If your feeling charitable, heres a good cause.....

From Ashley Leaney - 

I've just had my 5th monthly chemotherapy cycle and have one more to go. Oddly, despite horrible side effects, I've kept all my hair and it's currently longer than it's been since 1996 so I've decided to ask people to sponsor me to shave it all off at a date to be arranged - possibly in the new year. Following which, I'm hoping to get back on the bike! Trying to be positive.

I'm doing it in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support who nursed my sister a few years back, have already given me some assistance and whose help I will doubtless need at some point in the future.

People can donate at:  www.justgiving.com/ashleyleaney

or by texting:  TOSH52  followed by either  £1, £2, £3, £4, £5  or  £10   to  70070

Thanks in anticipation.

Cheers,

Ashley

Reg Porter Trophy - Round 1

Reg Porter Competition Round 1 : Tourist Trail

Sunday 10th November 2013

A bright sunny day greeted our contestants, but with a distinct nip in the air I was glad I wasn't going to have to fumble with pencil and paper out on the road.  Twelve plucky souls (plus Nico along for the ride) assembled for the 9 o'clock start with Mr McGuckin noticeably keen to hare off before anyone could grab his wheel and take advantage of his navigational skills as per the norm on a Sunday morning.  Only Graham Jeffs took the time to consider the challenge before clipping in so it was little surprise to me that the first competitors I should come across, as I set off to enjoy the roads less travelled, were him and the late-starting John Miller desperately seeking Potters Green.  Ahead at the junction with the A272 I encountered a more confident Paul Gibbons, then John again in a valley as I headed back towards Blackboys.  Beyond there I saw but Micky T, Terry (& Nico) at Lions Green before I assumed my seat by the door in the Dicker cafe.

Terry arrived with 10 minutes to spare having obviously given in to the cold judging by his half-finished answer sheet, but he had picked up Midgo by way of consolation.  I counted them all out and I counted them all back with only Mr Miller incurring a penalty for lateness to the tune of 5 minutes.  To his credit, whether he guessed it or not, he was the only one to get the Hale Green sign that had no other mileage references to help, but also the only one to fail to bag the Palehouse Common sign 50metres from his home!  Nobody ever did find the sign for Potters Green nor follow me through Chalvington where they would have found the sign for Ripe.  Worst guess was more likely a misreading or misunderstanding as, even at the pace he rides, I doubt Rob P was at any point 17 miles from Hawkhurst Common;  he was however clearly the only one to make it as far South as Arlington Reservoir and yet somehow returned to the Dicker without logging the sign 500 yards from the finish, although 3 others failed here also!

As evidenced by the closeness of the final scores, and the similarity in their answers, several of our competitors almost certainly rode together and their strategy may well have paid off had they a) not been delayed helping Dr Stu heal a puncture, or b) managed a single correct guess amongst them.  As it was the man with the winning combination of local knowledge and hard-riding ability was Mr Gibbons, just pipping Ian McG + Mr Jeffs, with the awesome foursome a further point behind.  Without his time penalty Mr Miller would have been mid-table and not left Rob adn Micky quite so well placed ahead of the free-wheeling.  Chairman Slow failed to cover himself in glory, but was still pondering whether the marks for the Tourist Rail should be weighted next year in light of it's demands, and at least he took part and is thus still in the running for this.

1st Paul Gibbons 13

=2nd Graham Jeffs 12

=2nd Ian McGuckin 12

=4th Stuart Anderson 11

=4th Brett Davis 11

=4th Alan Lloyd 11

=4th Mark Longhurst 11

=8th Rob Pelham 6

=8th Micky Turner 6

10th Terry Everest 5

11th Chris Martin 3

12th John Miller 2*

* including 5 points deducted for lateness.

SDW - The long awaited part 3 !!!

Day 3 : Saturday 13^th July

A warm night and another hot sunny day in prospect.  We were joined over breakfast of variety pack cereal (2 each!), boiled eggs, toast, coffee and pain au chocolat by Steve who intended to ride the leg on his sister's MTB.  The key fob that yesterday opened the van's rear doors today decided to sound the horn which didn't endear us to the few neighbours to Telscombe YH so we clambered in through the side door and headed back to Devil's Dyke.  Our ranks were further swelled by Tom, another ex-schoolmate whose diminutive stature plus lightweight Specialized led me to believe we may have company at the front.

The joy of the downhill start was short-lived as even I had to dismount and walk part of the first climb out of Saddlescombe and Kevin punctured over the top.  It took so long to fix that the lady dog-walker I passed on the descent to Pyecombe re-passed those of us waiting across the A23 and we didn't catch her up until after Jack and Jill.  By which time the path was, as expected, swarming with other users and it was clear that, while Tom could ride comfortably with Laurence and the Simons, Steve was going to struggle to go the distance.  At Ditchling Beacon car park Phil and I had such an advantage that we had time to treat ourselves to ice creams, if not to consume the evidence before the others appeared.  Shortly afterwards we were overtaken by a solo MTBer and my latent competitive spirit awoke and caused me to hare after him, presuming that the others couldn't possibly get lost up on the ridge.

Black Cap arrived all too quickly from my perspective, but I had to stop as here we were due to surrender the high ground.  Tom boldly led the way only to miss the left turn and have to double back up the hill to rejoin our route.  With my recurring (Granny) gear selection problems I'm not sure I could have ridden up through the Bunkershill Plantation woods anyway, but an oncoming party of schoolchildren made my mind up for me.  Roger, Robin and the van were waiting in the lay-by by the bridge over the A27 so we stopped for sandwiches, fruit and drinks.

Once over the dual-carriageway any chance I had of scaling the initial climb was scuppered almost before I began by my recalcitrant front changer forcing me to get off to change down by hand, but it did give me the chance to then stretch my legs and I was still first to the top.  The bone-shaking surface once the grass ran out left fleeting chance to enjoy the views, unlike the long wait for the stragglers atop Swanborough Hill.  The run back down into the valley gave us more surface variety - from an ex-military road to cinders to vertiginous grass bank.

Waiting for us in the shadow of Southease Church were, not just the catering truck, but Roger, a keen cyclist in his youth, but now in his 70s, geared up to join us for the final 16 mile burst.  Once over the level-crossing and the hump-back bridge over the Beddingham Road I was determined not to be beaten by Itford Hill, and indeed I even retook the young lad and lass who'd passed us having lunch.  From the mast on Beddingham Hill I had the added advantage of familiar territory, but Phil and Kev kept me company to the last planned gathering in Alfriston.  Steve had informed us that he'd decided to call it a day here, but at least he arrived just in time to say goodbye in person.

Bouyed by my Itford success I tackled Windover Hill with gusto and aplomb with only a gate to check my progress.  Safe in the knowledge that Roger knew the trail I was freed from navigation duties and the PKP partnership pressed on.  By now I was impressing myself by how strongly I was riding, perhaps lured on by the impending prospect of a hot shower and meal, in fact on the climb out of Jevington my biggest foe was the mix of sweat and SPF50 running into my eyes meaning I could barely see the track.  I could just about make out Eastbourne too from the top, but it should appear more clearly in the, somewhat premature, triumphant group photo before the last blast down to the coast.  Phil's wife was there to meet us and give us a lift back to Heathfield.  Quick shower, change and beans on toast in time for, invited but non-riding, mates to give us a lift back to Eastbourne for a night on the lash until 1 - life in the old dog yet, even if I didn't make the next day's club run.

A fantastic experience which I'd thoroughly recommend, and I'm not just talking about the beers afterwards.  The SDW is raideable on a hybrid, never mind a suspension-free MTB, but is probably easier on a lightweight machine with at least front shocks - the Tri-Store Eastbourne has some of those very snazzy Cannondale Leftys with the single front fork - very tempting.  It can be ridden unsupported, but a support vehicle with food, spares and a friendly face to meet you at every road crossing is good for confidence and morale so long as you keep stops to a minimum.  Finally, as with most cycling, it's best done in the company of friends and riders of a similar ability;  Phil and Kev did tremendously well given their bikes and lack of experience and already we're discussing doing it again next year, perhaps in 2 days.

Club Run Report - 3rd Nov 2013

Club Run to Middle Farm, Firle

Sunday 3rd November by Paget Cohen

Having filled my Friday off with an 80 mile ride in the rain I'd had to pass up Mark Winton's offer of a Saturday MTB taster session in Stanmer Park in order to devote the time to cleaning the Marin again in preparation for Sunday.  To my surprise I opened the curtains to not just sunshine, but apparently dry roads and a chance to get back out on the Giant.  As I've reported before if I'm up early it almost guarantees I'll leave late and any attempt to make up time on the road was rendered impossible by a stiff headwind that had me churning a small gear just to maintain a sensation of making forward progress.

A large crowd awaited;  so much so that I won't name them even if I could, but suffice to say they were all cyclists and all male as an excited female jogger noted.  Terry had apparently already been for a ride so only joined us as far as the cinema while we held up traffic en route to Piltdown Pond.  Turning left opposite the church in Fletching we crossed the A275 just North of North Chailey, but rather than head downhill towards The Sloop those on the front at the time - Gibbo and Pete Morris (slumming it with the also-rans) had us turn back uphill to rejoin the main road just before the roundabouts.

Whilst it's always good to have such a healthy turnout on a club-run it's rare that a large group stays together for long.  If people aren't tailed off due to being differently-able then they can alternatively lose touch at junctions when others pull away ahead of approaching traffic.  We experienced the flipsides to these scenarios in the next few miles as crossing Wivelsfield Common those in the vanguard missed Ian's exhortation to take a left and had to double back and make chase;  then once together again and galloping South through Plumpton we passed the Winning Post only for Ian to have us hard a left onto a concrete farm track on which we encountered not a concrete cow, but a very much alive and startled horse that some of us thought best to give way to.

My gleaming white Giant may now have gained brown spots for effect (thanks Ian), but as no showers materialised I was happy with my choice to Defy the weather, unlike Brett who'd joined the winter-bike majority, but was consistently struggling to keep up on ill-fitting heavyweight.  At least we were now back on tarmac and with the wind supposedly behind us all the way back to the tea stop.  Having wended our way down to Cooksbridge we tacked North East to Barcombe then South East to Ringmer;  albeit dropping a handful as we pulled out onto the A26.  Never fear their loss had been noted and those ahead pulled in to wait once off the main highway.  That of course creates it's own hazards as Matt occupied the piece of road Mark L wanted to move into and left him only a muddy verge to bail out onto.

Once all back in the saddle we climbed past the wind turbine, regrouped past the opera house then made our way back to the Laughton Road where Pete bagged the sprint for the sign, although Dom claimed to be riding for a different sign - one for the stewards.  Into Middle Farm by the tradesmen's entrance to a further throng of Wombles drawn from far and wide by the mouth-watering morsels on offer.  Back on the road we lost some, but briefly gained others for the attempted chain-gang back to Golden Cross.  Once over the A22 Brett again started to wane so come Hale Green we let those Uckfield-bound go on and Ian, then Paul + myself took it upon ourselves to escort our comrade home.  54 dry and sunny miles in November - can't be bad.