Well after a good first day of 47 miles, I found the following day after about 10 miles I had pins and needles in my left leg. After a brief stop they went away and I continued, but another 5 miles or so and I had shooting pains and no power in my left leg to push on the peddle. I decided to stop and not proceed any further, I will have to start over another day.

I can now be vertical or horizontal, but anything in between is quite an effort – though getting easier.

The first day had gone well, did not see many partridges in Partridge Green (except for those on the sign) and the bridge over the Arun was a lovely place to stop and take in the views. Cycling along the lanes of Sussex I kept on getting wonderful snapshots of the South Downs from gaps in the hedges, and was pleased I would not be crossing over them for some time – little did I know.

Having found a nice camp site near Graffham I walked into the village to find the local hostelry. On the way I could see a number of balloons lift off and drift slowly in the still evening air, perhaps responding to the BBQ smoke signals rising up from almost every back garden.

After a good nights sleep, and a fine rendition of a dawn chorus by the local birds, I set off again heading west. There was another balloon hanging in the morning haze above the Downs, and I was making good progress until…

Center of map

Route

The bike trailer that I ordered more than a month ago has also turned up at the shop this afternoon, so the next ride will be with a small trailer load…

Could well be off to Cornwall by the end of next week!

The route from today:

Center of map

Route

It was a round trip of just over 70 miles, along roads I was not that familiar with. There were quite a few ups and downs, but I made sure all roads with locks were avoided while keeping to as many small roads as possible.

I tried to vary the route back, but it was not that easy to do due to some of the large roads cutting through Surrey and Sussex. I started to flag quite a bit near the end, and it was a relief to start seeing some familiar names after I had crossed under the Bluebell Railway line.

It was a good cycle ride, and a fantastic BBQ.

Center of map

Route

Ditchling Beacon is often the sting in the tale of many organised events from London to Brighton – be it classic cars or cycle races / ‘fun’ rides – for me it would be about half way along the circular route.

I made it to the village of Ditchling in good time, and in good weather. The route to the top of Ditchling Beacon leaves the village to the south, and when the climb starts it is less than a mile to the top – what makes it such a challenge is the particularly steep northern face which rises 213 metres from bottom to top. It did not matter how many times I stopped, I just had to make it to the top – as an incentive I promised myself lunch at the top and an ice cream (if the van was there).

I am not sure I could have walked it without stopping. Cycling it I stopped 6 times – and had quite a social time too, with other riders overtaking me and then flashing a wry smile as they passed me again going back down. Lunch was devoured, along with an ice cream, and I head back down toward Ditchling – I then realised that the journey up really was just the half of it, the speeds I reached on the way down were quite hair-raising and for me not that enjoyable.

I headed back via Burgess Hill, where I stopped for a cup of tea and a piece of cake – kentish apple cake. Note to self: this cake must be further tracked down – it was delicious.

Center of map

Route

The Long Man of Wilmington, Europe’s largest representation of the human form at 235 feet high, nestles under the steep northern slope of Windover Hill at Wilmington. It is large enough to be seen clearly in Google Maps, though it looks stretched from the air.

This giant figure has said to have baffled archaeologists and historians for hundreds of years. More about it can be found here on the Sussex Past website.

As I was near Alfriston, I thought I might try and catch up with Archie (the first person to give me a job!) but unfortunately he was out. Then cycling back through Alfriston I hear a familiar voice of ‘Auntie’ Hazel – and was invited back for a cup of tea and a scone (delicious!). There were several possible routes back, but as Becca was at home I felt another cup of tea might be had so made my way via East Hoathly.

This was my longest cycle ride to date, at 49.3 miles. It was fairly uneventful with no punctures, and no additional padding required – though my knees and bottom are slightly tender!

Center of map

Route

It was also a chance to try out a new saddle – which I had ordered up after my ordeal cycling from Winchester. It declared itself to be a “revolutionary breakthrough in bike seat comfort” – well lets see if it lives up to the name The Comfort Saddle.

The weather was good, with the sun shining through quite strongly, but the wind was gusty (and also at times very strong). It was good to get the shelter from the high hedges and sunken lanes around here.

I did not go into the gliding club again – though this time I could spot a glider having fun overhead, searching out thermals.

I made it in good time for lunch, and while the saddle was living up to the name unfortunately the pedels were starting to fall off (well the bottom bracket sounded decidedly dodgy). Looking at the map I could shave a few miles off the return journey without having to resort to ‘A’ roads, so I altered my route back to go south of Uckfield. I am glad I did as I found a nice picture of a wind pump in a field of ripening and almost golden wheat. It cropped very well into the header image format as well, so keep an eye out for it…

In all, the ride was 36.3 miles, no punctures, and no additional padding required – the saddle worked well !! Unfortunately the bottom bracket suffered a minor failure so it is back to the bike shop for a repair.

Center of map

Route

Decided to take it for a spin today around a bit of Sussex, taking in part of a published route that by chance almost goes past the house, and goes near East Hoathly (to visit my Sister) and the Gliding Club. Though the variations I made added a few more miles…

The route was between Ashdown Forest and the South Downs near Uckfield, the first half of the route (near Ashdown Forest) is a combination of fast descents and short steep climbs (unfortunately some of the climbs were not short enough!!). The route just grazes the southern edge of Ashdown Forest, never quite making it out of the broadleaved woodlands and arable farmland within the Weald of Sussex. The guide suggested crossing 8 rivers, this might be one of them – it was easy to ford it, I just hope the others are as simple to cross. A little further it was up and over the bridge with the railway line running north from Uckfield.

The highest point on the route was about a third of the way along the route, at Hadlow Down. While it was the highest point on the route it was not that high at 147 m (485 feet), though that compares with the lowest point around Ripe at just 9 m (30 feet).

After Hadlow Down I took a short detour to visit my Sister in East Hoathly, and had a bit of lunch (thanks Becca for taking care of the waif and stray). Moving on towards the village of Ripe, the southern half of the route is very flat, and I made good progress through Chiddingly (despite the obvious attractions).

I then cycled through the deliciously named Muddles Green.

Heading back north instead of going through the town of Uckfield I headed south east towards the village of Isfield before heading almost due north to get back home again. In doing so I passed the Gliding Club and dropped in on Dad, who was busy with tow line retrieval.

The railway line that now terminates in Uckfield used to go through Isfield on its way to Lewes, a short stretch is now open as the Lavender Line with a steam train – though no trains today (and the picture of the Pound was much more interesting.

In all, the short little ride ended up being 38 miles, no punctures, and no additional padding required.

Center of map

Route

Later in the walk I started to meet cyclists, and having crossed the country from left to right, I started to wonder about journeying on a bicycle from Lands End to John O’ Groats – a small matter of around 950 miles, but perhaps a jaunt of a lifetime to compare with excursions in the planning on trains across Canada, the Americas and even Eurasia.

Further research I came across LEJOG on Google, what at first I thought might have been a fun run in France but with a little reading turned out to be an acronym for Lands End to John O’ Groats (sometimes also called end-to-end).

Then the madness truly set in, my bike was in Winchester and Becca was wanting to borrow it over the summer for excursions around Sussex – I saw the opportunity and not to be persuaded otherwise I planned to cycle as far from Winchester as possible towards Piltdown.

It could have been more than 70 miles in total, but I was fairly sure that would have been impossible to do on my first cycle ride for quite some years. I would have been pleased with halfway, and ecstatic at any further (as long as I could walk the next day).

With the sun breaking through the clouds, and having met Howard with my bike at Winchester station, I set off along the A272 at 9.02am. Having made it to the bottom of the city at 9.05 I was thinking my decision to do this was a bit rash when I first looked at the hill out of town. A quick adjustment to the seat to make it higher and I was out of the city and head east at a good speed.

Petersfield came quite quickly, within a couple of hours. I must have lost track of time a bit – almost as quickly as I had lost sensation in my bottom, which by this time was rather numb. I found a cycle shop and their rack of different saddles, spying a squidgy gel seat I snapped it up and had it attached to the seat post and I was off again. I then passed the most demoralising sign, it said Haywards Heath 42 miles – I was not sure if I could make 4 miles, or even 2 miles, I was certain I would not be able to make those 42 miles.

Fate was not on my side. (Or should it be fetes). Every town and village I was travelling though seemed to have a School fair or village fete that afternoon, and the storm clouds were gathering. There had already been a couple of claps of thunder from the west, and nearing Cowdrey Park the sky had darkened considerable ahead of me. I sheltered from a shower of rain at a petrol station, and standing next to the litter bin I found a (news)paper had been thrown away recently – this would make excellent padding and probably the best use of the Daily Star. My school days and years of education had not been in vain – I had learnt something after all!

While the first few miles out of Winchester had gone by quickly, I also had a good way of measuring progress – the road signs were counting the miles gone by (though in some instances the distance would peculiarly rise, fall and then rise again). At this stage they were just pointing the way with no indication of distance which was really disheartening. (Note to self – if I LEJOG I need good maps and perhaps a gadget or two to measure speed and distance).

After the brief shower had stopped, and the sun was once again shining to the south, I was off again – padding in place. However it was soon to rain again with the full menace of a thunderstorm. Arriving in Petworth I thought it prudent to call in the retrieve crew (Dad). I would cycle a few more miles but would keep my head up to spot him coming in the other direction.

Wisborough Green had a large village fete that afternoon, it matched the size of the thunderstorm overhead. I found shelter in the bus shelter, in front of the pub, and decided this would be a good place to wait to be retrieved. I would have waited in the pub, but I had found my saturation point – and perhaps even supersaturation. As luck would have it, by the time Dad had arrived the sun was out again – but the (news)paper was soaked as was not providing as good a padding as it had and being soaked through I was quite ready to pack the bike away and climb into the car.

Looking at the map when I was back home I had covered 42.1 miles in just under 5 hours. The last 29 miles took about 45 minutes.

Apologies to the reader, I forgot my camera on this trip – so all I have to show is the map of the journey and retrieve below…

Center of map

Route