2018-05-13 Let's ride to visit Murtle in Horsham

It's about time to visit Murtle ( @31trum ) again. For those who don't know him, he moved to Horsham a few years ago, and as the prophet needs to go to the mountain if the mountain won't come to the prophet, there is a need to visit him there.

We last did a ride on a Sunday and that seemed to work well:

https://www.lfgss.com/events/3411/

I suggest, having just spoken to Murtle, that we do Sunday the 13th of May. Obviously, if nobody can make that, we'd have to do another date, but as Murtle is away in late May and early June, it would mean quite a long delay.

I've set the departure time to 9 this time (at the Coach & Horses) instead of 10 as previously, as some people felt it would be more elegant to actually arrive at lunch at lunchtime rather than after lunchtime.

The ride should take about two and a half hours and we'll finish at the Malt Shovel in Horsham. They have decent pizza and it's a lovely family-run pub. Obviously, if someone local ( @Tadpole ?) has a different pub suggestion, let's hear it, but we were quite happy at the Malt Shovel the last time around. Train back later in the day.

You're very welcome to come along even if you don't know Murtle.

I've used the 'invite' feature to invite everybody who was along last time around or expressed an interest in the previous thread.

The route will be fixed-friendly except for one climb (Portnalls Road, which is not too bad) and one long and fast descent (Reigate Hill). Everything else will be very flat.

It's around 32 miles that way, although I could vary and lengthen the route a bit from last time if people wanted me to, e.g. there's a lovely route through Faygate Forest and St Leonard's Forest east of Horsham. It would mean we'd miss out on Old Holbrook, but it's a more than adequate replacement (and the run-in through Horsham would be shorter, though the route longer overall, probably around 35 miles, and hillier and less fixed-friendly in the last bit).

Nice one Oliver.

If you want a little bit out of town the the Forresters does great food (very near St Leonard's forest) or even better then Warnham is a very local village (couple of miles) the Sussex Oak there has a big garden if the weather's nice, a big table by the fire if it isn't and plenty of good food and beer. The Sussex Oak also means that you can go via Knob Hill (hee hee) to get there. Malt shovel is pretty good, if you want somewhere else close to the center then the Dog and Bacon has seating outside if the weather's good and you want to sit back and admire your bikes.

St Leonards forrest is lovely, great singletrack in there if you ever want to check it out, happy to do bit of a tour one day.

Tentative in. It was a really nice ride last year but I've got a flight to catch at the end of the afternoon so not sure if reasonable

What a nice idea.

I'm signed up but in terrible shape. Will try not to die on the way there.

@cgg - If you're flying from Gatwick it's only 10 miles from Horsham ;)

Thanks, Tadpole, that's great local knowledge! The main issue with a pub on the outskirts is that I think Murtle doesn't currently have an operational bike (hope that's changed).

The pubs' web-sites aren't particularly revealing except for the Sussex Oak's (not that I think pubs really need web-sites):

http://www.theforestershorsham.co.uk/

http://www.thesussexoak.co.uk/

http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/find-your-perfect-pub/dog-bacon

The main issue for me is getting some vegan food, which works OK at the Malt Shovel, but I don't mind where we go at all. If anyone has a strong preference, let us know.

Sadly, we probably wouldn't come down the A24 Dorking Road, which we would need to do to go to the Sussex Oak via Knob Hill.

St Leonard's Forest is lovely, great singletrack in there if you ever want to check it out, happy to do bit of a tour one day.

Put up a thread, perhaps in the Badgers section, and you're guaranteed to get some takers.

Great! Don't worry, we won't cane it, especially as we'll have an extra hour.

You can draft me at 11mph Chris!

You can draft me at 13mph Mash

Yes! This is getting hard core.

I may have something in the cave that I could lend to Murtle if you want to go for the out of town option. Happy to then lead back to Horsham station.

Happy to ask about vegan menus. The Smith and Western Steak house is probably out.

There is a Wagga Mammas in town that has outdoor seating on a nice day as an alternative too.

Yeah @31trum, are you up for that? Would be cool to ride with you a bit?

That's the thing, I'm flying from Heathrow. I'll probably sit out of this one :(

I can't make it. 'Tis the weekend I need to be in Poole. Have fun everyone, it's a great ride and there's a Murtle at the end.

You could always ride down, park your bike in my garage, train to Gatwick then transfer to Heathrow & collect your bike when you're back. How much do you want to go on the ride?

ooh, just seen this.
"I've used the 'invite' feature to invite everybody who was along last time around or expressed an interest in the previous thread"
... feature didn't work.
I've marked this in the calendar (in pencil)

@Oliver Schick I am an idiot. Forget what I said about the pubs. The 12th & 13th is the festival, come to the town center for the beer tent, street food (the regular Saturday market caters for vegan so I'm sure you'll be fine, worst case the Coach and Horses is a 5 minute walk) Medieval Jolity, traction engines, traditional fairground attractions, music (folk, rock, blues, rock and roll, choral)

You want to head for the Carfax, dead centre of town:

https://www.visithorsham.co.uk/location/Carfax

Ah, shame. Enjoy Poole!

Ah, I was wondering when you'd finally cotton on. :)

(No, I didn't realise this, either.)

Where's the Coach and Horses? I can't seem to find it. Is it a pub that does vegan food? Obviously, if it doesn't have a web-site, it's a pub after my own heart regardless. :)

This is the festival entry on the Visit Horsham web-site:

https://www.visithorsham.co.uk/community-engagement/horsham-english-festival

Sounds good.

I don't actually know how the 'invite' feature works, but I certainly invited you, just checked again. I expect you should have had some kind of notification, unless you've switched them off?

I don't actually know how the 'invite' feature works

I think it uses computer software code.

Sorry, meant the Mant Shovel but confused myself.

Malt Shovel