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!
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| 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.
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