Both of us up at one for a pee under starry skies. Woken at
4.50am to the loud, rolling sound of thunder.
It went on so long we wondered briefly if it was a 747 taking off in the
field next door.
We had ridden hard yesterday over undulating countryside to
try to travel as far east as we could because we knew there was a front coming
in. The forecast was for thunder, lightning and hail with torrential downpours
causing flooding to many parts of the country.
As soon as we heard that first clap, we were out of the tent
getting everything together. By the look of the sky we reckoned we had maybe 15
minutes. But it was not to be and half way through packing up the tent we felt
the first heavy drops of rain and took the decision to throw everything back in
the tent and dive for cover. Because of
the forecast we anticipated being on this field for a long time.
By 6.30am the rain had been constant, though not torrential,
the thunder had ceased and we were hoping that we may be able to cycle sometime
soon. I fell into a deep sleep until 8am when Julia informed me that it hadn’t
rained for the last half hour and we should break camp.
She also informed me that I had been snoring like a trooper.
Now, as all men know. We do not snore…..! It is purely something made up by a
wife or partner who feels they have been deprived of something (in Julia’s case….. sleep. I had fallen back to sleep……. She hadn’t
) at which point they feel the need to
have a go about anything……… Now, fella’s. How many of you out there have ever
heard yourselves snoring…….? I rest my case….!
So, up and into it. We were praying (boy…. Did I use that word….) that
the storm wasn’t going to return. Packed the gear….. packed the sodden tent…… and off down a now
muddy track into Horsham…….home of one of our friends and client. Even before
we reached the town the scenery was spectacular. From wooded forest areas to
landscaped manor house gardens.
Entered Horsham and decided to have coffee at The Queens Head. It
had shelter for the bikes just in case.
This proved to be a no goer, as it was only 9.30am and they weren’t open.
Cycled into town, but had to take shelter under the local railway bridge as it
began to “bucket“ down. Spent half an
hour under there trying to stay dry. At
long last there was a reprieve in the weather so we headed for The Swan
shopping centre, which we’d asked locals about as they too sheltered from the
storm. Found a place to park the bikes
which sheltered them from the rain, locked them up and went to find a more
comfortable place with wifi to wait out the storm.
Sat down to a very welcome mochaccino and sandwich and
logged onto google maps to check where we would be headed today. Horsham is quite a big town with a vast
shopping centre, both indoors and outdoors.
 |
| Horsham |
It is very clean and appears to be quite affluent with no pound shops or
charity shops spotted by us. It is also
extremely busy. Maybe Saturday morning
is the busy time but it was seriously chokka with people everywhere. Despite all these people, it was also very
clean. As we wrote down our directions
and checked messages, it stopped raining completely and the sun even came out –
we were not expecting that. So thought
we’d better hit the road while the going was good and headed back out on the
road we’d come in on to find Hammerpond Road.
Now when you’re looking on google maps, you don’t have time with slow
internet connection, to go to the satellite view and see what sort of terrain
or countryside you might be cycling through.
Horsham is quite a big town, and we were on Hammerpond Road within
minutes of leaving the town centre and were rapt to find it a quiet country
lane with overhanging trees which had been freshly tar sealed within the last
six months we would guess. Made for
beautiful cycling. We passed the Horsham
Rugby club and Manning Heath Golf Club and wondered if these were old stomping
grounds for our friend Nick. We went up
the wrong road for about a km but didn’t mind because the scenery was so lovely
and the gradient so easy. Sometimes the
signposting in this country leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes the signs are so old they’re
unreadable, sometimes they’re overgrown and you can easily miss them, (even on
a bike, let alone a car), sometimes the roads are known by more than one name
and sometimes there is just no sign at all.
 |
| One too many days in lycra for Pete |
After this delightful start to the day however, the roads
just got busier and busier. Not sure if
it was because it was Saturday, or because we were not too far from London now,
or because there was a major agricultural show on, but it was probably a
combination. So it was not a very
pleasant ride from that perspective, but the countryside was still incredibly
beautiful and the weather turned out to be spectacularly hot and sunny. At Turner’s Hill we stopped at a pub to
upload our blogs from the past two days and see if we could find a quieter
route for the rest of the day.
 |
| Pub at Turner's Hil |
Unfortunately it was not to be. We had to endure busy roads until about 5km
from the Peels place which we reached about 4pm after having cycled 48 Kms today.
It was lovely to see Elizabeth again (who I lived with for a year when I
was 19) and we met her friend Vicky and her three children. Sat and had a very welcome cuppa while the
tent aired out and then helped Elizabeth move some furniture for a garden party
she is hosting tomorrow.
Said goodbye to Vicky and the kids and then I got
showered while Pete packed up all the stuff that had been airing. Then he got showered while I went with
Elizabeth to get fish and chips for tea.
Had some wonderful homemade cherry and apple stew with yoghurt for
dessert while keeping a watch out the window for the deer that frequently come
down from the forest into the field behind the house. Unfortunately they decided not to tonight, whereas
last night a dozen had come down – drats!
So we sat down with a lemon ginger tea, catching up in general before
heading to a nice, clean, comfortable bed.
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