Amongst the ten riders gathered at Redhill Aerorome, it was a pleasure to welcome a new member, Russ, and Moji who normally rides off-road but is training for the 210 mile 'Chase the Sun' in June.
We had an unventful ride to the Lavender Line Station at Isfield where Clive Harper, the Iron Man, turned back without stopping for refreshment. Cinders, the station cafe, is manned by volunteers. They only had one cook on duty and a limited menu. Nine orders of sausage, egg and chips (or variations thereon) took over half an hour to produce. Refresshed and considerably later than we had planned, we set off for home. Stuart B. took the road to Uckfield, heading back to TUnbridge Wells.
On reaching Chelwood Gate, I spotted a sign for Birch Grove down a lane new to me. After a glorious 3 miles downhill, we reached Horstead Keynes. We then had a long climb up to Sharpthorne. In retrospect, I wish I had stuck to my original, relatively flat, route via Wych Cross and Plaw Hatch. All that was left then was the climb to Turners Hill and a fast run down to return via Copthorne.
A cold but enjoyable day out with the usual good company.
Mike Ormerod