Recession Obsession

It was a balmy summers evening with maximum daylight hours given that the longest day was just a few days away. Billybob needed an after work escape not to mention exercise and at last minute made the call for a late start TCA route from his. Jon answered the call with John and Al being either out of the country or away, so once again Billybob had to try and keep up with the big man.

After picking up the nippers from nursery, getting them ready for bed before handing over to Stef and hastily assembling apparel and bike lights, the boys managed to depart by 7.30pm normally far too late but given the long clear evenings of late still adequate for a spot of off road action. The route followed the road to Blackdown via Tennyson Lane and then the steep downhill past Tennyson’s Aldworth House onto Jays lane. This northern downhill section was especially dry and a mighty fine test for Billybob’s new Rock Shock Recon forks and boy what a difference a ‘rebound damper’ made.

The route followed a dog leg north through the usually waterlogged Anstead Brook before crossing the Petworth Road then onto the Killingfields otherwise known as Killinghurst Lane, this time the intrepid duo stuck to the country lanes rather than fight the dense thicket and poor unmade footpath through Hollis Hanger. The road picked up the Furzefield Road and then joined the historic TCA route otherwise known as the Chiddingfold bonfire route via Mill Lane which leads into Chiddingfold and the TCA favourite albeit super posh and carpeted The Crown.

Shoes Surrendered at the Door

of the Chiddingfold Crown

The boys sat down to the last few chimes of the local bell ringers while discussing how recession proof some people are, noting the plethora of Mercedes and new 09 plate Audis in the car park not to mention the various states of dress sitting down to a five figure evening meal. The boys content with their common man pints of Thirsty Ferret (albeit £3.25 each), soaked up the ambience (free) and discussed the merits of pushing onto Hambledon (fee) and then taking the train home (not free, in fact very expensive for a 4 minute journey).

A Toast to Absent Friends,
The White Horse

True to form the lads ditched the route that necessitated a train home in order to make dinner that was not cremated and so Billybob quickly fashioned a simpler, faster and more importantly cheaper route back to Haslemere via the Frillingshurst Copse, basically retracing the historic Chiddingfold walker route of olde and then picking up the road through Grayswood avoiding the intimidating relentless hill climb of Three Gates Lane (Billybobs choice as he was sure Jon could tackle this without shortness of breath).

The final return leg into Halslemere, went off road once again through Beanfield Copse, this time on a footpath, a route not usually chosen but given the lateness of the evening it was decided there would be few if any walkers on this wooded trail, fortunately the lads were proven correct. This is a lovely wooden trail which avoids the Petworth road eastern run marred only by the several styles that the boys had to invent various lift and drop techniques to overcome, some more successful than others.

The duo opted once again for another posh pub The White Horse rather than the ‘Spoons’ a decision based largely on likely ‘ambience and views’ rather than the quality of their beer. However Billybob was very pleased to see that Doombar was on tap and all agreed this was a splendid way to finish the evenings ride. A quick slog up Shepherds Hill saw Jon really get into his stride and leave Billybob once again for dust. A return by 10.30 saw the boys sit down to a Mrs B.B spag bol and half a Waitrose custard slice and the beginnings of the film Black Book: Carice van Houten stars in Paul Verhoeven's war-set thriller as a member of the Dutch resistance prepared to sleep with an SS officer to uncover secrets.

(Posted by: Billy-Bob)

Floundering Fathers

Billy-Bob, only 5 weeks after becoming a father for the second time mind you, took the rather brave decision to host the TCA ride. However, he insisted that the ride would not commence until 7pm when the worst of the evening carnage with the nippers was over. He warned that all riders should arrive fully kitted-up and ready to go as the ride he had in mind relied on perfect timing.

Al was intrigued but resisted the urge to arrive early, knocking on the Billy-Bob's door at 7pm sharp - helmet, gloves, the lot. There did seem to be a distinct lack of bicycle hardware outside - in fact just Billy-Bob's trusty steed was readied - and Billy-Bob answered the door in a furious mood. Jon had apparently bailed out of the ride with no reasonable excuse at hand... "fancied a night in indeed!" muttered the host. Al's once cheery mood was also evaporated as he took a mouthful of this week's cake only to realise that it contained almonds, the only foodstuff he has been known to refuse.

Billy-Bob makes the final checks

Wrong John had also cried off earlier in the day since he had a friend staying, so it was just the veterans this evening: Billy-Bob announced that they would be recreating the logistically complicated Haslemere to Hambledon (Surrey) route previously tackled in July. This relied on catching the 21:40 train home and there was not a minute to lose...

With no-one to referee the conversation talk soon turned to babies as the pair made their way by country lane through Home Wood towards Black Down. Turning off the road for the first time and Billy-Bob quickly got confused (apparently the tracks looked different in the dark). No matter, an experienced rider like Billy-Bob always carries a map, and with the assistance of pin-point GPS location provided by Al the pair were soon on the right track towards Barfold and Ansteadbrook.

It was during this portion of the ride that Al started to tease apart Billy-Bob's somewhat Ellisonian timing estimates. The last time this ride was attempted the party set of 15 minutes earlier and had 10 minutes to spare before the train. On this occasion the recent rain had made the terrain more challenging and darkness was obviously hampering navigation to a certain degree. Coupled with the fact that fording once gentle trickles now meant wading through quagmire progress was considerably slower than before.

Billy-Bob squelches onward
throught the leaf debris

Both riders were relieved to reach another road section but this also turned to farce as Billy-Bob searched for the track which lead off-road from Killinghurst to Chiddingfold. After more pondering of the map and consulting of the GPS the footpath was located and the pair confidently proceeded, following the field boundary next to a wood. Approximately 10 minutes into this section of the ride and Billy-Bob proclaimed that 'something doesn't feel right'. Having consulted the map once again he concluded that the obvious solution was to carry the bikes down a deep ravine, over some fallen logs and into a second recently-ploughed field, where we once again picked up the boundary. Reaching the bottom of the field we again studied the map, consulted the GPS and tried to lock onto a reference point on the featureless landscape, but we finally concluded that we were well and truly lost. We re-traced our steps, round fields, over logs, down ravines, back to the road... at which point Billy-Bob announced that we had lost the map somewhere since our last stop.

It was left to good old navigational instinct which thankfully saw us arrive in Chiddingfold shortly afterwards. We piled into the public bar at the Crown Inn and settled down to watch the footie (Spurs v Liverpool) with a pint of T.E.A. With time dragging the prospect of striking out for Haslemere was beyond the relms of reality and, without the map, Billy-Bob decided to err on the side of caution and use the well established route home via the country lanes which felt like an endless climb.

Two pints of Wacko please!

In order to recover we felt that a quick pint in the Swan was in order and we enjoyed a quick pint each of Everards Wacko Jacko mild (with a hint of pumpkin!) in salubrious surroundings. By the time we were back at base, with talk of nappies and teething almost exhausted, and the phrases "just like the good old days!", "Wrong John - imaginary friend more like!" and "Jonny P - what a woofter!" were becoming decidedly over-used.

Now on their second child the Bowmans

share some of their secrets for a quiet night

With Islay fast asleep in front of the telly the boys were greeted with a steaming plate of Mrs BB's famous beef stew with apple crumble to follow. A top night all round!

Route Map (click to enlarge):

Elevation Profile (click to enlarge):

(Posted by: Al)

Haslemere to Hambledon Humdinger

*** THIS POST MARKS THE TCA's 100th OFFICAL OUTING ***

Jon turned up just before 6:30pm for the Haslemere run, or so he thought, until Billy-Bob announced that it was a ‘new route’ and they were heading to Hambledon, Jon suddenly went pale then realised it was Hambledon, Surrey not the traditional training circuit containing many a favourite route of Blogs gone by. ‘Hurry up!’ Billy-Bob announced the timing tonight was now even more critical, as you shall see later. Jon quickly wolfed down some of Mrs Billy-Bob’s home made fancies, monitored closely by Billy-Bob.

The intrepid duo once again began the Haslemere route, without the rest of the squad who had given their excuses the week before. They sped off just before 6:45; timing was already playing on Billy-Bob’s mind therefore the original 'Blackdeath Valley' route was circumvented in favour of the road route up to Blackdown, characterised by the verdant Tennyson's Lane.

The secluded sunken lane that runs from Haslemere past Aldworth is named Tennyson's Lane in memory of the poet. It is little changed from Arthur Paterson's description in 1905: "Trees meet overhead, copsewood surrounds it, and later, it is hedged by high sandy banks thickly overgrown with plant and scrub; squirrels and rabbits, and all other small woodland creatures, disport themselves over it. It twists and turns, and to the stranger appears to lead nowhere in particular". Tennyson purchased Blackdown, and built Aldworth in 1869 (Wilkipedia).

With no small woodland creatures in sight this time the pair made haste on what was turning out to be a splendid summer evening after a rainy day. Once at Blackdown the traditional off road route would normally take TCA riders to the highest point in the Sussex Weald - Temple of the Winds - after which the riders would descend off the back of the downs southward towards regular watering hole, the Noah’s Ark in Lurgashall. Tonight however the pair were heading north into previously unnavigated territory. The pair descended immediately at the Car Park past Aldworth House; sadly no poetry was uttered in the rather steep, rutted and knarly descent.

Billy-Bob cleans his bike at last

The route followed the Sussex Border Path onto Jays Lane followed by a sharp left off road just prior to Jays Farm which picked up the Bridle Path north towards Petworth Road. This new route was deliberately chosen by Billy-Bob because it was marked on the forthcoming BHF Haslemere ride, and also because the TCA had not travelled up this way before. This section was reasonably tame, flat in part with the odd twisty tree roots and a small stream that crossed the path on route. After crossing Petworth Road an executive decision was made to take the footpath rather than the bridleway for a short section, it did after all mean we would be at the pub quicker.

Billy-Bob assuring the most direct route to the boozer

The footpath skirted the edge of a dense copse named Killingshurst, remamed the Killingfields by Billy-Bob, who thought the dense fern like forest was quite eerie and akin to something from a Vietnam movie. He half expected to pick up a puncture from a hidden bamboo trap. Alas, no bamboo trap only a sneaky root that caught Billy-Bob off guard while concentrating on low flying tree branches, his front coil suspension (already suspect), hit the offending root with a thud followed by a crack and sent Billy-Bob off into the undergrowth.

Kilingshurst (Killingfields) Copse

The bridleway joined up onto Mill Lane which Jon recognised as a route that members had previously travelled on foot in days of old, on route to the infamous Chiddingfold Bonfire night. The pair arrived at The Crown at 8pm on the dot to the sounds of the church bells across the green. The pub was frequented by many well-heeled diners, with the exception of a chap in a long rain coat who sat outside laughing while staring into his pint and holding a lottery ticket. A first for the TCA then ensued, the pair removing their mud ridden SPD shoes before entering the bar. It was such a splendid evening however they opted for an outside table so they could enjoy campanology night. Billy-Bob had an splendid pint of Hip Hop Champion Beer, while Jon slurped his pint of Ballards Best. No nuts as they were too expensive.

Campanology at the Crown while toasting absent friends

The boys downed their pints uncharacteristically quickly with no time for small talk on planning issues of the week. It was at this point that Billy-Bob owned up that tonight was a TCA first: in honour of the club motto and its mission ‘to seek out adventure and good beer using environmentally sustainable transportation’, the pair had to catch the train home in order to complete the route. Oh yes! The only downside was that if they missed the 21:42 from London to Portsmouth it would either be a long wait at the station or a very long road ride home to a cold chilli. Thus i was back in the saddle and straight up the A283 towards Hambleon Hurst, the next off-road section that would take them north through woodland and up to Beech Hill, and then into Hambledon and the second pub of the evening.

This part of the route was reasonably quick and the expected gradient turned out to be little more of a slight climb up to a rather picturesque 'creamy England' village green. The route picked up Greensand Way which runs east-west north of Hambledon and if followed over the railway line eventually joins up with previous TCA HindHead route in Thursley.

Merely half an hour since the last sip the pair felt slightly guilty at sinking a few more local ales at the new TCA pub of the Merry Harriers, a delightful pub on the outskirts of Hambledon and situated opposite a handy campsite. In fact, despite the recent inclement weather, the pair commented on several hardy campers who were pitched in the field opposite; Billy-Bob made a mental note of this for future expeditions. With two pints of reasonable Summer Lightning inside them, and a chat to a pair of friendly locals on mountain bike routes in the area, the boys were feeling confident of meeting their rendezvous with Network South East. That was until the locals pointed out that the station in Wormley (Whitley on the timetable) was at least 30 minutes away! The pair had 20 minutes to spare and like Batman and Robin (Only Fools and Horses stylie) mounted their muddy steeds and sped off west on road through Hambledon towards Whitley station.

The Merry Harriers' Moto reads like an alternative to the TCA's very own mission statement!

Fortunately, the road, the additional pint, and the thought of cold chilli meant this dash took less than 10 minutes all in and the pair arrived at the rather deserted station with 10 minutes to spare. The only dillema left was whether to run the gauntlet on paying the rail fare for all of one stop. Surely no one would be around this time and with the thought of saving beer money for future rides an executive decision was made to ‘chance it’. "Evening all", the conductor announced when the train pulled into the station, park your bike in that carriage lads and I will be along to collect your tickets when we get going’. B*gger.

Fare dodger

Resentfully the pair parted with two coins each and would have made a dash down the centre aisle of the train if it were not for the pitiful London commuters just finishing work and the fact that they had their bikes. After a whole 7 minutes the return leg of the ride was complete, and all that remained was the very steep uphill back to base and a still warm Chilli. All in all a top ride which the pair both agreed was worthy of the Haslemere Route II honour. Whilst not as hardcore as Route 1, nevertheless a good mix of road and off road and more importantly pushing the limits of the ride coverage in a sustainable manner whilst meeting culinary deadlines.

(Posted by: Paul, Pictures by Jon)