#30daysofbiking day 9

Pier to pier to pier.

Today's ride was from Hastings Pier to Brighton Pier via Eastbourne Pier.

I met my mate Phil at his house in Hastings just before 10am. We rode to Hastings Pier which is just down the road and I took a picture. The weather was warm and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. There was a easterly wind that was a little chilly but as it was behind us it wasn't noticeable.

The planned route was pretty much to follow National Cycle Route 2, but as that doesn't go through Eastbourne, we'd make a detour via Eastbourne Pier and following close to Beachy Head to rejoin it in Exceat. After climbling the 520 ft to Warren Hill, there is a nice downhill on the main A259 into East Dean. Having tucked down on the drops I managed my fastest ever top speed of 52.5mph! You immediately go uphill to Friston and the car in front of me decided to slow down to about 30mph so I lost most of the momentum I had making the climb a bit harder than it could have been.

When we got to Seaford I turned off the A259 following NCR2 and instantly wondered if we'd taken a wrong turn. The road was a very loose, unmade road. After a about 800 yards, we turn right and got back on  to tarmac roads. We got to the seafront at Seaford and proceeded to Newhaven.

Following the NCR to Newhaven we again diverted away from the main A259 and started going through housing estates. When we got to the highest point above the town the road turned into really bad unmade road. Not very good for a road bike.

When we got into Peacehaven the NCR goes a few hundred yards north before running parallel to the main road. It's fairly quiet running through a residential estate. At one point we hit a traffic light which was specifically for cyclists. A nice touch.

We came back onto the A259 at Saltdean and had the pleasure of being able to ride in the bus lane with the cars a full lane width away from us. When we got to Rottingdean we joined the cycle path and followed it all the way into Brighton Marina which takes you down to the seafront on Madeira Drive. There's a nice flat run to the pier where we arrived among a swarm of day visitors. I took a few photos and bought us an ice cream.

We then rode the short distance to the train station for the journey home.

The ride finished at 40.83 miles. I caught the sun on the left side of my face which looks a bit odd. I've also completed Phill's #Apr100.


My bike at the start

The start - Hastings Pier

Eastbourne Pier

The highest point of the ride - Warren Hill (520ft)

Eastbourne in the background

Belle Tout lighthouse

Martello tower in Seaford

Seaford beach with Newhaven in the distance

Cycle traffic lights in Peacehaven

Windmill in Rottingdean

Brighton Pier

Me outside Brighton Pier

My mate Phil outside Brighton Pier

3 comments:

  1. Hadn't thought of Pier to Pier to Pier before. Looks really good. Shame about the road surface conditions when you come off the main roads.
    I'll have to do that some time. Thanks for the idea :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. The road surfaces were a surprise as I expected them to be paved as it's a National Cycle Route. If future I'd just go a different way.

    Next time I might ride back or maybe just carry on to Worthing Pier!

    Karen - Glad you like it.

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