Horsham & Crawley CTC Member Group
Horsham & Crawley CTC Member Group
Friendly, unhurried cycling in the Horsham, Crawley, East Grinstead area of Sussex and Surrey.
We are a group of CTC members living in the north of West Sussex - ranging from Rudgwick in the west to East Grinstead in the east. We enjoy riding through the wonderful countryside around us and have grouped together in order to provide a programme of rides throughout the year. Our rides are generally unhurried and are planned at an average speed of about 10 mph, thus making them suitable for most riders. We provide a friendly welcome to fellow cyclists on our rides whether CTC members or not, pride ourselves on our knowledge of the local routes and are proud of the fact that we never leave anyone behind.
Further down this page you can find more information about us and details of forthcoming rides. This list also appears in the West Sussex CTC Member Group publication "The Pedaller" but the version on this page should always be viewed as the definitive one as it is more up to date.
The best place to see what we're doing is our Meetup page.
Upcoming rides feature on our Meetup page and any last minute changes/details can be found there. Joining our Meetup group is free and you can then indicate whether you will be attending our ride and be able to ask questions about it.
Our Facebook Group is a place in which we occasionally post various photos and chitter-chatter. Click on: Horsham and Crawley CTC
Write ups of rides back in 2016 and earlier are available in the Blog that we kept back then. Our Flickr page also contains photos from some of our past rides.
We are running our rides as normal.
Anyone and everyone is welcome to take part in our rides, but we would expect people to join our Group after two or three rides in order to make a contribution towards our costs (membership is only £5 a year).
the latest details and availability for each of our rides is best found on our Meetup page .
n.b. as we are a CTC Member Group, individual CTC membership is also necessary to fully benefit from the insurance and discounts available.
| 07-Aug-22 | TBR | 09:30 | Ditchling Tea Rooms (with optional ascent of the Beacon). Riding on lanes (with a short section of tarmac cycle path) a 35 mile loop. Those that really want to can ride ahead and ascend Ditchling Beacon and enjoy the exhilirating descent and re-join the rest of the group for lunch at the Ditchling tea rooms. |
Gordon | 35 medium (plus 5 for The Beacon) |
| 14-Aug-22 | CHI | 10:00 | DA Event - Picnic Ride - we will ride on canal towpaths, bridleways and quiet roads to West Wittering where we meet the other West Sussex groups and have a Picnic on the beach. More quiet lanes and Bridleways take us back to Chichester. This is a lovely ride and suitable for all but the most delicate of bikes. | Bob | 30 easy |
| 21-Aug-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Brockham (with Box Hill option). A gentle ride on quiet lanes - ideal if you are joining us for the first time. We will lunch on the green at Brockham - bring picnic, or there are two small shops and also a pub. The more intrepid will ride ahead and up the box hill zig-zags before the exhilirating descent of Pebble Hill and re-joining us at the lunch stop. For real hard core there will be an additional pre-ride from Crawley adding another 20 miles, with an 08:30 start from Crawley High Street (meet at the Crow sculpture) for an extra 20 miles arriving at Horsham in time for a coffee/snack before the main ride (strong/fast riders only). |
Gordon | 35 gentle miles (plus 10 for Box Hill and/or 20 for the pre-ride.) |
| 28-Aug-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Wineham Wander. Exploring quiet sussex lanes 35/40 miles Medium (with a Fulking hard option extending the mileage to 50). Leaving Horsham Pavilions (from the bike racks at the front) at 10:00 we will pass though Horsham Town Centre (quiet on a Sunday morning) then take Pedlars Way (good condition bridleway) then thread our way through quiet lanes via Wineham to a cafe stop. The more intrepid riders will ride a longer loop to Fulking (including a ford and a very short section of bridleway) to join us at the cafe, before riding together on quiet lanes to return to Horsham. For real hard core there will be an additional pre-ride from Crawley adding another 20 miles, with an 08:30 start from Crawley High Street (meet at the Crow sculpture) for an extra 20 miles arriving at Horsham in time for a coffee/snack before the main ride (strong/fast riders only). |
Gordon | 35 + 15 option, + 20 pre-ride option |
| 04-Sep-22 | PUL | 10:00 | DA Event - Churches Ride. An enjoyable ride around the countryside visiting various churchyards and answering an easy question in each.. Starts/Finishes RSPB Wiggonholt - easily reached from Pulborough Railway Station. |
Bob | 30+ |
| 11-Sep-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Dua Looper - take your pick on the day. A ride from Three Bridges in a North East direction. The ride will start as one group and cycle and then split into two groups with separate leaders for a later rendezvous and regroup back to the start.. At Staffhurst Woods the ride will split into two groups. |
Adam | 32 or 40 |
| 18-Sep-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Hilly Ride - on road. | Jon | 30 |
| 25-Sep-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Last of the Summer lanes. A 30 mile gentle ride along lanes and bridleways. Suitable for mountain bikes, hybrids and gravel bikes. Bring picnic for brief stops during the morning. Hot food and drink will be provided at the end of the ride as we return to Crawley. (If there has been sustained wet weather then an alternative on-road route will be taken) |
Gordon | 30 miles, easy, rough surfaces |
| 02-Oct-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Off-road, Bridleways south west of Horsham | Bob | 25 miles, hard |
| 09-Oct-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Tunbridge Wells for Lunch. Largely flat and traffic-free ride, making use of the Worth Way and Forest Way. | Bob | 40 miles, moderate |
| 16-Oct-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Southwest of Horsham. A 35 mile on-road moderate ride. | Adam | Road, 35, moderate |
| 23-Oct-22 | BRS | 10:00 | Billingshurst Loop. A 35 mile moderate on-road ride starting and ending at Billingshurst station. | John | 30-40 miles, on road, moderate |
| 30-Oct-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Winter Warmer. A short, hilly morning ride taking in Turners Hill, West Hoathly, Ardingly, Balcombe and Staplefield. Returning to Crawley for hot refreshments prior to the Runslist meeting. | Gordon | 20 miles. Hilly. On-road (+ 3 miles of Worth Way). |
| 30-Oct-22 | Gordons House | 13:00 | Runslist Meeting. We will determine the rides for Q1 of 2023 (January, February, March) | Gordon | n/a |
| 06-Nov-22 | HPP | 10:00 | West of Horsham | Pete | 35 miles, on-road, moderate/hard |
| 13-Nov-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Kidds Hill | Robin | On road, hilly, hard, 40 |
| 20-Nov-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Autumn Lanes. Lanes south to Copsale, then Maplehurst and Picts lane. If weather good, lunch stop at the Beacon Bikes cafe with return via Goddards Green and Staplefield. Otherwise, lunch in front of an open fire iat Gordon's, looping back to Horsham via Charlwood and Rusper. | Gordon | 35 miles, on road. Few hills. |
| 27-Nov-22 | TBR | 10:00 | Reigate park - café lunch. | Ros | 30 miles, on road, easy |
| 04-Dec-22 | TBR - HPP | 10:00 | Christmas Lunch. Short morning rides from both HPP and TBR rendezvous to arrive at venue for a 12:00 Christmas lunch | 15 miles, easy before lunch, 5 miles after. | |
| 11-Dec-22 | HPP | 10:00 | Dave's Surprise Ride | Dave | |
| 18-Dec-22 | TBR | 10:30 | Mince Pie Ride. A short and (relatively) flat loop south of Crawley taking in Goddard's Green, Twineham, Bolney and Slaugham. Back to Crawley (approx 13:00) for hot festive refreshments in front of a hot fire. | Gordon | On road, 25 miles some hills. |
| Bank Hol Tuesday 27/12/2022 | HPP | 10:00 | Post-Christmas Ride | Adam Wray | |
| 01-Jan-23 | TBR | 11:00 | New Year Hangover Ride. A short lunchtime ride to welcome 2023 | Corinne | 20 miles, moderate |
Start Points:
BHR - Burgess Hill Railway Station
BRS - Billingshurst Railway Station
CHI - Chichester Railway Station (north side)
CK2 - Crawley K2 Leisure Centre
EGS - East Grinstead Station (at bottom of steps)
HPP - Horsham Park Pavilion (Swimming Centre )
LIB - Crawley Library
PG - Polegate Railway Station (car park)
PP - Pease Pottage (in front of The Black Swan
PUL - Pulborough Railway Station
PWB - Pulborough Wild Brooks RSPB Centre (cafe)
TBR - Three Bridges Railway Station
WIS - Wisborough Green
