HCMF Meet at Shawford & The Plain Challenge for Naomi House.

Thursday 17th October.

Another fine day for a bike ride. Thought I'd combine a ride to The Bridge at Shawford with a little exploration in preparation for an intermediate ride I'm leading in December. Headed over Gander Down to Owslebury and Marwell. This often seems to be a quite busy route for country roads and Thursday was no exception. I'm pleased to say all the car drivers I encountered were well behaved!

From Marwell I rode to Lower Upham then took Alma Lane towards Durley. There are a lot of small farms along this lane. Does anyone know the history of this area?

I did a circuit of the village and just near the Farmer's Home pub I found Alan Sharpen mending a puncture. I offered help but he told me that he was fine and to carry on my way.

I thought it was time to turn back towards Shawford and took a route Karen had shown me some time ago through Horton Heath, Fir Tree Lane and then a cycle path behind some houses into the centre of Bishopstoke. I didn't quite get it right but did manage to end up where I intended. 

I next climbed the hill past the church and bombed down the other side into Colden Common. From here it was a short way to the pub where I found the usual regulars plus a strong contingent of five from Winchester. I had lunch, very tasty fish and chips, with Mary and Mollie who I'd not seen for some time. It was good to catch up with their news. I also had a long chat with Diana Burr about voluntary charity work and Forever Angels.i 

As I left the pub Alan was mending a puncture, again! Seems he'd not made a good job of it the first time.

The River Itchen in Shawford.

I rode back to Winchester with a small group, pausing to admire the lovely river scene near Shawford Park Farm where my brother worked in the late 40s.

The Winchester Groupetta crossing the busy Hockley Junction.

The Day's Data.

Once in Winchester I continued my way home via East Hill, which I found not as steep as I'd expected, and then via the Alresford Road to Easton. Next I crossed the river by the foot bridge at Chilland and completed the day's ride home along the B road.

A most enjoyable day out at a much more liesurely pace than of late. (My RiTMO score only 25.6 compared to my best of 19.8)

Sunday 20th October 2013.

When I tumbled out of bed at 6.30 in response to the alarm the first sound I heard was the drumming of the rain on the tiles. Forever the optimist I fired up the computer and had a look at the rain radar map. I was reassured that the rain would pass and we would be able to ride the Plain Challenge. 

I left home at 7.40, it was still pouring, however the sky did seem to lighten as I drove towards Tidworth and by the time I got there the rain had stopped. Formalities completed, bacon buttie and coffee duly despatched, Simon briefed us on the route and possible hazards and we were away at 9 with the sun shining.

Our route was the same as last year and the route was well marked so the route on my Garmin was somewhat superfluous, just as well because for some reason I kept getting "off the route" messages. Did Simon omit to tick the "follow roads" option when he plotted the route?

Once warmed up, near Appleshaw, I stopped to remove my jacket.

There is a steady climb from here to Conholt where we joined the Chute Causeway, but it is not steep, so it was not hard, but most of the other riders seemed to have melted into the distance.

As I neared the Western end of the Causeway it started to rain so I popped the jacket on again.  The hill  down to Oxenwood needed to be ridden with care because of the potholes and debris from the overnight rain.

The sun came out again soon afterwards and for a while I headed East and I kept thinking that this can't be right the Plain is West from here. However it was and I was joined by a small group of other riders who had started after me. We rode together for a while but they left me on the climb from Hungerford.

There is a real touch of Autumn colours now in the trees, as evidenced by this snap taken between Hungerford and Little Bedwyn.

Autumn Colours.

This section to Great Bedwyn was harder than expected because although it was very flat there was a strong head wind.
To reach Burbage and the refreshment stop the route looped into the edge of the Savernake Forest where I found this sign, a little premature?

The road was a little slippy but not from ice!

Pam welcomed me at the feed stop where I caught up with the little group from earlier. We had a nice chat while we enjoyed delicious flapjack and jelly babies. I discovered that the one lady rider with them was the unfortunate person who broke a spoke on White Horse Hill out of Pewsey. They set off before me but I was relieved to find that I was by no means the last rider.

Well over halfway round at the refreshment stop.
Note the sunshine!

The ride to Pewsey was uneventfull and I was soon tackling the steepest hill of the day. I could see the tiny dot of another rider near the top as I started the climb and halfway up I nearly caught up with another rider who had stopped for a breather.
Whoever he/she was was too fast for me and I soon lost sight of him/her. 

The sun had disappeared now and ominous black clouds were moving in from the west. Near Eversleigh I caught up with the lady rider who had stopped to don her jacket and I indulged in a little wheel sucking for the next couple of miles as the rain started to chuck it down. I took the lead to give her a little respite but she dropped back and by the time I got near to Netheravon airfield I had lost sight of her.

The rain was now approaching monsoon proportions and I paused under a large tree to eat a banana. It was no help, the rain was so hard the tree merely dripped extra large drops down my neck! The lady missed the turn nearby and did not hear me when I shouted to her she had gone wrong. I was too wet and tired to attempt to chase her, it would have probably taken miles to catch her anyway.

Unbelievably the  rain now came down even harder and roads were inches deep in water with huge puddles appearing everywhere. In several places the road was almost totally blocked and in Tidworth it was. I had to ride through pedalling to maintain momentum so any tiny part of my feet that were not already wet were now completely saturated. I reckon I must have been weighed down by a few extra kilos of water by now!

I eventually arrived back at the finish just before 3 p.m. My Garmin recorded my elapsed time as 5 hr 56 min and 20 secs,

The Finish!

I was extremely pleased that Mr Gramin had kept functioning despite the almost submarine experince. As Pam said when i checked in "Did you need flippers?" I replied that I had thought as I rode those last few miles that they were the one omission from my kit list! An outboard motor would have been useful too.

It was still raining quite hard but fortunately I had had the foresight to bring some dry clothes to change into. I even had the presence of mind to load the bike on the car before changing into my dry clothes.

Of course by the time I'd driven home the sun had come out again.

Once there I discovered that absolutely everything was soaked including the contents of my rack bag despite having a waterproof cover, for the splashing from the road and traffic had penetrated underneath. I don't remember ever having been so comprehensively soaked on a bike ride before.

What an experience. I don't regret for a moment having taken part, it will remain in my memory for a long time as a special day to help those poorly children who are less fortunate than me.

Here are my map and data for the day.

Gridironman.

Crunchy Nut Autumn! & The Gridiron 2013

No Goupetta friends to join me on Thursday 10th October. They were all too busy working or going on holiday!

I left home just before 10 with a book shoved up my winter training jacket. It helped keep the wind off my chest but the real reason I had it was to take it to the PO to post it to an Amazon customer in aid of Save The Children.

It was a very chilly morning and there was a very strong Northerly wind, but I soon warmed up climbing the slope to Bighton.

Here I discovered the pub has had a makeover and is no longer the Three Horseshoes but is now the very smart looking English Partidge. Must visit it to test out the facilities!

The lane leading to Medstead was covered in many places by masses of beech mast and acorns which crunched under my tyres. I kept hoping they were causing no damage but it was impossible to avoid them. I struggled up the hill for the wind was so strong, often one is under the wind in such situations but it was not so in this case. Near the top I was pinged by an acorn dropping onto my helmet!

I had chosen a devious route to get to Upton Gray, not wanting to take the well travelled obvious one. From Medstead I went to Bentworth and then through the village of Shalden. I paused here awhile to have a look at the charming church.

SS Peter & Paul Church, Shalden.

As I neared the Golden Pot I met Janice going in the opposite direction. We had a chat then decided we would both stick to our original routes. 

Soon afterwards I met Lesley and Mike also following Janice's route.

I crossed the main road and about a mile east of it I turned down a very small lane, also heavily covered in beech mast. More crunching!

I eventually came out onto the Odiham road near to the hamlet of Blounce. Next I took a road marked Private which I had ridden before with Ray and the Alton Group. It is a very narrow lane through farmland with good views across the fields and the only other user I saw was Postman Pat. A tractor was working in the fieds and there was good shelter from the wind so I really enjoyed it. 

I arrived at the Hoddington Arms at the same time as Lesley and Mike. Janice arrived soon afterwards having stopped for a break.

A very good turnout of riders including some from Southampton and Chandler's Ford and one new member from Fleet.

After lunch I headed home via Herriard, Burkham and Bentworth flying along at a much faster rate with the wind behind me.

Here is my map and data for the day:

Question for readers to answer:

Where is this very ancient garage? Must be one of the earliest!

Sunday 13th October, The Gridiron Audax. 
Forecast Rain! Unlucky for some?
I just had to ride the Gridiron whatever the weather. First rode it in 2008 with PinkPal and have ridden it every year since, so this was my sixth time. 
Got to the new starting place in Lymington in good time and was on the road by 8.15. A few of us had jumped the gun to make the most of the drier weather. It was grey and misty but there were a couple of short lived blue patches. I passed a few other riders who'd started early too but was soon being passed by others. There was a little mizzle on the high ground so I was glad I had on my rain jacket. 
There was a change in the route soon after Burley because of a road closure between there and Moortown. This added a little to the mileage. 
As we headed north a mini peleton formed and about 20 of us rode together until most of the group took the old route from South Gorley, relying on memory rather than the printed route  I shouted to tell them they'd gone wrong but it was a couple of miles further on before some of them caught up with me, the rest must have continued on the old route. 
We enjoyed the usual break with coffee and biscuits at the Hyde Village Hall. One third of the route completed.
The early mizzle had lifted as we rode along the Roger Penny Way towards Nomansland. I was almost on my own now having stopped only briefly at Hyde but a rider who passed me on this stretch missed the turn to Nomansland. When I called out he turned back and we rode together for a while. He was Cornelius, from Southampton, not a member of a club so I told him about the CTC. After a few miles he rode away from me on some of the hillier parts and I descended towards Cadnam on my own once more. I stopped to take this picture of some small ponies, not the usual New Forest ones.

Ponies on Cadnam Lane.

As I neared Winsor some of the riders I'd ridden with earlier caught up with me and we rode together again. It had started to rain a little now and by the time we got to the second check point at Colbury it had set in for the day.
The scene here in the past has been  one of riders sitting in the sunshine enjoying their break with tea and biscuits. Here is the scene from yesterday.

Only 20 miles to go now so not wishing to delay I filled one of my bottles with hot sweet tea and got cracking once more.
As I neared Beaulieu I passed a number of other cyclists who were taking part in a charity event. One of them turned out to be AJ a friend of mine raising money for McMillan Cancer Support.

Alex Coates.

I rode a short way with Alex before climbing the last hard hill towards Bucklers Hard. I had kept warm despite the rain except for my hands which were now covered in soaking wet mitts. I had forgotten to put my spare gloves into my rack bag at the start, fortunately only another 5 miles to go. 

Once at the finish I signed in, got my brevet card stamped and acquired my commerative 21st anniversary medal and Gridiron Cap. 

Once the formalities were complete I loaded my bike onto the car and headed for home and a nice refreshing shower and to enjoy tea with Jean, Sarah and her two boys, Hugo and Archie.

A memorable day, great fun and companionship despite the wet weather. I was pleased to have completed my sixth Gridiron in my best time ever at a moving speed of a shade over 13 m.p.h. and an overall average 0f 11.7 m.p.h. Top speed for the day down the hill into Nomansland  34 m.p.h.

For those of you who are interested my Garmin record for the day is here:- 
                http://connect.garmin.com/activity/389821289

Gridironman.

In Search of the old CTC Office

Simon and I chose not to ride on Thursday because of the indifferent weather. To make up for our lack of miles we planned an all day longer ride for Saturday 5th October. Simon offered to plan an interesting route and by golly he succeeded. He plotted a hilly route from Alresford to Godalming where the CTC head office used to be situated. We both loaded the route onto our Garmin devices to make route finding easier. My Garmin 200 performed very well but Simon's more comprehensive model was less effective in adhereing to the route.

Here is my recorded map which differs from the original planned route partly by choice and partly because Simon's planned route made use of some bridle ways and private roads!

I left home just after 9.10 and cycled to Simon's just in time to greet Rachel and the now almost 2 year old Alex. He can already count up to three!

Our first challenge of the day was White Hill only half a mile into the ride, one way to get the legs working. The next ten miles were over often used roads and after ignoring Mr. Garmin's suggested route through a farm, we were soon enjoying our fastest descent of the day down the steep hill in East Worldham. (Almost 39 m.p.h.).

Throughout the day I found myself recognizing countryside I'd ridden before with the Alton CTC but not being familiar enough with the area to be able to remember what came next. Near Churt we encountered our toughest climb of the day more than 1 in 7, but fortunately not very long. Simon a had also thrown in a couple of jokers here with a phantom spur and the refusal of his Garmin to recognize a right turn. I shouted "turn right" but he didn't hear me, so I just stopped and waited and eventually he came back. 

The next few miles we had a fast flatter section and by twelve o'clock we were through Elstead and into Milford only a few miles short of Godalming. Here our homeward route was off to our right, but we resisted the temptation to take it and carried on into the very busy town of Godalming. The traffic here was very slow with half of the population of Surrey exercising their rights to go shopping! After several abortive attempts to locate the CTC old HQ on Garmin we carried on through the town and eventually found 69 Meadrow, Godalming which now appears to be a block of flats. What a disappointment Simon had hoped for a plaque!

The Site of the Old CTC HQ

We headed back into the town centre taking the car park access road and then the pedestrianised high street following a bus. This was a good choice as we avoided the heavy traffic. We were getting peckish now so we were on the look out for a pub. Just beyond Milford we came to the village sign for Hambledon. A mile later we were still not into the village centre and then there at the foot of a dip was this pub.

There were a lot of families there and when I asked one of the dad's what was going on he said "Llama Trekking if only we can find a Llama".

Once refreshed with some tasty if rather expensive food and good beer we continued South West over more hills through Haslemere and towards Liphook. Having climbed two fairly steep hills out of Haslemere we had a favourable gentle slope most of the way to Liphook so we made very good time.

Another phantom spur on Simon's route caused a moment's confusion in the Town centre before we headed towards Petersfield. A few more hills but a lot of this sector was dual carriageway which was light in traffic and largely downhill, so once again very fast.

Having decided to stop for a coffee and cake in Petersfield we were sumwhat frustrated. First a Costa Coffee shop seemed to be overhauling their equipment. We waited several minutes then decided use the other facilities and then to cut our losses and carry on, two ladies who had been waiting when we arrived were still waiting as we rode away. We then tried Heidi's who told us they were closing but could do a takeway but then told us the coffee machine had been turned off! Does no one ever use a simple kettle these days? We gave up, had another cereal bar and cold drink before carrying on our homeward trek.

At Stroud I suggested we took a more rural route to East Meon than the planned one so we turned off the A272 and rode to Ramsdean before rejoining the planned route. This turned out to be a good idea as the planned route had taken another bridle way.  

Once through West Meon we began to count down the remaining miles and eventually arrived in Alresford  around 5.30 Despite two more off road sections. It had been a very enjoyable day out once more despite the hills. 

Here are the data for the day:

More climbing than last week and over 4,000 cals used! No wonder I've lost a couple of pounds that I can afford!

Thanks Simon for your hardwork in planning the route and keeping me honest on the ride.

Happy Cycling!

Gridironman.