Last night, me and my mate Gilly took part in a London to Brighton ride for the Martlets Hospice in Hove. The event is organised by FNRTTC ( Friday Night Ride to the Coast). More info on FNRTTC and their upcoming events can be found here:

http://fnrttc.blogspot.com/

I rode my Specialized Tricross which has strange features like drop handlebars, yellow bar tape, mudguards and 23mm tyres. It could be classified as a road bike.

The meet up and sign on took place in a car park near Victoria and there was a buzzing atmosphere, plenty of bike & light fettling and news that the forecast was the best that the FNRTTC lot had had in the 6 years they’ve been organising events.

At midnight, the main group set off to a chorus of bleeps from GPS’s and lit by all manner of bike lights. Almost immediately we were crossing Chelsea bridge and passing Battersea power station and heading towards Clapham Common, Tooting and Mitcham. The first 7 or so miles through South London were ridden as a group at a controlled (i.e. slow-ish) pace.

It was entertaining to see what the local drunks made of a large group of cyclists riding through the night. There was some genuine interest in what, why & where but more generally just witty (?) banter or plain and simple abuse. There was also trouble outside a pub on route and some of the riders helped to restrain the main protagonist which was all slightly surreal.

The first half of the route was different to the BHF event. Near Coulsden, we had the first climb of the night and I fast ran out of gears. This section also saw the start of the mist which lasted for the rest of the ride! The first big down involved a blast (or do I mean a carefully controlled H&S conscious descent) down Reigate hill.

After Reigate, we took the rather appropriately named Lonesome Lane towards Horley which was really fast and smooth. It was then onto the wonderfully dubbed “Horley Badlands” which changed from road, to track to field with bumps and holes a plenty. My Hope light finally got “turned up to 11″ (ok it was setting 3 but that doesn’t work) on this section which worked a treat. This took us towards Copthorne and the all important first refreshment stop.

If you are going to puncture on an event it’s probably best that it happens 2 minutes and a gingerly ride from a sports hall laden with sandwiches, crisps, cake, fruit and tea & coffee. This was a very welcome sight and a great effort from the Martlett’s team. By 3am, the puncture was fixed, we were fed and watered and back on the bikes and heading for home

The route was now more familiar (Turners Hill, Ardingly, Lindfield & Wivelsfield) or would have been if you’d had any peripheral vision and it wasn’t rather misty. By this time Gilly and I were sharing the hard work and recovery by taking turns at the front and in the slipstream. Tiredness only really seemed to affect us when there wasn’t a rear light in the distance to chase down.

By now, the mind was playing funny games as at times it was difficult to work out if the roads were climbing, flat or dropping away and to judge how fast we were going. Gilly deserves a mention for playing it safe on Slugwash Lane, in particular the sharp and off-camber right-hander that has claimed many a victim on BHF rides.

All this led us to Ditchling and the foot of the Downs. Gilly said afterwards that I put in a concerted period of recovery that lasted for a whole 250 meters before the climb itself started. I ran out of gears by the second corner and it took every effort from the pair of us to reach the “Horses” warning sign that signals that the climb is almost over. I stopped at the top to text Clare whilst Gilly tried hard to not throw up. A blast down Ditchling Road took us back to the seafront and the GPS was stopped at 4:52 am with the seafront still in complete darkness.

After a classic recovery meal (Bacon and Egg bap and cup of tea) and one of the worst leg cramps I’ve ever suffered, we were back on the bikes for a slow ride back to Patcham. Finally, daylight was starting to break.

I love my ride stats, so here goes:

• Distance: 57.14 miles
• Elevation gain: 2,698 ft
• Elapsed time: 4:54:33
• Moving time: 3:56:48
• Average moving speed: 14.5 mph
• Top speed: 38.1 mph
• Number of breakfasts: 2 (3am and 5am)

I would definitely recommend the event and will do it again. The FNRTTC team deserve a mention for the great organisation and a big thanks to all the marshals etc that made it happen.

Finally, I hope the event raised a lot of well needed revenue for the Martlets Hospice. More info on their work here:

http://www.themartlets.org.uk/

From this Thursday 24th meeting place reverts to the Sports Centre.

Thursday nights – Middle Street, Falmer Village. Near the Swan pub. Parking is free and it is two minutes from the university. here

Saturday day rides  – Stanmer park car park near church. here

Sunday day rides  meeting point tba

Tuesday night ride – Meeting point is still at Sussex Uni Sports Centre car park (here). Free parking is a two minute ride away by the Swan Pub,  Middle Street, Falmer Village (here)

It was a slow, muddy climb even on the fireroad so perhaps the suggestion of climbing up the singletrack should have been accepted. The dew pond still looked frozen in the dark as we passed but the ground was squelching from the thaw. It seemed as if we had the place to ourselves probably because we had the place to ourselves. Apart from some hoofprints from a lone horse the place looked unused for days.

Only managed two of the jumps in the air and nearly stopped twice, pedalling and squirming in the mud. Luckily I managed to block everyone behind me. As my handle bar light had fell into the usual emotional huff at being turned on I was relying on my helmet light and a half used battery and beginning to struggle to see anything of the trail ahead. After two attempts we found the Witches Table and nobody had pulled a log this week so it was rideable but slippy. I got lost at this point as my 3000 candlepower helmet light had dimmed to about one. I followed the tail of the group through another trail “riding within the limit of my lights” as we used to say. This no longer applies if Jimbo is behind you as he utilises the output of a small lighthouse to cheat and ride in the daylight instead.

At the end I changed the battery and everyone else fumbled behind Neil. Quality Street. On the outside pocket of his packback.

Another trail that challenged all our tyres – there must be something that copes with mud and roots….

Climbing, climbing, climbing. Lumps and bumps.

“lets ride around this very dry trail!” Really muddy – as it had been almost ploughed by car wheels. Back into the dry of the tree cover. Not dry.

Slip, slide, catch, hope etc. but still fun. We had got spead out a little so re-grouped and agreed to head ever downwards. We had some turns about leading the group and everyone who went to the front seemed to find an extra gear to hustle throught the twists and turns. On one trail I pedalled the whole thing, even the corners, never braked and barely held on. We were going downhill the whole way as well.

For my New Year resolution, I will definately ride more often, and get fitter, and lose weight and…

A short loop around the ridgeline and a final trio to the bottom with an alternative finish to the usual. This strung us out a bit so as we reached the bottom the first rider turned for home. The remainder of us trundled back to the cars trying to spin the mud from our wheels. Unsuccessfully.

I had clipped an inexpensive camera  to my shoulder strap as a trial. From the pictures either a really big flash or a different camera may be required for night riding but anyway preserved for posterity my last ride of the year.

So at the end of the year thanks to everyone who guided, organised, rode lead, rode tail, marshalled, built, repaired, took photos or videos, wrote a ride report, reviewed a bike or helped in any way.

And to everyone who rode with us, thanks for coming along.

Bliadhna Mhath Ur

I am going to ride more..

Meet at University of Sussex sportscentre car park (check map on evening ride page), just off the A27 directly opposite Falmer station.

Roll at 10-30, pace up will be slow – please don’t expect a race as I’m suffering badly with asthema in the cold weather; however st will be at the usual fun pace!

Ride 2-3 hours singletrack followed by coffee and cake then a bit more singletrack to finish off.

Cheers

Directions

A great way to keep the winter mtb motivation is to ride with friends at a social pace with plenty of good humoured banter. This is exactly what the Quest Adventure rides are about, not  fast, nothing too technical and an opportunity to meet like minded folks out on their bikes. Everyone welcome.

More info from Dom@upgradebikes.co.uk