Cycling a Beach Hut in the London to Brighton Ride
Beach Hut World took part in the 2005 London to Brighton Bike Ride to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
The event is enlivened every year with a variety of crazy entries and this year it was our turn. Instead of simply entering a team of cyclists, we decided to pull a beach hut to Brighton!
Clearly we had to be careful about the size in terms of health and safety as well as the practicality of dragging a beach hut to Brighton. Fortunately, one of the team members Mark Ball had a bike trailer which he had used for his two children when they were younger. This proved ideal since it gave us an idea of what could be towed behind a bike and it also provided a very secure platform for a small hut. The resulting design measured just under 1 metre square by 1.5 metres high.
We avoided using the wood in our standard huts as it would have been too heavy. Nevertheless the miniature hut was far from being light and it would require the assistance of a number of members of the team to push up it up the hills.
The Nutfield Ridge Hill and Turners Hill are practice hills in comparison with Ditchling 
Beacon just to the North of Brighton. This is a most amazing hill. It seems like a wall as you approach it, especially the first time. Most people walk up it and one team member said that he almost had to crawl up it on his first attempt at the London to Brighton bike ride.
It is always with a great sense of achievement that you arrive at the top of the Beacon. None more so if you have pulled beach hut to the top! One of the rewards is the view from the top which is always fantastic especially on a glorious day with which we were blessed. After such an ascent, the last several miles into Brighton are downhill.
As the team rolled into Brighton with Tim Sprules on the tow bike, the commentator said that this had been the first time anyone had attempted to cycle a beach hut to Brighton. Now there is a surprise we thought!.
It was only as we maneuvered the beach hut onto the beach that we caught sight of the numerous hand marks on the back of the hut where it had been pushed up Ditchling Beacon!
The team and guests were treated to a hog roast on the beach in glorious sunshine and we lingered there long into the evening still marvelling at the fact that we had got the hut to Brighton.
The hut is now being enjoyed by the children of one of the team members in their garden!