Editor & Webmaster: David Rix, 27 Fullwood Avenue, Newhaven, BN9 9SP. Programme for June & July 2018 (updated*)

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1 RUNS LIST & NEWSLETTER Local group of Cycling UK: the UK s national cyclists organisation PRESIDENT: MRS. P. GRAHAM Secretary: Mrs. M. Hamilton, 89 Manor Park Road, Horsebridge, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 3AU. Tel ctceastsussex@gmail.com Group names & Contacts: H & R = Hastings & Rother - Marian Jones (mob.) = Midweek - Esther Carpenter, 10 Maplehurst Rd., Baldslow, St. Leonards, TN37 7NA (01424) S & N = Seaford & Newhaven - Ann Rix, 3 Sutton Drove, Seaford. BN25 3EU. (01323) Editor & Webmaster: David Rix, 27 Fullwood Avenue, Newhaven, BN9 9SP Website: Photos: East Sussex CTC on Flickr & Google+ Programme for June & July 2018 (updated*) E = Elevenses - from unless stated, L = Lunch, T = Tea Bring packed lunch & drink on runs unless pub lunch is stated The Midweek Section has groups to suit riders of all abilities. Geoff s Saturday Rides. Informal - dependent on weather & other commitments - if interested contact: Geoff Boxall ( ) on Friday evening for details of the next day s ride and meeting place. IN THE EVENT OF INCLEMENT WEATHER THE DECISION ON ANY RIDE GOING AHEAD WILL BE MADE BY THE LEADER June 3rd Meet for E. from at Raystede, The Broyle, Ringmer. L. at Ridgewood Millenium Green. Wed. 6th Meet for E. at Wesson s Cafe, Horam. L. at Six Bells, Chiddingly or picnic in churchyard. Leaders: Energetics, Martin Georgeson; Tourists, Andy Cackett; Moderate Tourists, Bill Larke; Easyriders, Geoff. Midweek Committee Meeting 2.00 p.m. at Pub. Meet for E. from at Happy Days, Holmes Hill. L. at Blackboys. June 10th Mon.11th Fri. 15th Camping trip to Roundhill, Brockenhurst, New Forest. Wed. 13th June 17th Wed. 20th June 24rd Meet for E. at West Ham Village Hall. L. at The Woolpack Herstmonceux or picnic in rec. Leaders: Tourists, Laurie Bishop; Moderate Tourists, Richard Thatcher; Easyriders, Geoff. Energetics Awayday Start: Camelia Botnar Garden Centre, Littleworth Lane. Map ref. TQ (approx 2 miles West of Cowfold). Details TBA. Leader Chris Colyer. *Meet for E. from at The Loom Mill, Hailsham. L. at Bexhill. Meet for E. at Ringmer Village Hall. L. at The Roebuck, Laughton or picnic. Leaders: Energetics, Peter Hatch; Tourists, Neil Dickinson; Moderate Tourists, TBA; Easyriders, Geoff. Tourist Awayday - West Sussex - leader: John Beaumont , j.beaumont3@sky.com Start and finish at cafe near central car park (pay and display) in Petworth, West Sussex. Depart promptly at am. Ride through lovely gently undulating lanes to lunch at pub in Midhurst before returning via polo fields south of Midhurst back to Petworth. Please advise John of intention to go on this ride so that pub can be informed of approximate numbers. *Meet for E. from at Ditchling Garden Centre. 1 L. at Bolney.

2 Wed. 27th Meet for E. at Cinder s, Isfield Station. L. at The Yew Tree, Chalvington or picnic. Leaders: Energetics, Joe Fallen; Tourists, Dennis Miles; Moderate Tourists, TBA; Easyriders, Geoff. Thur. 28th D.A. Clubnight at South View Rooms, Western Road, Hailsham p.m. All welcome. July 1st Wed. 4th Meet for E. from at Middle Farm, Firle. L. at Isfield. Meet for E. at Raystede, The Broyle, Ringmer. L. at The Star, Waldron or picnic in churchyard. Leaders: Tourists, Steve Harwood; Moderate Tourists, Bill Larke; Easyriders, Geoff. Energetics Awayday starting from Ditchling. Details TBA. Leader; Steve Ratford. Thurs. 5th D.A. Committee Meeting p.m. - at Ringmer. July 8th Meet for E. from at Hilliers Garden Centre, Stone Cross. L. at The Wish Tower, Eastbourne. Wed. 11th Annual meet with the South West London Wayfarers at Horsted Keynes. Meet for E. at Luxford s, Uckfield Civic Centre. L. at The Green Man, Horsted Keynes. Leaders: Energetics, Graham Seymour; Tourists, John Beaumont; Moderate Tourists, TBA; Easyriders, Geoff. July 15th Car Assisted ride to West Sussex. Meet at car park in Hurstpierpoint (about 9.45) OR for E. from 10 am at Washbrooks Open Farm, Brighton Road, Hurstpierpoint. L. at Bramber Castle. Mon.16th Fri.20th Camping Trip to Hatcher s Farm, Preston, Kent. Details from David Rix Wed. 18th Meet for E. at Hillier s Garden Centre, Stone Cross. L. at The White Horse, Bodle Street or picnic. Leaders: Energetics, Mick Hilton; Tourists, TBA; Moderate Tourists, Richard Thatcher; Easyriders, Geoff. Tourist Awayday Kent - leader: Andy Cackett. Tel: , andycackett@btinternet.com. Start and finish at cafe next to central pay & display car park in Headcorn. Depart promptly at as it is a fairly long ride to lunch at The Lord Raglan, Staplehurst, with little chance of a short cut. A circular ride on virtually flat lanes (yes, really) in the valleys of the Medway and Beult rivers - option to shorten or extend ride back to Headcorn, assuming you bought enough parking. Numbers please to Andy. July 22nd Meet for E. from at Raystede, The Broyle, Ringmer. L. at Horam. Wed. 25th Meet for E. at Happy Days, Holmes Hill. L. at The King s Head, East Hoathly or picnic in rec. Leaders: Energetics, Steve Rhodes; Tourists, Richard Wilkes; Moderate Tourists, TBA; Easyriders, Geoff. Thur. 26th D.A. Clubnight at South View Rooms, Western Road, Hailsham p.m. All welcome. July 29 Meet for E. from at Ocean View Bakery, Pevensey Bay. L. at Hooe Church. th ****************** Forthcoming Events Full details of all events on next runs list. Proposed Camping Trips update The Camping trip to Norwood Farm at Newchurch will now be 3 rd - 7th September, NOT in August as previously listed. The proposed date for the Washington Camping Trip is 17 th - 21st September weather permitting! ****************** DEADLINE FOR NEXT RUNSLIST WED. 13th July Please note: copy must be with the editor (David Rix) by this date to be sure of inclusion 2

3 East Sussex CTC News No. 214 June 2018 Secretary s Notes Still off my bike and therefore with time on my hands I m working through some of the things I often put off, including using the Cycling UK website, Southdowns riders at Heaven Farm FillThatHole.org.uk, and I discovered it is very easy to use. Precise map location, the option of adding map references, even the opportunity to add my own photo was all very encouraging and the mobile phone app made it very user-friendly whilst out and about I didn t even have to wait till I got home! A couple of weeks after using the website I was driving down the lane where this lethal pothole had been lurking as a horrible threat, and was amazed and delighted to find it had been filled in. I thought I d report another one. Equal amazement when, a month later, that too had been filled. Coincidence I wonder? Were they due to be filled anyway or have I made a difference? I like to think it s the latter, and as the website is so user friendly I will definitely continue to report them. The slogan on the website is You spot it, You log it, They sort it! Thank you Cycling UK for this excellent facility. Using it certainly makes me feel I m doing something rather than just moaning about the awful state of our roads. Mia Hamilton Committee Matters Items from meeting on 11th May 2018: CTC sign at Ripe: Still no further progress on rescuing the wheel from The Lamb wall and installing it opposite at the Village Stores Ripe. Membership Lists from HQ: The date for the new regulations concerning Data Protection is 25 th May, and staff at headquarters are working hard to implement the changes within the time frame. Club Clothing: Mr and Mrs Boxall have agreed to take responsibility for the clothing and rail, which have been collected from Mrs Carpenter and Mr Bacon is to make an inventory and price list. Pump Track at Battle: This is local scheme which will benefit many people, aspiring to cycle in the Battle area, but we as a Cycling UK Group have a policy of not supporting specific local projects, in particular the justification of allocation of Group funds for individual projects. Sustrans, our Group choice for charitable donation, is a Nationwide organisation, with all-inclusive benefits accessible for the wider community and the nation as a whole, regardless of whether they cycle, ride horses, walk or have disability/mobility issues. East Sussex Pedal Power: Mr Rix, Webmaster, will use space in the Newsletter to outline Pedal Power in East Sussex, a project funded by East Sussex County Council to give budding cyclists access to cheap cycle hire. The next meeting will be on Thurs. 5th July, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Ringmer. 3

4 Midweek Section Notes I started my March notes with comments about the weather and how The Beast from the East disrupted our Festive Lunch and cycling generally and finished with a hope of more equable weather for next month. We were lulled into a false sense of security with some pleasant days, but we were again badly disrupted on 18th March by torrential rain and strong winds (or was it snow?), which resulted in the cancellation of the 50Km ride in 2.5 to 3.5 hours after all the good work that Mick Hills and his team of helpers had put into this event. Many of us use this event to gauge our early season fitness and, like me, will be wondering when or if we will regain the form of last summer. We were again badly affected by torrential rain and high winds on 28 th March, when a surprising number of hardy civilians turned up at Jasmines for coffee, but were strangely reluctant to leave. After typically robust comments about whimps, Chris Colyer lead a brave posse of Energetics for an actual ride and some other hardy souls managed to make it to the Plough for a friendly lunch, somewhat disrupted by on-going furniture removal, which suggests improvements are on the way at this venue. We were certainly well received with prompt service. With a shortage of volunteer ride leaders for the Moderate Tourists, some joined the Tourists for what turned out to be quite a hard ride, but within the normal scope of Tourists rides (ie, nowhere near as fast or as long as the Energetics) ably led by Dennis Miles. This led to some unfortunate exchanges, but does serve to emphasise the reason for the split between the two groups, where previously the Tourists were finishing up with too many riders in a long and potentially dangerous straggling line and bunched groups waiting for others to catch up. A ride leader will have prepared a ride of the distance and speed to suite the group and it is not always practical to change the route at the last moment. I was also struggling on this ride due to being on my shopper in an attempt to avoid dirtying my recently cleaned tourer and perhaps should have led the Moderates. However, this does serve to highlight the ongoing problem of getting sufficient volunteers to lead group rides, which is causing me a regular headache. By the time this is published we should have enjoyed the Southdown Randonnees and the first of our Awaydays. Two groups of riders will also have returned from their early season training camps (only joking!) in Italy and Spain and will be recognisable by their fitness and suntans (wishful thinking perhaps?). The trips are not official CTC holidays and are effectively by personal invitation rather than being promoted by the Midweek Section, but are very good excuses to ride in significantly different countries with a group of like minded riders, and have longer together to enjoy the company of friends that you maybe only meet up with on Wednesdays. Other groups are getting organised for the annual Dieppe Raid over the weekend 23/24 th June and the Semaine Federale in Epinal, France over the week 5th to12 th August. For future reference you should visit and http// although it s probably a bit late for this year, at least for the Semaine Federale which gets booked up quite early. It will be sf2019 next year and at the time of writing I cannot remember where it will be, but I m sure that a group will be going as it is very good fun and excellent value. I started writing this in glorious sunshine and the prospect of 18/20 degrees forecast for our next Wednesday ride. so perhaps it s time to remove the mudguards. However, as the prospect of good cycling weather brings more of us out for the rides and we are also pleased to see quite a few new faces, it has been brought to my attention that it would not hurt to reiterate the CTC Guidance on group rides. Clearly, there is a lot of valuable information and guidance on the main CTC website and our own, but our own directory which included such sage advice has not been re-issued since So for our new members, and as a reminder to long standing members, I repeat at the end of my report (with some of my own bits added) the notes re conduct on rides. Having myself just returned from a sunny and very warm trip to Italy, ably organised by our new member Max, we were faced with absolutely foul weather for our ride on 2 nd May when, yet again, a good number of civilians turned up at Middle Farm together with one or two hardy souls who, like me, were soaked and cold. Hardly a good start to May! Things improved significantly by 9 th May, when we were able to bask in the sunshine outside Bridge Cottage before riding to The Pig and Butcher (an old haunt) which seemed to give two groups the excuse to climb the heights of Ashdown Forest, which was looking lovely with rewarding views for all the climbing. It was very good after all his health problems of many months to see that 4

5 our Treasurer, Richard Thatcher, also rode the Forest from Groombridge and back, making two climbs of our local Mt. Ventoux. Happy and safe cycling, Andy CONDUCT ON RIDES The Runs Leader is considered, for insurance purposes, to be responsible for the riders in his or her group. (All CTC/Cycling UK rides are covered by the Club s organisers insurance) Do make sure that you have a back marker to pass information down the line and that you are aware of what is happening behind you. Don t overtake the leader! If you do and you miss a turning that he/she intends to take, nobody will come after you. If you have a problem let those around you know and stop in a suitable place where you can get off the road. There s nothing like an accident waiting to happen when everybody spreads all over the road on a blind bend or hilltop. If you are going to stop for any reason, announce your intention loud and clear using the word stopping and make sure as far as possible that those around you hear and recognise your intention. When riding two abreast leave enough room between pairs so that the outside rider can drop back into a gap if necessary. In large groups leave a gap between each set of six or so riders to enable cars to pull in if traffic is coming towards them. Do acknowledge motorists who overtake or otherwise drive courteously and be courteous to them. Do give plenty of advance warning to horse riders and ensure that they have heard/seen you. Horses are skittish things and some riders like to get them off the road into gateways when approached by large group of cyclists. Give them time to do this and again, be courteous, even if that courtesy is not always reciprocated. And in pubs: Please do not eat sandwiches or other food in any part of the pub premises unless you have bought it there even if you have bought a drink. In the past we have had some criticism on this point and were asked not to return on one occasion. (Don t ask me, I m only copying that bit!). Seaford & Newhaven Section Notes Seven of us actually had a good ride on 11 th March, with 11 s at The Coach House, Sheffield Park then a ride around that area, up and down to Derek s at Plumpton Green. John Gallsworthy was with us to start with, then left, and Geoff and Jenny Boxall were with us at the stops all day by car. Then the weather went downhill with snow and ice, so next week the 50K had to be cancelled. The 25th was fine but only we three and David Allen rode out to Hilliers, then on to have our picnic outside the Wish Tower at Eastbourne where, out of the wind, it was almost warm. We finished up at the Loom Mill for tea. Geoff and Jenny had joined us at 11 s by car. Into April and Easter Sunday was fine but with a cold wind. Nine of us turned up at Holmes Hill to find it closed, so rode on to Raystede. It was nice to have Jenny out on the bike with us again. Mia Hamilton and Raoul Meade joined us for 11 s, she unfortunately is still hobbling and not back cycling yet. We decided it was too cold for Ridgewood so took up Geoff and Jenny s kind offer to have us back at Ringmer for our picnic. The 8th had heavy rain forecast so we three went out to Pevensey Bay by car, where we were joined by three of the, Don Excell, Mick Hilton and John Harrison, who all turned up very wet. Then someone we were very pleased to see out again, it was Norman Wright, his first long ride after the second eye op. He was pleased we were heading home as so was he - by then it was clearing up for his ride home. It was fine on the 15 th for Sally s Ride and eleven were out to 11 s at Middle Farm, though we changed the lunch stop to Chiddingly as we had been slipping about in the mud at the reservoir on Wednesday and didn t think we would be able to reach the seats or the one to Sally on the ridge opposite the water. David 5

6 took the ride through Vert Wood and they found it was ok. I wasn t going to risk it as my shoes and bike needed a lot of cleaning after the mud four days before, so kept to the road with Mick and Raoul kindly keeping an eye on me. The ones who lingered at the pub ended with a wet ride home, we just made it to the car at Glynde before it got heavy. On 22nd it was fine and sunny, with 10 out to 11 s at Raystede, Mia was still by car and John Holmes headed back. The rest of us went via Isfield then, when we reached Piltdown Pond, Jenny suggested we three had our lunch there and very pleasant it was watching the fishermen, and a heron flying over the water. The others carried on to Newick and said it was very pleasant there, they then joined us at Ringmer for cups of tea on their way back. A very cold nor easter blowing on the 29 th when eight of us rode to The Old Loom Mill for 11 s, yes it s still going. We were joined there by Stephen Rhodes and Robert Wheeler, they both used to ride with us years ago, so it was nice to meet up again though we see Stephen often as he rides with the Midweek. We three and Norman were the only ones to carry on for a chilly lunch on the beach at Pevensey Bay. Into May and a change to a lovely day for eleven of us to sit outside for 11 s at the Old Coach House at Sheffield Park. Another bonus was the arrival of two new riders, Tim Evans from Newick (who told David and Susan he had ridden with us before when they had Martin and Emma on the trailer bikes) and Garry Sheppherd from Hailsham, both hope to meet up with us again. Norman tried to persuade Derek to fill in an entry form for the Southdowns, we ll wait and see. We all rode down through the lanes to Barcombe rec. for our picnic, where we were joined by Jenny and Geoff Boxall who had had 11 s at Isfield and then enjoyed watching the trains. Ann DEADLINE FOR NEXT RUNSLIST WED. 13th July Please note: copy must be with the editor (David Rix) by this date to be sure of inclusion Distribution of Newsletter. The Runs List & Newsletter is produced free of charge to anyone interested in our activities. Copies are available from Group Secretaries on Club runs or can be viewed & downloaded on the East Sussex CTC website. East Sussex CTC is a local group of Cycling UK, the UK's national cyclists' organisation. Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists Touring Club Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC) a Company Limited by Guarantee - registered in England No , Registered as a charity in England and Wales - Charity No & in Scotland No. SC Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 9JX 6