I’ve been living in Peaslake since 2004. And most of you will not have a clue what the village used to look like. It used to be BEAUTIFUL. With hardly any bikers.
At the moment most of the local people hate the fact, that Sunday morning is no longer quiet, that they can’t walk a dog without a fear of being run over and without, as in London, looking left when crossing a footpath, with a difference, that they have to check both, left and right.
It’s horrible. It’s full of mainly arrogant males in their 30’s covered in mud and with a £20 note sticking out of their pocket. The area doesn’t seem to be friendly and inviting anymore. And the sad outcome of this is that if you’re looking for a peaceful and quiet place for your Sunday ride, you should avoid Peaslake.
The only person, who’s glad, that you’re here, is probably Howard and his bank manager. Peaslake Village shop would be happy without you here (it’s always been!) and so would be most of the people, whose privacy is ruined by a “London crowd” flooding the village on Sundays or a UFO-type 10-piece alien aircraft on wheels made of bikers going down the Pitch Hill with their LED headtorches on in the evening during the week.
As well as for the residents of Peaslake, I feel sorry for the single, not-organised biker, who’s looking for a nice place to ride the bike. He must feel really strange looking for a place to sit down and eat his lunch or being overtaken on the hilly path.
It seems to be a one-way-ticket with no options to change for the good. Thanks to your Sunday trips the tracks will get eroded even more, thanks to your money Howard will become one of the richest men in the biking industry and thanks to all of it there will be no wildlife in the Hurtwood Forest by 2020. They’re already disappearing. Really, really sad. Enjoy your ride. You’re not welcome.