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Croydon to the Coast
by Elliot M & Tim C
The 8 of us set off around 9:30 from Coulsdon South into the rain. Headed
across Farthing Downs to Reigate Hill (tea and cake) and the first
mechanical and punctures. Martin's freehub went so he pedaled off alone
to find a bike shop.
We continued on some tricky slippy climbs and descents on the North Downs
Way and down Box Hill where my bike developed 3" of sideways travel
as the rear end bolt fell out. Looked like disaster as I had to get the
chainset off to fix it with no crank tool but tried the Marco (?) method
of riding around with the bolts undone and it soon fell off.
At this point and some time down on the schedule we decided to hit the
road to Wescott and picked up Martin outside Nirvana Cycles who'd not been
able to fix his hub... so he'd hired a wheel for the day!
Back to the bridleways and the long long climb to Leith Hill and more tea
and cake sheltering form the wind behind the tower.
Headed for the Downs Link and joined it near Cranleigh. This is a disused
railway line so pretty flat and the pace picked up although it got very
wet (I was glad I had finally bought a waterproof the night before). You
also pass through a few old stations with signs and platforms still there.
A good few more punctures on the way and then near Christ's Hospital the
South Downs loomed... Tim and Jayne decide to take the flatter route
direct to the coast while rest of us headed up the challenging Truleigh
Hill . A decision I regretted as the rest soon left me behind!
The few undulating miles along the SDW nearly finished me off but
eventually we got to Devil's Dyke and finally left the trails to descend
on road to Brighton and finish at the pier.
After a display of speed fish and chip eating and then photos (which came
out well given that they were taken by a passing drunk) we got the train
back cheerfully ignoring the "2 bikes only signs". Quite a few
of the passengers in the carriage then seemed to move to the next one, no
idea why.
PS: the photos don't seem to bear witness to the amount of mud on the
ride, I think it washed off in the rain!
Elliot
Saturday 17th May
2003
Dear Agreeables,
Here we are at the East Pier eating fish, chips and mushy peas. We arrived
at 7.55pm, damp, tired and muddy but with a great sense of achievement. I
was so tired by the end of the downs link (7pm) that Jayne and I felt it
wise to take the road to Brighton, and leave Will, Rory, Elliot, Jez,
Aodan and Martin to take the South Downs Way to Devil's Dyke,
rendezvousing at the Pier for food and photos.
Biggest mistake: turning right from Coulsdon South Station at 9.15am
Embarrassing point: falling off twice on Farthing Downs less than 100m
from the start of the off-road (wet tree roots!)
Help! my freewheel's caput (Martin, at Reigate Hill) Option 1: head home
for an early bath. Option 2: Go to Nirvana Cycles and hire a rear wheel
for £10 for the weekend. Well done Martin.
Help! My rear suspension's coming apart (Elliot, at Box Hill). 1) Remove
crank bolt, 2) check whether a crank extractor is available. If yes use
it, go to step 3. If not, remove crank bolt, turn bike so that chainwheel
faces downwards, close your eyes and stamp down on your chainwheel, ouch!
Now ride around until it comes off the bottom bracket. 3) tighten
chainstay pivot bolts. 4) replace chainwheel. Don't try this at home, or
on your road bike - take/use a crank extractor!
High point: top of Leith Hill (tea and cake)
Low point: the temptation to bail out at Christ's Hospital just over half
way, with the time approaching 5pm and my arms like jelly - practiced the
'neutral spine' posture to take weight off arms.
Memorable exchange: Tim (at 6.40pm, having crawled about a mile up a dirt
farm road at a speed as low as 3.8mph into a gusty SW headwind to find
Will and Aodan reading the map): "how far is it now?"
Will: "11.5 miles by South Downs way, 6 miles by road"
Tim: (observing the looming downs, the ominous clouds and envisioning
himself appearing in the next series of "999" narrated by
Michael Buerk) "I think I'll take the road then"
Will: "We don't do road!"
Safety Warning! Don't practice stunts on your bike in front of spectators
at Box Hill, if you come a cropper Surrey County Council will crush your
machine (quite rightly) - see it outside the Café.
Stats: (using road from Shoreham). 72.72 miles. Average speed 9.9mph. Max
speed 30.5mph. Journey time 10 hours 40 minutes. Riding time 7 hours 34
minutes. This leaves 3 hours and 6 minutes spent consuming tea and cake,
peeing, mending punctures and mechanicals, reading the map, opening gates
and taking waterproofs etc on and off!!! Train Fare £12. Food: 3 bananas,
1 apple, 3 Maxim bars, 2 teas and two slices of fruit cake, 2 litres of
drink, and 20 units of actrapid insulin (I'm diabetic).
Many thanks to the off-road crew for their patience and support for us
novices. Respect!
Looking forward to next years,
Tim
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