For my qualifying rides I am riding alone but with some support from my wife who rode out to refuel me and take pictures along the way using the car as a base. Both rides are from my house in Horsham, out to Broadbridge Heath then down mostly bridleway (the Down's Link) via places such as South Water, Henfield and Bramber where I turned around and rode back. I did the ride previously with a GPS I borrowed so I know the A to B distance is 61km with 717m of climbing though the rolled distance due to all the wiggling to get round obstacles etc comes out as 69km. I have therefore taken the average for the rating.
Day 1 started at about 9am in grey and slightly blustery conditions with the ride being generally into the wind (so at least it was behind me on the way back). It was certainly possible to see the affect of all the rain we have had as the bridleways to Henfield were pretty muddy and slippery leading to the odd spontaneous dismount. The weather improved till it was getting quite sunny and warm if windy by the time I made it to Bramber where I turned round to headed back after a short break. I was met by my wife on her bike as I rode across a field south of Henfield where it is quite exposed and was a bit difficult because of the side wind. At Henfield we stopped for lunch about 12:30 were Anna had left our car. The weather started to cloud over again after lunch and the wind increased but thankfully if was mainly behind me from now on. I took off my leg pads at this point as they were starting to hurt my knees. Riding back it was interesting to see how a days worth of cyclists and horse riders had further cut up the track. I finally arrived home about 15:00.
Quite an enjoyable ride but a bit windy and wet ocasionally.
Take 2. Again I set off at about 9am (although since the clocks changed it was really 8am). I was wanting to get past Christ's Hospital school as early as possible since I knew that there was an annual 10k fun run going on starting in the morning. I was feeling pretty rubbish as I had not slept very well and the hours' time difference did not go in my favour. I set off feeling sluggish in the spitting rain (on the third attempt). Thankfully this rain did not last and was gone by the time I had got out to the bridleways. There must have been quite a bit of rain over night as there was a lot more water that the day before. In some cases I found it best just to plough through the flooding rather than ride round the edges but I had to keep an eye out for large bumps which would throw my balance. I decided I should buy mud guard as I felt the water make its way into my cycling shorts. At about Copsale (16km in to the ride) I realised that my left crank was working lose and would soon make riding impossible. Anna turned up with tools but unfortunately nothing fitted. She went off to buy a suitable tool whilst I rode carefully on. It seemed to be holding up fairly well but by the time I had got across the muddy field north of Henfield it had basically come off. With it finger tight and feeling quite tired already I limped it to the carpark in Henfield and awaited Anna. A bit of fiddling about a helpful Scout Master (who had seen me the day before with his Scout group who were riding the Downs Link over a couple of days) later we were once more on our way to Bramber. Anna rode along with me taking some pictures as we went. The weather had got nice by now with some welcome sunshine. We made Bramber by about 12:30 quite a bit slower than the day before due to tiredness and a good 30 minutes waiting around and dealing with the crank. We rode back to Henfield for lunch at 13:30. After lunch Anna left in the car and we agreed to meet at South Water were I would decide whether to ride the last 13km home (for my pride) or call it a day as it would probably be enough. Bouncing along on a tired autopilot things seem to be going well but by the time I was at Copsale I was definitely in need of the Butt'r. At South Water after a bit of thought and a buttering I decided to finish the ride properly and set off for home. The last 13km went easier than expected (though oddly it hailed at one point) and I rode though some of the worst muddy and cut up bits without a problem. Finally I arrived home at about 16:00. A nice day but a bit painful. I am glad it was not windy.