Forest Row’s only club devoted to the noble art of cycling. For those who don’t know, Forest Row is in the north-west corner of East Sussex, about 3 miles south-east of East Grinstead. Which is in West Sussex. But let’s not complicate matters any further.
We’re a diverse group, with a wide mix of ages, abilities and hair-styles. What unites us is the enjoyment of cycling, fresh air and tea, and the hatred of steep hills. Of which there are a few.
We meet up most Sundays in the Lower Square in Forest Row, outside Future Cycles. and new faces are always welcome.
The main group meets at 9:30am and usually manages 30 to 40 miles with a stop for brunch. We try to vary route, and keep to country lanes and established cycle tracks as far possible. See our Rides Schedule for details of planned outings.
The ‘Meanderers‘ meet at 10:00am and takes things a little easier, and settle for fewer miles at a genteel pace.
For those who prefer rougher stuff, the ‘Rutters‘ meet at 9:00am for a 1 to 1.5 hour ride on the tracks and byways.
For further details, contact the Club Secretary. If you like the idea of joining a ride, but don’t feel confident about your cycling ability, please get in touch and ask about our Cycle Buddies scheme.
To get some idea of our activities, take a look at our photo album – contributions are always welcome.
On 4th June this year, nine members of the Forest Row Bike Club plus Valerie Redgrove (who kindly drove our support car) went across to St Malo for 7 days riding in Brittany. We went over from Portsmouth to St Malo overnight and then on the Friday 5th started our cycling tour. We went on our first day to Sables ‘de Or les Pins. It was a lovely day and we stopped in Ploubalay for a coffee break. The views were stunning with sandy beaches, lovely houses and not much traffic which is of course always good. We detoured to Fort la Latte on the way which was lovely to look at and we took photos but decided not to stop for too long as we had a way to go. Lovely hotel but not quite enough for dinner – hey ho! - - Next day was to Saint Quay Portrieux. Very changeable weather today. It started fine and we had a picnic lunch but then thunder, lightening! Fun! We sheltered in a Yacht Club building for a while and later on we had a super cup of tea in a cafe at Binic before arriving at our destination. Sunday was lovely for a bit but then the rain came again! It was a lovely ride through Kermaria to see the thirteenth century chapel (which unfortunately was closed) and to Lanlett where we looked briefly at a roman temple. At Pentrieux we stopped to have a galette for lunch and a welcome hot drink. The wind was against us by now but we stopped at Treguier where we looked at the 11th century cathedral St Tugdual. Really beautiful. We arrived at Ploumanach for the night and for tomorrow’s ‘day of rest’. The beach here was small but had lovely pink granite rocks and that evening was stunning. Unfortunately, our day off was a washout – such a shame, we were looking forward to sitting on the beach! Tuesday 9th was dry until later on in the day. We had a quiet ride into Lannion where we stopped for coffee and then bought food for a picnic lunch. We found a lovely suny spot for lunch but then later had to shelter to put on waterproofs when the rain appeared. We arrive very wet at Lanvollen having missed most of the scenery because of the rain! Had a lovely meal though. - - Weds 10th we woke to more rain! We were all very wet but at lunchtime in Quintin found a fantastic ‘workman’s cafe’ which did a set lunch for €10.50. Worth every euro. The rain stopped about half an hour before Lamballe which was our overnight stop. A lovely little hotel with great evening meal and people. Thurs 11th we woke to blue skies!! We had a gorgeous ride taking in the Chateau del al Hundandaye where we stopped for a quick look. We went on to Jugon-les-Lacs where we had coffee & again bought a picnic lunch. We stopped by a lake and sat in the sun to eat our lunch just south of Corseul. After lunch we rode through little villages Pleurtuit and onto la Richardais where we stopped for a drink. We then carried on to St Malo and found out hotel. It was beautifully set and we had time for a walk on the ancient City walls and an ice cream! This is what it is all about. We woke on Friday 12th to a warm day. Made our way after breakfast to the port and our journey home to the UK. Even though it was so wet, we all agreed that we would do it again! - Kate Chadwick
One Response to Forest Row Bike Club
Dear
On March 21st I held the first M.S. Circuit Challenge at Goodwood Motor Circuit, which is an event made up of a ‘Cycle Challenge’ and a ‘By Any Means’
The cycle event has a 30 lap, a 20 lap and a 10 lap cycle challenge while the By Any Means is for teams, families or individuals to take to the track any way they like as long as it is under their own steam.
The M.S.Circuit Challenge was held to raise much needed funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Trust.
This year’s event proved to be very successful,raising over £6,000.00 for the M.S.Trust and with positive feedback received from the event it looks likely double the amount next year.
Hargrove’s Cycles, Radon Bikes and Ultimate Sports Engineering kindly donated many thousands of pounds worth of prizes and have already committed their support for next year.
Please check out their web sites for some great write ups on the M.S. Circuit Challenge.
They also provided us with technical support for all of our riders and had some great riders of their own taking part in all three distances.
We had 100 cyclists this year and we hope to at least double that next year.
The feed back that I have received looks as if this is very do-able.
I have had a lot of interest from many clubs, teams and individuals wanting to take part next year and I will be contacting as many more as possible
My reason for writing to you is that our next event will take place on Sunday March 27th 2011
Would you be interested in taking part by getting a Team together to take part in one or more of the race’s.
All riders get a finishers medal, bottle of water and a chance of winning some great prizes, while also raising much needed funds for the M.S. Trust.
Below are a couple of links to let you see how the M.S.C.C went for us this year, and also how it helped us to raise over £6,000.00!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=726695304#!/pages/Chichester-United-Kingdom/MS-CIRCUIT-CHALLENGE/331961699235?ref=mf
http://www.mstrust.org.uk/fundraising/events/ukevents/goodwood/default.jsp
My contacts are…………
KENNY SMITH
24 ST JOHNS CLOSE
ALDINGBOURNE
CHICHESTER
WEST SUSSEX
PO20 3TH
s-smith101@sky.com
01243 543272
07970695543
I look forward to hearing from you very soon
All the very best
Kenny Smith