London to Shoreham 2025 - ride report

The first night ride of the season to Shoreham saw 37 riders depart Fridays HQ with another 3 (due to train issues) catching us up somewhere between Oval and the first regroup at Clapham South. 

An uneventful first half saw us on familiar roads through the suburbs of South London before crossing the M25 and M23 and rolling into Burstow on time at 3:45 ish. Suitably refreshed, we departed and tackled the highest point of the route - Turners Hill. The temps had dropped from the relative 13⁰C warmth in London to between 3⁰C - 5⁰C, so the climb's effort got the blood moving. Birdsong and deer accompanied us through the villages. 

Another regroup and we were off on the mostly downhill stretch through quaint little villages and off to Shoreham. A Blood Moon and a deep red sunrise were spotted before we joined the Downs Link for some very mild gravel avoiding the A road crossing. Then we were along the main road to the Port Kitchen.

Apologies for the mix up - we had been told they opened at 8am (not 9am) - thankfully they were able to fire up the grill early and a good breakfast was consumed. 

A big thanks from the ride leader and the TECs for the lack of exploding derailleurs and zero visitations.