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.