Our latest newsletter is here!

This issue is packed full of articles that include racing updates and café reviews, to the man, the legend that is Peter Baker.

Folks are no doubt hotly anticipating the warmer weather, where decisions on how many layers to wear are only minimised by public decency.

Tour of Somerset

A group of Wanderers took to the road for the 100 mile Somerset Sportive in April.

A cold, damp start made some of the opening climbs and descents quite tricky and, after an early split, a group of eight came back together and rode well to share the effort and keep the pace high.

That was until, with 80+ miles in the legs, we hit the vicious lower slopes of Cheddar Gorge, which saw the group quickly splinter.

After that, it was a push for home and a well earned medal, drink and pizza.

Calpe

The Wanderers annual warm weather pilgramage to Calpe provided another dose of challenging climbs, sweeping descents and perfect roads for those who made the trip. Put your name on the list for next year, you won’t regret it!

Flanders

Barry Mitchell, Graham Faultless and Neil Edwards took on the classic cobbled climbs of Flanders before heading over to Ypres and riding the Peace Route around the war cemetries. Belgium is highly recommended and doable in a weekend.

Circuit of Danehill

Ten athletes took to the start line with the winner being Mark Shepherd of SDW who sped round on his TT-rig in 48:21.

Runner-up and fastest of the eight competing on road bikes was Richard Burchett (Crawley Wheelers) who crossed the finish line eight seconds outside of 50 minutes.

Third overall and second in the road-bike category was race promoter Neil Edwards who reduced his course PB by over two-and-a-half minutes to 52:11.

Circuit of Laughton

15 riders, including six guests, pinned a number on, on a glorious May evening for the 20km Circuit of Laughton.

Winner was George Bentley of Neighbourhood CC who pushed his road bike round in an impressive 28 minutes and 16 seconds. Mark Shepherd (SDW) came in second and home rider, Dan Street, was third, both on TT bikes.

Barry Mitchell chalked up a cracking PB, knocking four minutes off his previous best. Training really does pay dividends.

☕️ Cafe Stop Review ☕️

Offham Farm Shop

Although I’d ridden past on various occasions, this isn’t a café I’d ever stopped at.

There is a decent selection of cakes and cooked breakfasts, with the latter’s ingredients coming from the onsite butcher and dairy. The breakfast got a thumbs up from Trevor, LWCC’s resident breakfast connoisseur.

The venue would make a good coffee stop in summer or winter as there’s seating inside and out.

There’s good cycle parking in the rear garden, found by pedalling around the right-hand side of the building, plus the bikes remain in sight, wherever you choose to sit.

Location: https://g.co/kgs/z8iCZwA

Café stop rating 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Highways and Byways

The good and the grot!

Let’s start positively with two improvements worth highlighting: 

1. We were pleasantly surprised when riding out from Uckfield to Ringles Cross to find that the stretch of road between the Picture House and Manor Royal has been resurfaced, thus allowing riders to get from A to B without having to buy a new wheelset. 

2. We all enjoy the A27 cycle path, but there are a few things that needed a tweak, the timing of the traffic lights at Firle being one of them. We can now report that these lights change significantly more quickly, so timing wise, you will struggle to get your bidon back in its cage before setting back off.

Please submit your observations to [email protected]

Lewes Wanderers Top Trumps

Peter Baker

Panache – 71

Longest Ride (miles) – 764

Longest Ascent (ft) – 23,235

Sprinting – 66

Toughness – 98