Sunday Ride: 25th September 2016
Tea was at the very “Cosy Cafe” in Ardingly (really friendly and decent). Jim headed back to do his housework as we moved on through the backwoods to Horsted Keynes. Here we bumped into Jeremy who I assume was following my published route.
We ignored all the lovely tearooms as we continued on through Sheffield Green (near the Bluebell Railway Station at Sheffield Park) and the amazingly antique village of Fletching. In medieval times Fletching was a major producer of bows and arrows, many of which were used at theBattle of Agincourt in 1415.
After that we went through Piltdown where Piltdown Man discovery in 1912 was thought to be the ‘missing-link’ between humans and apes. The significance of the specimen remained controversial until, amidst great publicity, and much embarrassment in scientific circles, it was exposed as a forgery in 1953. Beyond this lay fields, woods and quiet country roads.
After 53 miles we ate lunch at the Smugglers Inn at Alfriston (slow service considering we mostly just had chips). The change of lunch venue brought on by Tomtom’s desire to see an old CTC wheel logo. It was a really decent place to sit in the sunlit garden while I ate my illicit sandwich. A traffic jam in Alfriston forced us to take a footpath across the river and fields onto the other side of the valley before we
cycled down to the beach at Cuckmere Haven for some triumphant photos.
Sadly the road after Birling Gap was blocked to even us cyclists and we were sent back by a chirpy guy in orange jacket who thought we weren’t riding Halfords bikes so shouldn’t ride cross country. A final stop near Beachy Head gave us a view of Eastbourne before we headed down the glorious freewheel to Eastbourne Station.
The route had superb views, weather and a cheap train ride home which included free entertainment as Brian demonstrated how not to put a tyre back on a wheel.
A really grand day out!