Weigh in and new longest ride

So this morning was my fortnightly weigh in. A loss of 1.2kg (3 lb). Not as much as I thought it would be but still a loss so I'm pleased. Had half a small Easter egg as a treat. The first proper bit of chocolate in a month that I've had.

I wanted to get some decent mileage in over Easter and after riding 9.4 miles on Good Friday, my body just wasn't up to riding straight away. I would have liked to have got a ride in on Easter Sunday but it was to be a busy day with family etc so I took the chance to rest further with the intention of riding today (Easter Monday) and beating my previous best from Friday.

I persuaded my eldest son to come for the ride with me again and this time I planned to go somewhere completely different. My brother lives in Hailsham just off National Cycle Route 21 (the Cuckoo Trail) so I planned to ride up to him, stop for a coffee and ride back.

Last night I tried to work out exactly how to get to his house by bike as I'm not familiar with the Cuckoo Trail to Hailsham. I tried looking on the Sustrans website and couldn't get it to load properly. I then tried looking at the NCR21 map on the County Council's website but theirs was very vague and didn't have enough detail. I was hoping that the route would be well signed but I wasn't completely convinced it would be based on others experiences with other national cycle routes.

We set off at 9.20. The sun wasn't completely shining but it was trying to make an appearance through the clouds. The signage was good and the tarmac was wide and lucky for us the wind was behind us. The tarmac soon changed to tightly packed gravel and there were benches and bike posts every 300 yards or so. The traffic free route then ended as we turned into a housing estate and briefly alongside the main road. Funnily it goes straight past my friends house.

The route then went off-road again, in the form of a small winding tarmac path. After about a mile the route heads north over the main A27 following an old railway line. The route is well surfaced but at times was wet and muddy, most probably due to the winter weather. The route wasn't busy at all on the way there with only a few cyclists and dog walkers. As we arrived in Hailsham we diverted off the NCR and on to my brothers.

Whilst at my brothers, I pumped the tyres up on his 6 month old bike that he's only ridden once since he got it. I suggested that he take a ride back with us, the 6.64 miles we'd ridden. Fortunately for him he had a legitimate excuse. I had a coffee and we set off back the way we came.

We soon were back on the Cuckoo Trail and I immediately noticed how busy the route had become. There were cyclists, dog walkers and people going in both directions. The good weather and the bank holiday must have bought them out in droves. I wouldn't have minded, but many of them seemed to have no regard for the space we needed including other cyclists coming in the opposite direction. Many of them were practically forcing us onto the mud at the edge of the path or making us go past at walking pace. However on the Polegate to Eastbourne section the people traffic had practically disappeared and we could continue without problems, apart from the head wind in the more open sections.

We arrived home having completed a total of 13.3 miles. My longest ride yet and very pleased with myself. I did however, have to stop more often than expected due to numbness in my toes and bum. I have got brand new trainers so it could be that, but the bum ache was definitely more of a numbness today.

Sorry for the essay but as I started typing I just got carried away.