riders don’t follow us as we take the scenic
route passed the Brighton & Hove Golf Course towards Brighton. There
is one short but steep climb on this cycle route after it crosses the
A27. Then there is one awful short section where the undergrowth is
almost blocking the route and we then have to cross a busy road.
Further downhill we eventually find the cycle lane running alongside
The Drive and Grand Avenue to the seafront. The group splinters as
some stay for chips other find a tea stop and others find the railway
station.

35 miles in 7 hours. See the pix on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157620581537005
or
http://tinyurl.com/phc054

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PHC WEBSITE

Our URL was up for renewal so I took the opportunity to add on a
hosting package. For the past year or so, the site has been kindly
hosted for free by Jez but it's also coincided with the site being
hacked and blocked by Google, local councils etc etc. I asked a couple
of weeks ago if anyone was having problems and there are still some
who can't access our website. I'm hoping that having a new home might
help that problem to go away.

Unfortunately, the move wasn't as smooth as I might have hoped and it
took 48hrs, during which time a holding page appeared. It's now
working fine so I'm keen to hear from anyone who can't access the
site, which errors you receive and where you were trying to access it
from. If possible (and you don't get fired doing it), it would be nice
to know if it loads on your work computer, especially if you work for
a large company. If you get an error, write it down and forward to me.

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NEXT WEEK

First up it's the first Saturday of the month so there's a half day
Saturday morning ride. We simply ride out at the same pace as a normal
ride to one of our regular cafe stops and then ride back, hopefully
using some great local routes on the way out that you might not have
known before. 9:30 from Pollards Hill and back by 1:00pm. Destination
a surprise!

On Sunday, we're riding the under-promoted Jubilee Greenway route with
Bromley Cyclists. It's a full loop of central London and the East End
Olympic venues, making as much use of parks and river paths as
possible. Because it's a walking and cycling route and it's likely to
be sunny in the middle of summer, we may well opt to not do the
Southbank bit and use NCN4 on the roads instead as it will be jammed
with pedestrians. Lunch will be near ExCeL at a pub we know can take
big groups and morning and afternoon stops will have to be based on
numbers. The ride could take a while to complete if there are hundreds
of us although it's pretty much flat which generally helps to keep
rides moving. Be at Mitcham Eastfields at 9:30 to jump on a train or
meet us at Victoria at 10am near the main ticket office.

Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189

http://www.pollardshillcyclists.org.uk
http://www.southlondoncyclists.org.uk