For my dad's 67th birthday I entered us into the annual British Heart Foundations London to Brighton bike ride - 54 miles and plenty of hills with my uncle and aunt and friend. It also happened to ... read more

Topic: A happy riding memory

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John Privett Glad you enjoyed it! I did the BHF London to Brighton ride twice, way back in the 1980s. I did it with a group of friends... read more

Glad you enjoyed it! I did the BHF London to Brighton ride twice, way back in the 1980s. I did it with a group of friends, none of us were regular cyclists at the time, and we did it with minimal preparation. Ditchling Beacon (the final hill into Brighton) totally defeated us! I walked about half of it, though to be fair the "5-speed racing bike" that I'd borrowed for the day wasn't really the best choice for that hill! We all thoroughly enjoyed the day though. Now, fast-forward almost 40 years, and after taking up cycling when the Covid lockdowns started, Brighton was on my 'to-do' list. But memories of Ditchling Beacon meant I kept putting-off the idea. Finally in July last year I set out to do the round-trip. It was my second ever 100-mile ride, and Ditchling Beacon was much easier than I'd feared with a) a more suitable bike, and b) a better level of fitness!