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@Oliver Schick
Right, just got home about half an hour ago. Dropout and I did a couple of extra miles. I'm clocking out at 107 very hilly miles, hopefully not too much to rest fully before the DD there and back next week-end.
Going up to Ditchling Beacon from Brighton was sooo much easier than from Ditchling. Much steadier climb, much less steep. Ice cream at the top. Brilliant. Down to Lindfield for a nice pub stop with a late lunch. Then a tear down to Gatwick at quite a clip, hill, downhill, hill ...
Train at Gatwick at 5:17 to London Bridge.
Thanks to all who came! I could hardly believe it when forty-odd people turned up. Some had to bail early: James (Ed's brother) and his mate Oli got in a cab at Reigate owing to bike problems; Daniel, Esther, and the chap on the blue Gios (as opposed to Marco's white Gios)--sorry, I think I've met you before but I've forgotten your name--stayed at Gatwick. Thanks for coming along, guys, and I hope you enjoyed the portion of the ride you were on! A scare at the beginning that Will might not be able to continue, but fortunately he could.
Huge thanks to Andrew for the excellent spoke cards, Damo and Guy for backstopping, and everybody for being in such good spirits!
My only regret is not starting the ride at 10pm--midnight was an interesting experiment, but the next time I'll revert to a time that doesn't get us into pub closing time traffic and that gets us to Gatwick in the dead of night rather than when a horde of people stampede to their planes.
Ah, Gatwick: It's a shame that the goods lift trick doesn't seem to work so well any more, and that the ramp to upstairs was closed for works. At any rate, we'd probably have been in the way given how busy the terminal concourse was.
And only two punctures all night--that's fantastic and shows how well-prepared everybody was. Brilliant. It avoided a lot of delay.
Highlights--roasting in the sun up the Beacon, of course--one of the most brilliant and memorable mornings ever. I now have an extremely silly cyclist's tan on my arms. Vegetating on the beach in Brighton. Back up to Ditchling Beacon with John and ice cream on top. Looking back at the long line of lights following throughout the night. The beautiful lanes--Coulsdon Lane, Lonesome Lane, Slugwash Lane. Fantastic passage along those. Descending Reigate Hill at 38.5mph, like Marco. The only funny drunks all night were those in Reigate on the hill out of town, having their backs turned to us and turning around just as we were coming up and freaking out. Patient, friendly, and efficient cafe staff at the Izzy Cafe in Brighton when we descended on them.
Extra special thanks to moth for tightening my crank bolts without the aid of a torque wrench and tentative diagnosis of pitted bearing races. I'll be following that up.
And all the beautiful bikes we had along on the ride. And Toby flying up Ditchling in 48x16--watch those knees, mate! Fantastic effort.
Small lowlights--loads of road kill, including a deer. Gatwick confusion--but no major problem.
Loved it!