May 22, 2019
Hastings
Our stay with Jean and Roger came to an end today and at nine o'clock we were on the road to Hastings via Appledore and Rye. The plan for today was to meet up with Jodie, an old friend from Port Elizabeth but who now lives in New Zealand who just happened to be in the area visiting her boyfriend's family.
The part of the ride to Appledore was very flat and gentle on mostly very quiet country roads.
The old town of Rye is perched on the top of a little hill but we had to detour through it. We have visited it before but it is such a beautiful little town it deserved another look.
Once through Rye we had to work against a frsh wind coming off the sea but were soon at the base of the stiff climb that leads up to the village of Fairlight. A local cyclist who passed us earlier on had described the climb as "notorious" and it soon had us working very hard with Leigh eventually deciding that walking her bike would be the better approach.
We booked in to the campsite at Shearbarn above the town of Hasting and were picked up by Jodie and Steve with whom we would spend the rest of the day. A very nice lunch at a pub a few miles out of Hastings gave us a chance to get to know Steve (weel done Jodie - we think you've got a good'un) and to catch up with what has happened in each others lives during the twenty years since we last saw Jodie.
After that we had a lovely stroll the the old town of Hastings with Steve providing a lot of really interesting historical info.
It was approaching sunset by the time we got back to the campsite and lunch and refreshments were sitting quite heavily upon us so we quickly got ourselves sorted out for an early night. Tomorrow we head for Brighton and, with a Bank Holiday Weekend looming, we are mentally preparing ourselves for a full and busy few days in Sussex.
Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 179 km (111 miles)
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Lovely countryside, eh? Your reference to "Hastings" caught my eye: my father's people come from a few kms north of there, a place called Battle. That's where the Famous Unpleasantness of 1066 took place. His people were on the defensive side. Story has it that they were originally Jutes, from what is now the Denmark/Germany border country, and came to Sussex area around the 10th century.
Enjoy your ride--the good May weather is a good omen. Watch out for the hills in Dorset & Devon.
Best to you and Leigh,
John
4 years ago
4 years ago