-
Burgess Hill Rumble next day. Timing fail. :(
Yes, weren't they paying attention? ;)
We'll do more of these, hippy. I already have a few ideas, so perhaps you'll be able to make it later in the year.
-
Oliver, are you still doing the recce tomorrow morning, would it be ok to tag along if my day frees up as seems likely?
Of course, Des, would be great to have you along!
-
Ignoring the first half of the ride, the road that goes through Nuthurst, Maplehurst and Ashurst down to Steyning is a nice ride. Then if you go Steyning to the coast you can have a nice hill to deal with, but there are easier alternatives too - and there's a decent bridge over the river too for peds and bikes into Shoreham.
The road from Colgate to the Hammerpots near Mannings Heath is good one, but you're not far from the M23 there, and it's way east of any route south out of Guildford. -
Ignoring the first half of the ride, the road that goes through Nuthurst, Maplehurst and Ashurst down to Steyning is a nice ride. Then if you go Steyning to the coast you can have a nice hill to deal with, but there are easier alternatives too - and there's a decent bridge over the river too for peds and bikes into Shoreham.
The road from Colgate to the Hammerpots near Mannings Heath is good one, but you're not far from the M23 there, and it's way east of any route south out of Guildford.Thanks, Richard--some of what you suggest (especially the Nuthurst-Maplehurst bit) did flag itself up as nice in my map studies. My cunning plan is not to recce the FNRttC route to Shoreham ...
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/FNRttC-Aug-08-Shoreham
... but rather to use the first part of the route to Brighton (Mitcham, Reigate etc., as I rather liked that), then use Gatwick as a stop-off point again, and then pick out a route towards Horsham, which will be hillier and lany but should be atmospheric and lovely. That'll be the main focus of the recce tomorrow--we'll train it to Gatwick and then take it from there, via Charlwood, passing north of Ifield and Faygate, via Lamb's Green, passing just east of Horsham, and then finding our way south via Nuthurst, Maplehurst (as you suggest), Partridge Green (should be a constant up and down, but nothing too taxing), and then either via Henfield or Steyning into Shoreham.
Yes, we won't be going as far east as the M23. The aim really is to have a route that is further east than the FNRttC route but not so far east that we might as well be going up to Brighton directly. I also want to include as many small country lanes as possible. That will be a lot harder to navigate, but that'll be a nice challenge!
The reason for taking the train is that I don't want to drag the recce out for too long, as I'm quite keen to explore some alternatives during it, as one should on a recce. And I know the bit out of London well now, there's no need to recce that.
-
Hopefully will make it, but will post one way or the other in the morning so you know. If you are taking the fnrttc route its pretty flat, Kingston Hill was the probably the biggest climb. Link here if its helpful:
-
Cheers, Des, I just posted that--our posts may have crossed.
Yes, it's mainly a main road route which I'm sure would work a treat in a large group, but I want to try something different this time, and as nicely balanced as the route to Brighton.
Hope you'll be able to make it tomorrow.
-
Thanks, Richard--some of what you suggest (especially the Nuthurst-Maplehurst bit) did flag itself up as nice in my map studies. My cunning plan is not to recce the FNRttC route to Shoreham ...
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/FNRttC-Aug-08-Shoreham
... but rather to use the first part of the route to Brighton (Mitcham, Reigate etc., as I rather liked that), then use Gatwick as a stop-off point again, and then pick out a route towards Horsham, which will be hillier and lany but should be atmospheric and lovely. That'll be the main focus of the recce tomorrow--we'll train it to Gatwick and then take it from there, via Charlwood, passing north of Ifield and Faygate, via Lamb's Green, passing just east of Horsham, and then finding our way south via Nuthurst, Maplehurst (as you suggest), Partridge Green (should be a constant up and down, but nothing too taxing), and then either via Henfield or Steyning into Shoreham.
Yes, we won't be going as far east as the M23. The aim really is to have a route that is further east than the FNRttC route but not so far east that we might as well be going up to Brighton directly. I also want to include as many small country lanes as possible. That will be a lot harder to navigate, but that'll be a nice challenge!
The reason for taking the train is that I don't want to drag the recce out for too long, as I'm quite keen to explore some alternatives during it, as one should on a recce. And I know the bit out of London well now, there's no need to recce that.
Nice one Oliver - that is very similar to the route I did on Boxing day - have a look here:
http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=24734
The Black Horse in Nuthurst looks quite appealing too... -
Cycle into Brighton - about 6ish miles on the coast road, or catch the train Shoreham-Hove-London
-
How do you get back from Shoreham?
So if we leave London at half 10 and ride through the night 60ish miles, 4ish hours, what the bejesus are we going to do in Shoreham whilst we wait for the trains to start running?
Probably take a bit more than 4 hours, last Brighton ride was almost twice that due to stops.
Besides, I heard Shoreham was the clubbing capital of the south...
The idea is that this is really a Brighton ride in disguise. We took about nine hours to get to Brighton on the last one, owing to frequent stops. Let's say we take seven or eight hours this time, which seems realistic. That puts us on the coast well in time for the sunrise, which I propose to experience while riding east along the coast.
Part of the reason for picking Shoreham is that I was looking for something new to do on a 'to the coast' ride, and I quite like the idea of hitting the coast and then doing some riding along the coast, Milano-San Remo style.
Trains start running very early from Brighton, where our Brighton contingent inform us some places are open 24 hours.
So, we won't get stuck or bored.
The weather forecast so far is dry but quite cold, around 4 degrees C nighttime temperatures, but that's warmer than last time. Let's hope it holds or gets warmer!
-
That puts us on the coast well in time for the sunrise, which I propose to experience while riding west along the coast.
Part of the reason for picking Shoreham is that I was looking for something new to do on a 'to the coast' ride, and I quite like the idea of hitting the coast and then doing some riding along the coast, Milano-San Remo style.
That would be pretty fantasitc. Can't wait for it!
-
Aargh, I meant 'east along the coast', of course.
Kelvin
owenreed
50/14
mmccarthy
hippy
balmain
Richard_Cheese
deleted-
Post a reply
About
2009-03-14 Sat - Overnight to Shoreham-by-Sea
Posted by
@Oliver Schick
out, q tip calls.