Supporting The London To Brighton Bike Ride + The Archive Cycling Cafe

Father’s Day in the UK invariably coincides with the London to Brighton charity bike ride. Using my father’s day gift of some ‘me time’, I took a ride out to support this year’s riders and to visit a new cafe recommended to me by a viewer of a previous video…..here’s how it went!

The Archive Cycle Cafe
Web: https://www.thearchive.works/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearchive.works/

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Filmed on GoPro Hero 13 Black and Insta360 X4. Edited with DaVinci Resolve Free

good morning everyone it’s bright and early on Sunday morning it’s Father’s Day and I’m out for my Father’s Day ride by myself in the UK Father’s Day also coincides with one of the biggest charity events of the year which is the London to Brighton bike ride uh so I’m heading out there this morning to the Lavender Fields which is one of the first sort of uh bits of uphill the riders will come across so I’m going to head out there to give them a bit of encouragement it’s actually 11 years to the day that I did the London to Brighton for the first time um that was my first major bike ride uh after I stopped smoking so it’s uh holds quite a special memory for me so yeah we’re going to head out there this morning uh give them some encouragement and then I’ve got a new cafe stop to find called the archive which was recommended to me by Thomas in one of my other videos so thank you Thomas in advance we’ll let you know how it goes and I’ll catch you in a bit [Music] keep going lads keep going twwr Massive keep going mate cheers buddy keep going so we’re at the top of the Lavender Fields near Woodmanston um this is the first little incline that the riders will hit as they come out of London it comes just before a pretty steep descent this is Car Shortton Road it goes left at the top there and it goes downhill quite rapidly keep going well done and then as they get to the bottom of that they’ll go left and right and then up how lane which is quite a sharp uphill so they need to be prepared for that one keep going mate so yeah this is the first bit out of London as the waves get bigger and bigger coming out of London this gets more and more packed keep going well done thank you [Applause] and when there is a spot to go I am going to get on my bike and join in for a little bit keep going enjoy it get going thank you well done keep going cheers buddy been brighten in no time well done keep going heat heat [Music] [Music] well we’re on Smallfield Heading out towards Outwood which is where I’ll turn off uh for my cafe stop and let these legends carry on to Brighton uh I’ve met some amazing people uh guy on a hand cycle going along like a clappers what a legend absolute legend um people walking already on some of the uh some of the early bits so they might find it a little bit tougher later on uh but it’s a beautiful day for it and uh everyone seems to be having a good time so far so uh fair plays to them hope they all get the Brighton safe and sound and that will be me signing off ready for a coffee and some cake catch you in a bit you okay yeah okay thank you well done people well done well done mate hold on hold on keep going well done well that was my little part of London’s Brighton 2025 i’ve let those hardy souls go on their merry way onwards to Turner’s Hill and Ditchling and all of those things and I have turned off onto a much quieter country lane on my way to the Archive Cafe cycling cafe Sussex’s cycling hub they promote themselves as so I’m very much looking forward to that uh it’s still very early in the morning probably too early for cake but ah in for a penny eh so I’ll see you when we get there i think I’m out somewhere near Smallfield i don’t really know where I am at the moment i’m just following the uh I’m doing what I hate cars doing i’m blindly following my route that I planned i know Gatwick’s over there cuz I’ve just seen a plane fly over the top of me going into land so I know I’m uh I know I’m in Sussex there’s something else behind me oh yeah look [Music] Europa [Music] well at least they’re not landing to bad weather could be worse normally when you come back from holiday you land and it’s horrible [Music] [Applause] heat [Music] [Applause] heat [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well I’ve just done about 6 km of what really felt like a time trial out of Crow through to Lingfield um all up the A282 pretty much a straight road and that that got rid of the cafe legs straight away the archive in uh Cockthornne is an absolutely wonderful place i can’t It was one of those places where I walked in and went “Wow.” I mean it’s incredible from the decor to the uh furnishings nice comfy seats some benches for larger groups it’s incredibly well thought out bike rack indoors inside the place which is brilliant um and ultimately you judge a place a cycling cafe by the strength of it cinnamon bun and I can honestly say that it was a 10 out of 10 [Music] but added to that which I’ve never had before the lovely lady behind the counter asked if I wanted it warm warmed up and I’ve never done that before and that that threw me a little bit i had it cold i’m not really a massive fan of warm cake and boy was it good and that was topped off with the usual salted caramel latte which was also incredible so highly recommend that it’s called the archive and it’s at Copthorn and it’s another excellent munch post so now we’re on our way back towards home probably got about just under 30k to do but I’m feeling pretty good it’s been a nice ride the the clouds are rolling in a little bit so I’m hoping I don’t get wet uh but if it’s a light shower it might be quite refreshing so see you in a bit just thinking back to that first London to Brighton I did back in 2014 and how unfit I was how hard I found those first few climbs coming out of London lavenderfields rise was a real struggle and then how lame was an absolute brute um and then fast forward to today I know it’s a lot of time and a lot of miles on a bike later but to just compare that and to be absolutely sort of I say skating up them I’m no pro that’s for sure but the difference that I feel on a bike now to then is just incredible really uh I’ve got so much time for those people who have made a positive change and got on a bike and are doing something for charity and you know it’s a big old challenge London to Brighton and a lot of people experienced cyclists will poo poo it on mock it a little bit because it’s you know 50 odd miles or whatever but to an amateur to a a newbie to cycling that is a massive challenge so fair play to them all i hope like I say they all get to Brighton they all have their chips on the seafront and all get home safely to their beds tonight because it’s a phenomenal effort phenomenal effort uh sit rip i am nearly 55k into my ride um I’ve just come out of Crow Hurst and down a road closed road which as all cyclists know is just a suggestion normally uh there’s usually access or pedestrians can get round but not this time full on road closure heavy plant crossing all of that kind of malarkey big detour garmin screaming at me that I’m off route he’s going to try and take me on some crazy route to get back to uh my planned route fortunately I kind of know where I am so I can cut across and get back onto my my route without going adding too many kilometers to my to my ride but there certainly will be a few tacked on the end but feeling pretty good fun fact we’re just going through Hurst Green which is a little village just to sit just outside the M25 near Oxford and it is the place where I got married to my lovely wife many moons ago look [Music] at that camera well I’m at the top of Clacket Lane yes the Clacket Lane the one that’s famous for its uh services on the M25 um you can see there it says road closed thankfully it wasn’t another full-on closure like I experienced earlier coming out of Crow Hurst and you could get past quite easily yeah I’ve just got the old climb of Clark’s Lane and then over Botley um to back to home i’m 65 kilometers in so I reckon I’ll I’ll just tap over just over 70 by the time I get home 72 73 something like that uh so it’s been a really good ride seen a lot of people out a lot of people doing London Brighton a lot of people not doing the London Brighton um yeah it’s been really good well here we go there’s a change up for the books uh I was already to take this shortest route home i thought I would have been done and dusted in about 74ks as I came up Clark’s Lane I was uh behind a lady in front of me who was super strong super strong uh so if she ever watches this you were really strong and uh I’d sort of catch up a bit and she’d just keep powering away she was she was amazing um I finally got I finally sort of caught up with her around Botley and it was all I could do to say “Look just sit on my wheel for a bit and I’ll take some of the wind over the top of Botley.” Uh cuz she’s she’d done so much work she put so much in so yeah I I sat on uh I sat on the front for a bit over Bottly and put in as hard as I pull as I could for her just to uh to get her up to the top of that long drag where the wind can blow across and uh as I turn right she went straight on and on her way so yeah that was nice but I felt quite good the legs felt quite good even when I was trying to put in as much as I can on the pull so I decided to keep going and get my ride up to the uh the 80k mark so that’s what I’m going to do so I’m down the back lanes now and I’m just going to double round and hopefully by the time I get to my driveway it’ll have just ticked over the 80k mark and that will be a really really good Father’s Day ride so I shall bid you farewell um please like please subscribe leave me a comment if you know any more cafes I should visit in the southeast of England and uh till next time bye-bye [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]