Rough Stuff rides for LFGSS folk, join regular rides that avoid tarmac

edited for brevity and route change

London
Luton
London
with some wiggling along old trackbeds there and back.

@Alex_B - Shoreham loop on Saturday 25th? I have to drop my girlfriend off in Hove sometime between 9-10am so if the weather isn't totally shit I'm up for it!

Ok. I'll see what is planned at home for the weekend and if I get the all clear I'll go for it! I'll let you know mid-week.

@ElGonzo now I'm home, I have something planned for the 25th, so no chance I'm afraid.

No worries. Anyone else keen on Shoreham loop this Saturday? It's been reasonably dry lately and at the moment it looks like it'll be nice on the day.

It looks as though it would be glorious!

I’m a maybe … just had a two nighter up north on towpaths & road, consequently other arf might be a bit funny about me pissing off all day. Will confirm last minute.

@Alex_B I’m sure the reccy won’t have been crucial to a successful ride. Dorking and Swimming worked out beautifully!

Definitely bailing on Saturday. Hope you have a lovely time!

If anyone fancies doing about half of SDW, E>W, tomorrow, give me a shout. Getting a train about 9
11 loads cheaper

Going to do just Eastbourne to Hove, go for an evening swim and see a buddy, maybe get a lil drunk and train home.

No worries, I'm gonna go for it. Setting off at 9:30 with a mate who lives locally, will be a fairly sedate pace. If anyone decides to do it last minute just give me a shout, the more the merrier!

Would love to join the Shoreham ride but time constraints for Saturday don’t allow.

Going to head over to Addington Hill though later morning if anyone wants to tag along.

“Slightly impromptu, but if anyone wants to join me this Saturday for a nice ramble from Peckham to Addington view point you’re more than welcome. Party paced all bikes welcome, 26ers recommend for the terrain at Addington. Will be joining as many parks and cycle ways for the route.

Leaving around 11 return for around 2 if anyone wants to join.”

https://strava.app.link/RQzqjRVFMjb Rough idea of the route

@ElGonzo if it's anything like my normal rides you'll end up covered in scratches, mud and buzzing from head to foot from stinging nettles. Enjoy!

Mate... At the black rabbit in Arundel, stung and scratched to fuck! Also it's dewey and drizzly so the limestone/clay sections are like ice. Took a hard tumble about 12k in on a descent, quite deep cut to knee but it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. Might have to DNF here as we're tight for time and need to get back to Worthing. Lovely route so far though, one particularly narrow and thorny section where you double back just past Cissbury Ring was where most of the scratches were picked up!

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Shit. Hope you made it back safely, but thanks for taking a chance on an untested route.
Now I've got to go ride it!

Turned into a lovely day in the end! Hurt my pride more than anything else in that tumble, cuts and bruises not that bad. It was like riding on ice at times in that drizzle. We ploughed on after lunch at the black rabbit, some gorgeous sections on the second half, stretch on the South Downs Way up to Washington was grand. From there we picked our way down to Worthing so didn't quite do the whole route.

Thank you for putting it together, had a great day. Well up for Cambridge whenever that happens!

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I've decided to go on an impromptu ride to Luton via the Lee valley and the canal, starting from View Tube tomorrow morning.
Proposed route is here: https://cycle.travel/map/journey/266671
If anyone wants to join me, send me a message.

awwww, did a loop there recently and am south coasting it tomorrow. I hope that you have a good one.
If you’re seriously only going as far as Luton Airport Parkway you’ll miss the dystopian horror of George St on a Saturday afternoon. Town has always been a bit bleak, but the centre is absolutely fucking woeful these days : /

I did that last time. No need to revisit it!

Arrgh. I was also going to recommend Wheathampstead as a good place to stop for a break (cheap/good chippy and you can sit in a little park by the weir). I would definitely be up for a there-and-back loop again…

Komoot thing of the eventual ride I did with a mate is here. Quite a lot of chalky fields and hollows. Only one ballsup where we ended up in a hedge and some barbed wire. There’s a bit of Great North Way slogging to get in and out of London.

https://www.komoot.com/tour/513065944?ref=itd&share_token=ajkICOLHORjo0fTb2wq39IO1juPAWpm521rlV8JZfAKjsejuMe

Next time, I’d lop off the specifically ‘us’ reasons for doing this one - we wanted to loop around Barnfield College, where we met ~40 years ago on a DATEC Graphic Design course, but the sections east of the town and airport were fun.

*for Lutonian values of ‘fun’

Nice ride w/ Alex to Luton—thanks!

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Lovely. Will try this soon. Stayer looking really nice.

Maybe have a look at The Shipwright's Way.

You could get the train out to Bentley and then back from Portsmouth after a dip in the sea. I'm sure i heard that the sea is hottest this time of year as it's been warming up all summer but I could easily have made this up.

Thanks @aglet, it was great to have your company today.

We had almost perfect conditions, very atmospheric to start and then clear and sunny for the rest of the day.

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Bentley as in Farnham-Bentley-Alton?

Former south-coaster here: Yes, best swims I recall were September/October after a good summer of it.

Have you got a date in mind? Quite keen to join!