London to Brighton Cyle Ride 2006

Two old codgers at 05:10 in Brighton

Clan Salter sporting trendy cycling gear

Waiting for the "not a race" to start

Some fine athletes

The problem of a wearing a hydration pack

And this is what happens when you wear a rucksack

Father and Son bonding

A fit cyclist

Tea rooms before Ditching Beacon

Tactical planning meeting

Any chance of these reaching the top of Ditchling Beacon?

The top of Ditchling Beacon

Jess (well coordinated in black & red) and Alan (a little blue number)

A poser

A knackered old chap

Taking on fluids

Almost there

The ride was a breeze

Stomachs in chaps

Karl and Kris supporting a tired old chap

What a team

On Sunday 18th June, I participated in the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride, along with my brother in law Keith, his sons Kris and Karl, and about 26,996 other cyclists. My sister Diane had some months earlier secured entries for all us, and did a lot of organisation on the day… well you can’t trust men to organise anything.

On Saturday afternoon I loaded my bike into the back of my car and headed for Keith & Diane’s house in Peacehaven just outside Brighton. I had originally planned to travel down by train to Brighton, but earlier in the week I had failed to obtain a confirmed reservation from Virgin trains for my bike. Saturday evening, we went to Kris’s house in Brighton to drop off the food and drink for the end of ride BBQ, and our return route just happened to take us near The Swan Inn at Falmer, so we stopped for a pre ride planning nightcap.

On Sunday morning we rose at 04:30, had a slice of toast, and shortly before 05:00 Diane drove us to Brighton. Keith tried to ring Kris, but he inadvertently rang Karl who seemed to appreciate the wake up call. We had a bet as to who would be last to turn up, and my apologies to Karl for incorrectly nominating him. At 05:20 we joined the queue to load our bikes onto a transport van, and boarded a Double Decker for our pre booked journey to Clapham Common. We left Brighton around 05:45, and Karl and Keith dozed most of the way to London, but Doug and Kris were wide awake and raring to go.

We arrived at Clapham shortly after 07:00, unloaded our bikes and cycled to the start arena. The weather looked perfect for cycling, blue skies and a light cool breeze. I was amazed by the display of trendy cycling gear, and noticed that nearly every cyclist wore a helmet which certainly would not have been the case a few years ago. Even the old chap of our team had made the effort with his trendy Lycra shorts (I assume without banana), cycling gloves, dark shades, but his shirt failed his fashion statement.

Having made use of the loos, we joined the “07:00 start gate” queue. Kris, Karl and Doug had been allocated 07:00 start times, but for some reason Keith had a 07:30 start time. Keith went off and obtained permission to start from the 07:00 gate, but when the card stamping official for our queue refused to stamp Keith’s card, we knew there was only going to be one winner in this stand off and it was not going to be the official.

At 07:45 we finally started the “not the race”, and headed off through streets of South London. There were a surprising number of spectators so early on a Sunday morning, and the ride marshals and police cheerfully directed the mass of cyclists along their way. When we entered Carshalton, Doug realised that we would be passing within a couple of miles of his daughter Kathy’s flat in Sutton. The three Salters demanded that Doug ring her to arrange an early morning breakfast detour, but Doug resisted and so we left Kathy to her slumbers.

Our route through South London bought us to the first of sixteen official rest and refreshment stops at Woodmansterne Village Hall. A feature of the day would be the old chap demanding that we take advantage of the rest points, but with only 10 miles under our belt he was overruled by the young Turks, so on to our first testing hill. As we did not have a map of the route, merely a route planner which showed the terrain profile and distances for the various rest stops, I had no idea of the name of this hill but assumed it was part of the North Downs.

When we reached the second rest stop at Chipstead Rugby Club, the temptation of a bacon and sausage bap washed down with coffee or tea was far too much to resist. We had cycled approximately 13 miles, and the sweat was showing on the tee shirts of the youngest and oldest members of the team. Doug was then persuaded to carry Karl's sweat producing rucksack in his pannier, thanks Karl. The forecast was for a hot (28c) day, but it looked as though the breeze and some clouds would make for good cycling conditions. Fully refreshed, it was time to hit the road again and enjoy the downhill stretch from Fanny’s Farm Shop to Nutfield Marsh.

After Nutfield Marsh there was the second major hill of the ride, followed by a downhill stretch passing the Dog & Duck rest stop. The idea of glass of lemonade at the pub was very tempting but these fine athletes just kept on cycling. We did though stop at Burstow Scouts as Karl had somehow got ahead of the pack so a regroup was necessary. It was then downhill to The Hedgehog Inn followed by Crawley Down before tackling Turners Hill. It was a hot slog to the top, but there was the promise of the downhill stretch to the South Downs via Ardingly Showground, Walstead Place, Slugwash Lane, Hundred Acre Lane, Ditchling Common and Ditchling Village.

The journey so far had been somewhat stop/start due to the sheer number of cyclists and the need for the marshals to manage road crossing and dangerous downhill sections. We did see a couple of causalities along the way, but hopefully they were only cuts and bruises. The roadside was though littered with people mending punctures, making cycle repairs and adjustments, or just knackered cyclists having a rest.

We had decided to have our lunchtime stop within a few miles of Ditchling Beacon. Kris had been in mobile contact with some friends behind us on the ride, and so we selected The Royal Oak at Jocab’s Post at the north end of Ditchling Common. We retired to the shade of the garden, ordered our ploughman’s and ginger pop, and watched the world cycle bye. Kris’s friends Alan & Jess soon joined us, and we all discussed tactics for the ascent of Ditchling Beacon. Doug then distributed the team tee shirts which were to be worn for the rest of the ride. Apologies to Kris for the red eye picture on the tee shirt, but I am informed that you often look like this after a night out.

We could delay the alpine switchback ascent of Ditchling Beacon no longer. Alan & Jess lead the way, Kris and Karl were confident of cycling to the top, and Doug and Keith watched from a distance as the younger cyclists started their ascent. Keith, the only sensible member of the team, was adamant he would walk up the hill. Doug, fortified by 2 pints of ginger pop, decided to see how far he could make it without reverting to walking.

I am not certain whether Alan & Jess cycled or walked, or both, but I am sure they ascended with great style. I am pleased to report that Kris and Karl just breezed up the hill; well those were Kris’s words as I never even got near them. Kris did comment on how Karl rode it in a higher gear, thus ignoring the pre race instructions we received from Lance Armstrong. Doug followed some way behind, and amazed himself by making it the top without stopping or dismounting, and with the great pleasure of passing many young cyclists with trendy gear who could not hack the hill. Keith was true to his words.

We spent some time on the top of the Beacon, taking in the view, drinking water, and phoning ahead to our support crew to let them know our ETA at Brighton. It was then heads down for the exhilarating downhill ride into Brighton. This is probably the most dangerous stretch of the ride, with long fast stretches and cyclists keen to make the finish. Unscathed we arrived at Brighton and joined the mass of cyclists queuing for the final straight. We crossed the finishing line at 16:10, collected our medals and met our support team of Diane, Anneke and Kira. We had an excellent BBQ on Brighton Beach organised by Diane, and were joined by Alan & Jess.

An excellent day, good company, great organisation by BHF and Diane, a well pampered support team courtesy of Diane, see you all next year.

Doug.

M7 cycling club http://m7cyclingclub.blogspot.com/

# posted by M7 Cycling Club @ 8:46 AM 1 comments