All was well at the start of the long ride today. More later on what caused the diversion from the destination. It was a cloudy day though with a lot more sun in the afternoon and a strong SW wind. Temperatures reached 21C in the afternoon. Bob was the leader and he was joined at Walberton Pond by myself, Sam, Paul and Russell.
We headed off on the usual route out via Madehurst with the benefit of the tailwind. From Whiteways it was a fast descent down Houghton Hill. My speed coming into the 30mph area at the bottom was 38 and Sam who was ahead probably over 40mph. Then it was on to turn off through Amberley Village and on via Rackham to stop for elevenses at Wiggonholt.
After elevenses we headed out north and turned off towards West Chiltington and then Nutbourne Road to turn off into Stream Lane where our Leader Bob had an accident. First he is fine with no serious injuries. The ambulance took him to St Richards to be checked over where he was X-Rayed and wounds cleaned and an ankle cut stitched and then discharged later in the day. The accident involved a car but with no fault on the drivers part. Bob was turning right into Stream Lane but seriously cut the corner colliding with a car which had just come up to the junction and was almost stationary. Luckily it was a big Ranger Rover with a good soft bumper. It was very alarming to see though
Coincidentally first some mates of Sam turned up and helped and then coincidentally Horsham and Crawley Group on a ride arrived 5 minutes after the accident. One of their ladies, a first aider helped out. The policeman was very helpful and was probably quite relieved there was no agro and everybody agreed on what happened. The driver provided some blankets to keep Bob warm and when Bob protested that he would get blood on them the driver reassured him that they were dog blankets. A nice lady from a nearby house brought out teas and coffees.
Horsham and Crawley Group just before leaving
The ambulance men were originally going to treat Bob there without a trip to hospital but later changed their minds and took him to St Richards to be checked out. I gather from an email from Bob later that he asked staff if there was treatment for being an idiot but they couldn’t come up with anything
Sam who likes to direct traffic got to do it officially. For his trouble one lady got quite upset with him, saying we shouldn’t have an accident there disrupting traffic and cyclists shouldn’t use the route, it was too dangerous. Probably wouldn’t do much good explaining that it was the quietest route around.
Russell rode back to Littlehampton to get his car to pick up Bob’s bike. Important bit, the bike is fine apart from a very twisted front wheel.
The rest of us, Sam, Paul and I headed back to Wiggonholt for lunch. Then it was a route back involving a climb of Duncton Hill. Mileage for the day from and back to Walberton Pond was 36. However with riding to and back from Walberton my total mileage from Pagham was 56.
Meanwhile the short ride to The Greenhouse Emsworth was much more straightforward with Arthur and Lynn leading and joined by Richard, Bill and Michael. Picture supplied by Michael.
Edwin
Bognor and Chichester Cycling UK 