The wintage ride to Brighton

It was my first long, actually so long, ride. Even though it was raining most of the time and the hill was so high, it was a really great trip. Thank you everyone.

what a day, it was long and arduous, but we got there. my knee effing kills. cold weather. that was my first long ride since summer and boy did i feel it!

thank you very much to everyone for coming. as i mentioned to some i'm planning on doing another ride to oxford in january at some point so keep your eyes peeled.

in other news. as i got off my bike outside the pump house to meet my girlfriend i noticed that the 60 missed calls i had were to tell me i have a baby niece! can't wait to be uncle knobhead in 18 years time telling her for the 9273498th time 'you know what i was doing as you were being born?!'

Fun ride. Thanks to Jacob for organising and the coalition of various leaders for directing the way.

The Highs:
Getting up Ditchling fixed (74GI)
Great company

The Lows:
The rain coupled with lack of mudguards
Endeavouring to remain upright with the crosswinds at the top of Ditchling

The comedy:
Youramericanlover trying to emulate the gratuitous skids of Mash SF and then stacking it.
Sprinting to catch Bothwell and Lynx who flew past because they didn't know we had stopped in a pub; then having to sprint back to find out where Jacob and Benjam were!
Dancing James doing his bit for the Sussex ecosystem by regularly fertilising it with urine.

Thanks to James for leading this ride and the rest of you for the good cheer. Wouldn't say I had 'fun' but enjoyed the company and the chance to get in some miles. The rest was shambles (including my skidz).

Dancing James doing his bit for the Sussex ecosystem by regularly fertilising it with urine.
Glad to hear. Hate to think of the damage done to the atmosphere after he's eaten those wretched protein bars.

okay, so it wasn't a "fun day in the saddle" but I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be glad I did it. My feet are dry and cosy as I type.

UPs:
that bloody hill
didn't really rain (proper rain) till after Turners Hill
good trail finding by ben and james
lovely fish'n'chips at end
good company

DOWNs:-
that bloody hill
bloody rain
bloody wind

so on balance it wasn't too bad a day!

Sorry to have to say goodbye so prematurely to @bobbycutters
Jacob - thanks for organising others to lead

Not to self: must build up fitness, can't blame it on blood doning/wind/rain

Not the ideal conditions for the last ride of the year :)

what time did you guys arrive? Sorry to leave you at HH but the fading light and the fact I'd agreed to be home 2-3ish to spend some time with the other half meant it was a no-goer for me at that point. Disappointing as would have been fun to try the climbing gears on the beacon.

really gutted not to be with you yesterday.. those are my preferred weather conditions :)..
this thread needs pictures please.

A

^ don't think there'll be many pics.
^^ I know we were sat down in the restaurant at 4.30, I reckon we must have got to Brighton about 4pm. As for "fun to try the climbing gears on the beacon", I can tell you I didn't find any fun with just the one gear this time - had to stop 4 times

So the weather never going to be that great at the end of December, and it was kind of fun - well I feel a learned a lot:

• Take mudguards and overshoes even if certain forum members are insistent that it won't rain. Luckily the chairs at the fish and chip shop were wooden .
  
• Not to underestimate my Awesome Power on the hills - or at least carry a 15mm.Luckily I had learned my painful lesson to always wear gloves so my hands are no more skinned than before.
  
• Maybe I would be good at cyclocross - at least the bike carrying bit
  
• New facial expressions to convey 'unimpressed'. Thanks Dan.
  

Nice bumping into y'all - serendipity or what. Had to push on to get a few more Festive 500kms under the belt. Glad you got there safely.

Who made it in the end? I did the ROTFL course as it ended up back on my front doorstep, otherwise I'd have done this with you.

^ "ROTFL course"?

surely not the Rolling On The Floor Laughing course?

Rapha festive thing.

its the Ride of the Falling Leaves

I learn something new every day.

^ it's a good ride but not in jeans :)

I forgot to write anything about this. It was good fun, and a classic example of a chaotic forum ride...it feels like I haven't been on one for a while, so the punctures, getting lost and split up, the rain were all part of the fun.

The weather was a bit grim, and surprisingly few bedwetters! Given that some people said this was their first long ride, I think they did rather well to even make it out. I don't think I would have bothered going out in deepest darkest december for my first long ride.

Ditchling was fun; I managed to slog my way up towards DJ and then sucked his wheel to the top. It was freezing up there, the wind had even blown down the >>> signs. Descending the beacon by cover of a green range rover was probably pretty stupid, but fairly exhilarating. Getting hit slap in the face by a huge puddle kicked up by oncoming traffic was less glamorous, but I was drenched by that point anyway.

So nice one for all turning up for some proper winter riding. It was good to see everyone. I must try and talk to people I don't know more...

... Ditchling was fun; I managed to slog my way up towards DJ and then sucked his wheel to the top. It was freezing up there, ...

Freezing, HA! Serves you right for going up so quickly, those of us that took ages arrived hot enough to brush off the cold wind