Roy and Jane White have proposed the run because they want us all to share in the radiant charm and challenge of the East Sussex countryside. It will start from their home in Pett Village at 8:30 am (parking available), and proceed in a westerly clockwise direction through the seafront urbanities of Hastings and Bexhill to Pevensey and Polegate. At Polegate, riders will pick up the southern end of the Cuckoo Trail – a former permanent way now a dedicated tarmacked cycle track – north to Horham. There, a cafe sympathetic to cyclists’ needs, will satisfy all appetites, voracious and otherwise. The route then turns north and east through the Wealden hills of Vine’s Cross, Warbleton, Rushlake Green, and Dallington, with more hills to follow through Brightling, and Oxley’s Green. After a descent into Robertsbridge, and an ascent to Salehurst and Bodium, the route turns south and generally downhill to Staplecross and Cripp’s Corner. From that point, a left turn takes riders through Broad Oak and Udimore, followed by a sneaky little right turn to Winchelsea Station and Winchelsea Beach, where the ride turns west to the finish at Pett. But the finish has a cruel end: a short climb of about 15% up to the village and the home of Roy and Jane. The test truly is in the tail.
This sportive is no ordinary sportive. The route will be neither sign-posted nor marshalled, and there will be no rescue wagon to pick up the pieces if you crash or run out of inner tubes. So competence in navigation as well as riding is essential. And as an incentive to all riders to make the necessary effort, Roy and Jane are offering a £50 prize, to be drawn by lot, from all who finish the ride and ‘sign the book’ on arrival at their home.
A sketch map (Click here for Map) of the route is shown below (follow the red line), but if anyone wants maps of the route at a larger scale, then ask me and I will provide.
Eric Bates
No comments:
Post a Comment