2014.11 November

FGCC rides in November 2014

Saturday 1st November 08.00am ride
RK, PT, JR, RT
Initial decision to ride to Henfield as we had not been there for a while and JR could collect his car from outside a pub in Steyning – taxi home the previous evening had been necessary!
However due to time constraints we cycled over to Steyning via Cissbury, SDW and down to Mouse Lane for a well earned brek at Truffles.
JR parted company and the reduced peleton headed off to Shoreham via Church Rd, Roman way and the Downslink. New section to avoid the suicidal crossing of the A283 not yet opened – hopefully soon and we can ride it and give the official FGCC seal of approval.
Over the old toll bridge, round the airport and along the sea front into a strongish wind to finally justify the brek and back up to Findon via the gallops.
22 miles.

Saturday 8th November 08.00am ride.
JR, RK, RT.
The usual debate on a route was brought to an abrupt step when RK enquired about the Henfield route and JRAnd RT instantly said “Henfield it is then”.
Cissbury car park, top of Llama lane, Langmead and the concrete road for an inspection of the PT2 memorial. A passer-by asked if RT had “been caught short” as he came out of the bushes, clearly suspicious of our presence there. It being Remembrance weekend it was deemed necessary to recite the FGCC ode, but the passer by, did an about turn and came past us again with a friendly but quizzical greeting, necessitating a short delay to the proceedings.
Onwards and round to Bramber castle with the intention of heading on to the Downslink to Henfield, but JR suffered a blasteet at the roundabout there. The tube repaired but it appeared to refuse to inflate, with RT’s pump being suspected as being ineffective, so we switched to JR’s Christmas cracker pump, but that did not work either. Then the valve fell off as we were disconnecting his pump, so the valve became the suspect and was reinstalled. However the same problem occurred with the tube inflating a little then suddenly deflating. On closer inspection we found a large gash at the base of the valve assembly. JR’s spare seemed to be more like a road tyre but at least it could inflate and we were able to proceed.
Due to the delay we decided to test out the Wiston tea rooms for a brek, getting there via Roman rd, Church St, and high street in Steyning, then towards Ashurst, along Spithadle lane and to Wiston. An excellent brek and return to Findon via Llama lane.
Total 18 miles

Saturday 15th November Team Vicar Trek ‘n Brek
ZA, RK, MA, RT
Route up to the tank for a quick inspection. Down across the fields and Wepham Down up to the trig point. Along Upper Barpham and through the Angmering Park Estate to Hammerpot. Under the A27 and into Angmering, across the golf course, the A259 and to the vicarage in Rustington for a marvellous brek served up by Mrs A. Mr Mead appeared for the brek and took the seat at the head of the table to treat us to a sermon on his favourite subject. Mrs Avery also spared some time from her global travels to put in an appearance.
Afterwards the group visited Blazing Saddles to investigate Cube bikes as alternatives to increasingly expensive Specialized. A couple of bikes tested and RT and ZA were tempted by a couple of carbon framed options.
Return home via A259 and A24 due to time?
Total 20 miles?

Saturday 22nd November 08.00am ride
RK, TK, MA, RT
RT arrived on his new carbon frame FSR steed but puzzled to find nobbly bits on his tyres. Discussion about it being second hand but in excellent condition, but RK commented that it was clearly second hand because the stem was “makeshift”!
Route up Cissbury, over to the Steyning Road, down to Coombes Farm. Down the road to the A27, round the airport and onto the seafront to Worthing. Grand Avenue, W.Worthing crossing, T A’Beckett. salving ton, Mill Lane, the Gallops and back to the village for a brek at Julia’s.
Total 22 miles.