Club Run to Pevensey Bay Cafe
Sunday 1st September by Paget Cohen
Another bright sunny start, but with a distinct chill in the air when I fetched the Giant out of the shed I nipped back in for arm-warmers and I was jolly glad I did. No Wandering hares for this tortoise to chase this week, but a veritable throng awaited outside Boots including Brett proudly astride his new Defy 2 Advanced and Terry, whose Da Rosa escaped a high speed spill down Dewlands Hill with nary a scratch, but couldn't avoid a rack falling off the wall of his garage putting a dent in it's top tube. No Peter Baker so just a regular dozen headed up Bird-in-Eye, round the back of Framfield and down to Pounsley. The climb to Sharlands strung the bunch out and disappointingly we said goodbye to Dr Stu at the main road as he was having trouble breathing - physician heal thyself.
Rather than risk losing one of us or himself to the lure of The Star at Waldron Ian had us swing left back to Rosers Cross then a right to approach Hanging Birch Lane from the North avoiding Lions Green for a (pleasant) change. With a range of abilities among us Ian found himself drifting back and forth along the line trying to keep us all together. Despite, or perhaps because of, this the general pace seemed high and led to numerous occasions when those in the vanguard tried to second guess or dictate the route only to have to turn around and chase the straggling bunch who had turned off somewhere. Skirting the Vines Cross suburbs the arm-warmers could be dispensed with as we made for Cowbeech and Trolliloes and I took the opportunity to chat with the our guest for the day. Clad in an all-black Sky/Garmin combo and aboard a shiny Boardman shod with tri-bars + yellow-edged Ultremos was Hugh from Shoreham who was looking for regular club runs and maybe some competitive riding.
Once in Bodle Street Green the customary left into the still pot-holed Prinkle Lane, up Bray's Hill and down to the foot of the Hardriders prime. I've never liked riding the climb up to the A271, still less the sectional nature of the main road, much preferring the undulating lane from Boreham Street through to Wartling. Across the levels the inevitable chain-gang ensued; despite the designation of our equipment Brett and I were unable to Defy the laws of physics, I personally losing touch when the bunch spotted a lone Eastbourne Rover ahead and accelerated to overtake. The tempo eased to Norman's Bay and slowed to a walking pace as the level-crossing was closed to road traffic.
The Ocean View Cafe was as good and busy as ever and, despite other concurrent events, our numbers were swelled by more Wanderers for a more leisurely ride back across the levels to Rickney. One room for improvement (literally) at the tea stop would be that for the little boys; whether a reluctance to make use of such facility was to blame for Mark calling us all to stop for him to take a comfort break I don't know, but Darren kept us entertained by being the one to fail to unclip.
Against the wishes of some we didn't head up Cricketing Lane; if we had we might have avoided an oncoming Audi TT by slightly more than the inches that transpired. Nico had been experiencing mysterious niggles with his Guerciotti all ride and by now Hugh's steed had come out in sympathy an unidentified noise of it's own. Not that we were in a hurry, but rather than cross Hailsham Midgo and I turned right at Hellingly to enjoy a quiet 2up chat back through Grove Hill, Vines Cross (again) and Old Heathfield to just miss out on the metric ton, but with no complaints.
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