White Chalk Hills UCX

I'd seen mention of the ride on Twitter but it was Tom Glandfield's post on the forum that made me look at the event in a little more detail.

http://velomorpha.com/2012/11/03/white-chalk-hills-ucx/

So basically a 46 mile ride from Eastbourne on 'cross friendly' terrain, no organisation, no rules, no need to enter, just turn up and ride.  I liked the simplicitity of it and with 3 days of child care to contend with I knew I'd be keen to get out on the bike.

As many of you will recall the weather in the run up to the event (30th December) was properly grim, there was rain, more rain and a bit more rain.  The wet I could cope with but it was the wind that was bothering me most, especially at 3 in the morning the night before when it was battering the house.

I set the alarm nice and early but it was still windy and I couldn't fancy getting out of bed, until at the very last minute the wind died down and I just had time to grab a bowl of porridge and head down the road to meet Tom who had kindly offered to give me a lift to the start.

We met Rob and mopped about at the start waiting for something to happen, there was a map on the shop front of the thetristore.com which I tried to commit to memory, but despite knowing the area well I couldn't,   opting instead to use the garmin on the bars for navigation for the first time.

The town hall clock rang out for 9am and we went no-where, eventually heading out at 10 past following the usual amount of pre-ride banter.

We rode in a pretty big group before, after just a few minutes we hit the first big hill and the group stared to break up, I stopped for the longest wee in history and by the time I was back on the bike was right at the back and my womble companions had disappeared off up the off- road.

The climb out of Eastbourne was pretty steep but relatively short, lucky for me a big guy from Devon was happy to tow me over the next exposed off-road section past Beachy Head and along the road.  I tried to give him a turn or two but he was far too strong and came straight past.

We made contact with Rob and Tom who were out in front and for a while we rode together, at this point it was pretty clear that (as expected) Rob and Tom were fit, much fitter than me.

Across more exposed windy fields and we entered Friston Forest, I was hoping for some swoopy singletrack but it was all fireroads, still good though.  It was early in the ride but I was beginning to pay the price of holding on to Rob and Tom with legs that were rapidly becoming dead.

We rode out of Friston up the road to Seaford missing the control and passed Tom's house where Tom had managed to get his family out with drinks and food - best bit of the ride by far.  I imagined the response I'd get if I suggested to my wife that she might like to do something similar!

Refreshed we headed off for the next section which was to be a muddy affair, we met with Sam Ramsey and our little group began to split up again, with Rob way out in front, Tom hanging back for me and Sam and I riding about the same pace.

We rode towards Bo-Peep before turning left and heading across a bumpy radish field, I started to lose my sense of humour at this stage, Sam kindly held back for me, holding the gates open and the like but eventually he left me too.  The riding was okay but the nagging head wind was really taking its toll.

At this point the rain of recent weeks was causing problems, the ground was slippery, traction was a problem and there were some long climbs and other bumpy sections where it was impossible to ride.  After a while it started to feel like I was taking my bike out for a walk, all this time I was getting closer to home and I was less than 5 (head wind) miles from home.  I had purposefully left nothing in Tom's car in case the desire to head home proved too much.

Tom and Rob returned from the control at the top of Itford Hill and I mentioned I was heading home, Rob was sympathetic to my suggestion, so after a break neck descent down Beddingham Hill we all headed back to Eastbourne together.

At this point I should mention bikes, my very limited understanding of UCX was it was a big ride for cyclo cross riders, I really enjoy riding my cross bike so I was on that, though I found the gearing too high (or low I can never remember which way round it is).  Tom was making the ride even harder on his singlespeed cross bike and Rob was riding a bike that actually suited the terrain and the conditions (A Giant 29er).

I was grateful for a few metres of smooth tailwind assisted tarmac along the A27, before we had a decision to make, the ride included 3 optional summits, Firle Beacon, Bo Peep and a new one I hadn't ridden before (that's a lie I didn't even know existed).  Not making the climbs would result in a 10 minute penalty, Rob as competitive as ever had worked out it would be quicker to miss them out, Tom was in a rush to get back so missed them out and I my legs were barely going round so I didn't even consider riding them.

We did however ride along the Old Coach Road behind Firle, a route I have never ridden before and it was superb.  It was muddy and wet but great fun (cant wait to ride it in the dry) it also helped we had a tailwind at this stage.  For the first time in the whole ride I took to the front and promptly got a puncture. It was a pretty swift change before more mud and a horrible push up hill behind Alfriston.  Tom had waited for me to change my tube and I was amazed at how quick he could walk up hill, he left me for dead quicker than if we were riding.

The decent to Alfriston was interesting on a cross bike before we rode through the flood waters and up the South Downs Way behind the Long Man before heading off on a random zig zag of bridleways I had never ridden before.

Through Jevington along the South Downs Way and one final and truly horrific zig zag into the back of East Dean, at this point I was in real trouble, and the climb back up to the Eastbourne golf course was harsh on bumpy grass, just as I thought I could go no further the grass turned to concrete and the pace lifted a little as did my spirit.

A quick descent brought us into Eastbourne where I was met by Tom who whisked me off to the car as he had another appointment to get too.

All in a great ride, a really great event and a superb concept.  It dawned on me days later that the event appeared to have been entirely arranged through social media, twitter and the like, something to think about for the club.

I enjoyed so much I went out the following week to nail those 3 extra climbs and vowed 2 things:
1.  To ride the route again in the 'summer' (if we ever have one).
2.  To think about organising a similar event in the name of the club.

Huge thanks to all those that made the arrangements.  Suggestion is that they are going to repeat the event in September - I suggest you ride it, its going to become a classic.