The SCC 2021 Night Ride to Brighton!

Making our way towards central London, we picked up a further 5 riders just outside Alexandra Palace, which took the peloton up to 16. Heading through parks and even a few off-road routes, we eventually made it to Camden Town, where we were greeted with the usual comments from the locals, the highlight being a Taxi driver saying “do you know what time it is? You should be home in bed”.

Passing London Zoo brought back memories of the unknown creature that took out Mr Conway on the last night ride, still can’t be sure what it was. However, everyone passed unscathed, and it wasn’t long before we made our way to Marble Arch, the traditional start point. The customary picture in front of the famous landmark was taken alongside a few friendly locals enjoying their evening and giving us some encouragement. Heading off, it wasn’t long before we were passing the river Thames and making our way out of the hustle and bustle and into the countryside.

Carrying on heading south, the team realised travelling across London is a lot further than you might think and with only a few mishaps so far, one being getting lost down a cul de sac, the team were in good spirits and making steady progress.

Crossing the M25 and heading on through a mix of country roads and a few off-road tracks, a rare sight of the thunder moon was seen which was followed by ominous and sometimes biblical lighting strikes illuminating up the pitch-black sky in the distance.

The forecast predicted heavy rain and thunderstorms in the early hours of Saturday morning, however we didn’t really get any rain until about 5.30am, which didn’t really last longer than about 30 minutes and wasn’t as nearly as bad as predicted.

After several more miles of rolling countryside roads, a few wrong turns, and no Moose to be seen, the team arrived at the main highlight which was Ditchling Beacon or the green wall as some of the riders were calling it. Andy Z encouraging the riders by saying “are we doing this on not” was all the that was needed. It was up to Laurence to lead the team along the road before he went shooting off the front seemingly never to be seen again. The remaining 15 riders gallantly made their way up the twisting and steep turns of the beacon with everyone successfully negotiating the climb and being rewarded with a misty morning view. Laurence, however, was still yet to be seen, had he got lost, was he in the Market diner café already, who knows. As it turns out he had done a large loop in search of more hills and chased the entire team up the beacon. 

A fast and fun descent into Brighton followed with people obviously desperate to get to the Market diner, they clearly hadn’t experienced the ordeal of our last visit. The team assembled in front of the pier for a celebratory picture before everyone came to their senses and decided not to go to the Market diner café, a wise decision. 11 of the riders made their way back to the station and enjoyed a bite to eat and drink, however a seagull did take half of Costa’s breakfast.

Tat, Steve B, Chris B, John B and Laurence found a superb little Café and enjoyed a magnificent breakfast, definitely a great improvement on the Market diner café. It was now time to head home and the remaining few boarded the never-ending train, which seemed to have a mile worth of carriages. Reflecting on how uneventful the ride had been, Steve B was amazed that after all those combined miles there were no punctures, this was the kiss of death and the unlucky soul was John Bailey, who got a puncture riding home from Finsbury Park station, sorry John. 

Bring on the next night ride and a big thanks to James Leek for organising another successful night ride!