Tour de Sussex...Giro d'Surrey...

To celebrate the start of the Grand Tours cycling extravaganza in 2013 the typist and I decided we would head off for a nice bike ride as part of his training regime to complete two stages of the Tour de France route in October.....we planned to ride from Brighton on the coast back to home in Ashtead....a total journey of about 50 to 55 miles depending on which route we took...and if we got lost.....

...er....how comfortable is this going to be?...can I ride on your knee?.....

...we are very safety conscious so I made sure my helmet was securely fitted even when we were on the train to Brighton....we took our Garmin so we would know how far we had gone, how long it had taken us and how fast typist was pumping his legs....

...oh dear, it was pouring with rain and very windy when we got to Brighton but we had no choice but to set off. It was tough going along the coast raod for the first few miles. Normally on a long straight flat road we would have been doing 20 mph or more but we were being buffeted down to 12 mph by the wind.....so much so that we did not manage to get any photos of the beach....

...it finally dried up enough just as we turned in-land after Shoreham.....bye bye English Channel...

 ...we had quite a lot of hills to go up and quite a few cars to avoid....and after we had done 15 miles we stopped for a little snack....

...important to replenish the carbs....and the cycling community is so kind that every time we stop at the side of the road other cyclists ask us if we are OK....perhaps the typist looked tired...i shared my oat bar with him just in case...

....we zoomed along making good time.....we stopped in Horsham for a coke and we had to stop a few times to consult the map to make sure we did not head of on unnecessary detours....

....excuse me...do you know the way to Surrey?

....it's that way.....

...we made good time and had made it all the way back to Dorking when we stopped at a junction and carefully looked left and right. It was a very wide road and there was space to pull out into the middle and stop before turning right. We clipped our shoes into the pedals and rolled across to the middle and we were just about to apply the brakes when....BANG WALLOP.....a lady behind us drove straight into the back of us and knocked us clean off the bike....THUD....typist jumped up and SAID @!!***%&$££@....and ..%@$££@%%@$£$£$....and then *^$@@@£!**&XX...and walked to the side of the road to check us and the bike out....and then the lady...DROVE OFF WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!! This is (a) very rude and (b) very illegal....but we were so shaken up that we did not really notice until two very kind drivers stopped their cars and checked us out and one of them had taken her car number....typist thought we were OK and the bike was fine...but then he realised that his ack wheel was all bent and he had scrapes and bumps on his hand, leg and arm....luckily he did not fall onto his shoulder which had the operation....

Scene of the Accident: we were by the white house behind me and pulled out where the little bollard is in the middle of the road....fur a bit ruffled

a very forlorn bike with a bent wheel....

...thankfully we were only a few miles from home and mum came out with the rescue wagon and picked us up....personally I think the whole thing may have been staged to get typist out of cycling up Pebble Hill....and to think that we stood at the corner for a few seconds wondering if we should go left or right....if only we'd gone left....

Sir Bradley Clapton.....

p.s. we are all fine this morning...we shall be back on the road in a few days....