So, today I thought I’d see what the new cycle path linking Hastings & Bexhill was all about. £360,000 it cost apparently so I was intrigued to see what the money was spent on. Plan was to ride along the seafront cycle path at Hastings, onto the new cycle path (which runs for about 2km) into Bexhill then back again. I have no idea what the total distance is from home, maybe 6 or 7 miles ish. A decent lunchtime workout for my legs.
So I set out with my saddle up, forks locked out and knobbly tyres buzzing on the tarmac. Riding on the roads through town to get to the seafront path was miserable. I have no idea why anyone would choose to cycle alongside cars for fun, it’s awful and a significant minority of drivers are idiotic to the point of being dangerous to cyclists.
Soon enough I was grabbing myself lungfuls of cold sea air, the sky was a carpet of grey and the odd flake of snow was fluttering about. I was very grateful that there was next to no wind to battle against. One interesting thing about riding your MTB on tarmac is that it exposes all the little problems with your bike. When you’re offroad you can blame creaks and groans and slipping chains on the trail or on mud and muck all over the moving parts. On a solid trail with a clean bike you can’t make these excuses. It looks like I’ve got a serious problem with my rear wheel and a few other bits too. More money…
I’m amazed at how little you get for £360,000. I’ve cycled along this route before it was a cycle path and there was a shingle path running alongside the railway line running from St Leonards to Glyne Gap. The pebbles were loose and it was hard going, but it was rideable. I got there today expecting tarmac, but what’s there is more pebbles. Ok it’s packed in tightly and held together with some sort of plastic mesh but it’s not the kind of trail you’d ride a road bike on.
In more clement weather I’m sure it’ll make a lovely place to ride with the kids, you’re never more than a stones throw from the sea and there are no cars. Plenty of walkers who seem to be amazed and disgusted that someone is daring to endanger their dog/child/replacement hip by cycling on a cycle path near them. Bexhill Seafront is now cycle friendly too. Gone are all the NO CYCLING signs that everyone used to ignore anyway. The news doesn’t seem to have been broken to the locals though, a couple of them were muttering “shouldn’t be cycling on here” as I rode past.
All in all it was a nice way to get a bit of fresh air (and a very, very cold nose) I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not had to deal with irascible taxi drivers and inattentive idiots on the roads though.
lardymtb 