On 10 Aug 2015 at 12:09pm biker wrote:
Hi I've not long moved to lewes can anyone tell me where there's any decent cycle routes around Lewes and are there any clubs about thanks for your help
On 10 Aug 2015 at 2:06pm Can't Ride A Bike wrote:
I recommend:
1: The South Downs Way; Easily accessible from all over the town
2: Cuckmere Haven near Seaford
3: Ringmer
4: Brighton - There's a path along the A27
On 10 Aug 2015 at 2:20pm cycleman wrote:
If you are an off road cyclist this is a brilliant place. Get the large scale OS map and see all the bridleways around here and then cycle them.
On 10 Aug 2015 at 2:40pm ar10642 wrote:
Lots of nice cycle routes on the country lanes. I have a few I could share with you - how far are you looking to go?
On 10 Aug 2015 at 2:43pm On the way to Newhaven wrote:
If you want to try and find your own way, Cycle Lewes produced a useful map a few years ago. Can be found here:
Check it out here »
On 10 Aug 2015 at 4:18pm Horseman7 wrote:
There is a club and I think they're called Lewes Wanderers - green and yellow strip. The Cycle Shack (situated within Intersport in Cliffe High Street) will be able to enlighten you. There are also monthly Sunday morning rides - again ask the Cycle Shack. Happy pedalling.
On 10 Aug 2015 at 6:25pm Two wheels good wrote:
Lewes wanderers rides start from Uckfield, so they're not really a lewes club despite the name.
The downs are great for off road but there are few roads through the downs meaning they are very busy. Roads life the ones to Rodmell and Newhaven are hotspots for close and punishment passing. You're better off heading into the weald through barcombe or Ringmer. There is loads of great cycling in the high weald in particular round Heathfield and Burwash, and the hills there are just a testing as the downs, if not more so. . The closer you get to the brighton line (Haywards heath, Crawley) the busier the roads are
On 11 Aug 2015 at 8:01am biker wrote:
Best place for mountain biking for me is friston forest near cuckmere haven. There are great waymarked trails from the car park and tons of decent singletrack off piste. It takes a while to loop it all together and to explore but once you know your way around it is an absoloute gem and not a lot of people know about it so it's not over crowded! Some of the singletrack goes through ww2 bomb craters which are amazing fun to ride. Definately take your helmet and light body armour. Best when dry. Good luck.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 10:59am Harry wrote:
Don't got to Barcombe! There are far too many cyclists on our roads already and going about one's normal business in a car on the narrow roads can get frustrating.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 11:05am ar10642 wrote:
Harry, I'm afraid that's tough luck. We all have to share the roads, and why is your "normal business" more important than someone else's?
On 11 Aug 2015 at 11:43am Harry wrote:
When you live in a small village very badly served by public transport car use is necessary for everyday life. The sheer number of *pleasure* cyclists that feel fine about stalling cars for 1.5 miles has now reached epidemic proportions. Please find other roads to cycle on and let us get on with our lives at a reasonable pace.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 2:18pm ar10642 wrote:
"When you live in a small village very badly served by public transport car use is necessary for everyday life".
Your choice to live there. Move to a town/city, stop complaining, or get a bike yourself. Or all three.
"The sheer number of *pleasure* cyclists that feel fine about stalling cars for 1.5 miles has now reached epidemic proportions" - First of all when I'm driving I never get held up for more than a few seconds by a bike, so I don't believe you. Especially on the quiet roads in the country (yes, the roads to Barcombe *are* quiet). Secondly do you never drive anywhere for pleasure? How is that different? How do you know the cyclists are using the road for pleasure and not trying to get somewhere? None of that matters anyway, the roads have to be shared, whether you like it or not.
"Please find other roads to cycle on and let us get on with our lives at a reasonable pace.".
No, sorry. How about you stop driving? It really makes my journey more difficult with you in my way when *I'm* driving somewhere. After all, I've decided my journey is more important than yours and that's all that matters in my fantasy world.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 2:37pm ar10642 wrote:
Anyway, dragging this ALL the way back to the original question, here's a nice, quiet 32 mile loop starting/finishing at Lewes station. Mostly quiet, single track country lanes with a few quiet double track bits. Be courteous to motorists trying to get past on those and you'll be fine. The only bit that's not so nice is the A275 out to Cooksbridge, but unfortunately that's the only available road going out that way.
Check it out here »
On 11 Aug 2015 at 3:30pm Harry wrote:
Barcombe is mainly serviced by two long and narrow roads, Barcombe Mills Road and Spithurst Road. Cyclists do hold cars up on them for long distances.
Cyclists dressed from head to toe in lycra are unlikely to be cycling for anything but pleasure.
I do cycle for pleasure, but off road for pleasure and on road for necessity. Unlike many of the professional pleasure cyclists who use the Barcombe circuit I'll pull over to let cars pass.
Barcombe was better served by public transport when I moved there a decade ago.
It's the sheer volume of pleasure cyclists that now visit the Barcombe circuit that is the issue. Only three years ago the numbers of cyclists was manageable. In the last three years numbers have increased exponentially.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 5:15pm Driver wrote:
ar10642- next time you and your fellow cyclists ride out towards Cooksbridge and inevitably hold up the traffic round the bends through Offham, could you please just pull over on the crest just past the Blacksmiths' Arms and let the queueing traffic pass- rather than race down the hill as they try to overtake.
Thank you!
On 11 Aug 2015 at 5:29pm Two wheels good wrote:
Harry
I can understand your frustration, as I’m a driver too. I tend to stop at let cars past (after a bit) for two reasons - it’s polite, and more importantly, I don’t go cycling down quiet country lanes to have a ton of angry sounding metal roaring away a few feet behind me.
On the other hand, as a reasonable road cyclist, I can average circa 20mph around the relatively flat lanes of Barcombe. I’d suggest if your average speed is a lot faster than that, then you are driving too fast given the narrowness of the lanes. Of course, there are slower cyclists, let’s say they are averaging more like 14-15 mph. According to Google Maps, the four-mile trip from Barcombe to Lewes takes 12 minutes, that’s an average speed of 20mph (I’d refer you to my original point). Let’s say that as a result of one of those slow cyclists your average speed is reduced to 15mph (unlikely, I’d say, as at least half of your trip will be on larger roads). That would take your trip time up to 16 minutes – it would take four minutes longer.
Given that, it’s probably a good job you don’t have to use public transport as even in London – where buses and tubes are pretty regular – you’d likely have to wait four minutes or more at least a few times a week. I’d also worry about the poor shopkeepers and customers of Lewes. For example, when you walk into a shop and find that there is a queue, or a particularly chatty customer, and you are delayed by – I don’t know – six minutes, do you barge everyone out the way, complain about all these people blocking up “your” shop, and then demand that you are served first because you are more important than everyone else? (While you’re at it, you could come on this forum and complain about all the bloody pedestrians blocking up your shops).
Perhaps you could just relax, accept that waiting a few minutes would not bother you in almost any other context, and accept that those people have as much right to use the roads as you. In fact those 4 mintues are not much to give up given the amount of pleasure that cycling gives to the scores of people who cycle round there at the weekend. The rural road network was largely created through the lobbying activities of cyclists, by the way. Having said that, I do think that *some* cyclists should be more considerate to other road users (but then again some cyclists live in rural areas, and hey there are keen cyclists in Barcombe, I know that for a fact) as it would help us all in the long run.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 5:33pm ar10642 wrote:
Driver, I'll always pull over if someone's been sitting behind for a while, but I'm not sure who you think my fellow cyclists are. I'm not some sort of leader of the cyclists or something!
For me the biggest irritation when I'm driving is "40mph man". Drive at 40mph. Everywhere, all the time. Whether the limit is 60, or even 30. There's probably some on here. You know who you are. You've probably got a flat cap and driving gloves or one of those fish symbols stuck to your car.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 6:40pm winston c wrote:
Good game, try to touch there handlebar with your car door mirror !
On 11 Aug 2015 at 7:18pm Two wheels good wrote:
Ah, the punishment pass merchant. Coming on here like a pound shop Clarkson, threatening serious injury or death to fellow road users. Hilarious bit of trolling.
Meanwhile, here's how the highway code says you should pass.
Check it out here »
On 11 Aug 2015 at 8:39pm cycleman wrote:
It is interesting and dangerous how much some motorists hate cyclists. Any ideas why? I would prefer non facetious answers please.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 9:54pm Zzz.. wrote:
Because when you are trying to get somewhere cyclists get in the way?
On 11 Aug 2015 at 10:16pm cycleman wrote:
Cars get in my way but I respect their right to use the road. There must be a better reason.
On 11 Aug 2015 at 10:33pm Two wheels good wrote:
When I'm walking down the street pedestrians get in my way, especially the slow walking older ones or tourists . I don't hate pedestrians.
On 12 Aug 2015 at 7:34am Curate re:Fish Symbol wrote:
The symbol is a Christian one. I have to admit that I laughed when I saw one with legs on and Darwin written inside the fish.
On 12 Aug 2015 at 10:15am ar10642 wrote:
In a way I kind of like "Zzz.."'s honesty. Usually you get a load of Daily Mail-esque self justifying horse s**t about not paying road tax or red lights or "lycra louts" or whatever. Really it's because they might have to slow down and overtake safely and that kind of minor inconvenience just won't do. They've got to catch up with 40mph man as fast as possible.
On 12 Aug 2015 at 11:52am Old Bike wrote:
Yes, because going fast isn't what cycling is about at all is it? Well is it?
On 12 Aug 2015 at 7:59pm Rural dweller wrote:
There is something worse than pleasure cyclists on our lanes.
Overprivileged (usually) young women who strut about at walking pace on horses. They rarely look behind to see who they are obstructing, have absolute right of way; and when confronted by oncoming traffic give a sickly grin with their wave of "thank you" when you have no choice but to manouever your horseless carriage out of their way.
The excuse for riding is that the horse has to be excercised. But why have the b****y toy in the first place, if you do not have a big garden of field for it?
On 12 Aug 2015 at 9:16pm TwoWheelsGood wrote:
Putting my driving hat on. A few days ago I was driving into Lewes and there was a car - a solitary car - approaching a cyclist on the other side of the road. There was no-one behind me. Rather than slow down and wait until I had passed, leaving plenty of room to overtake, the driver moved on, overtaking the cyclist with a tiny amount of room, coming over into my lane, almost colliding with me (forcing me to brake sharply) and then zoomed off. Now I can understand people getting frustrated with cyclists if they are held up for long distances but surely people can slow down, literally wait for a few seconds and then overtake when it is clear? Is that too much to ask?
On 13 Aug 2015 at 8:32am Rosiecheeks wrote:
I used to cycle a lot, but got away from barcombe. I use to cycle Into lewes past the snowdrop, along by the river, through the industrial estate, then along the road at the bottom of Mount into Glynde. Then from there to Firle and along the coach road into alfriston. After a cuppa and a piece of cake I cycled along the top of the downs to Kingston . There are too many groups of cyclists now hogging the road. And in September they are having road race through the villages along with their antarage. The cyclist come from a Surrey club and I think they are starting the race in Newick. I will leave my car on road to f... Them up and slow them down and to make sure the race organises drive their cars on the right side of the road, not like last year when they all took up the whole width of the road, how selfish.
On 13 Aug 2015 at 11:34am pedantic micro manager wrote:
I have to correct entourage but I agree with Rosiecheeks. If I lived near Newick I would do the same. September 20 is the Bo Peep car meet. Be there or be square wheeled.
On 13 Aug 2015 at 3:42pm Harry wrote:
Yes, I think it's time the arrogant club that hold the annual cycle races around Barcombe got taught a bit of a lesson. I'm fed up of being shouted at in my own village by some git on a motorbike to get out of the way of the cycles.
Parking cars to create slaloms sounds like a good idea. And maybe some of the signs indicating the route could be errr... redirected. A broken down tractor and a few horse riders might force them to slow down too. :-)
Thanks you for the long email "Two Wheels Good", but your thesis has a fundamental flaw: you've grossly over-estimated the speed of cycles on the Barcome Roads.