Simon and I decide that a ride to the Tichborne Arms would not test us very much so we decided to go and play in North Hants's backyard. Simon is getting better at plottting courses on Garmin Connect and he had done a good job on this one with only one booboo. More about that later.
We headed up the valley towards Medstead enjoying the relatively mild day and soon after Bighton I stopped to remove my winter jacket. A number of all terrain vehicles passed us in the lane. looked like transport for the marksmen on a shoot.
As we passed through the village we met Ray and Diana and shortly afterwards Lesley and Mike, heading towards Tichborne.
We took it steadily down the hill into Beech as the road was wet and there are a lot of manhole covers and other imperfections in the road. As we entered Alton I missed the turn over the hill towards Chawton and we made a minor detour through a housing estate. We popped under the A31 to Jane Austen's House so Simon could check out a route he is planning for the Veteran's Cycling Club.
Back in Alton Simon's Garmin kept telling him to go the wrong way. We soon discovered that Simon had got the 'return home' option enabled and once he had turned this off the instructions were less confusing.
As we neared the crossing over the river Wey we passed Mark Heal who was heading to play in our backyard too.
In Upper Froyle work appears to be in full swing developing the former Treloars School for new homes.
Our wriggly route was also quite hilly and we made slow progress. Simon picked up a flint and had to change a tube and then we had a problem with the course which wanted to take us across fields! It seems for some reason the 'follow roads' option was not working here. We improvised and were soon in Farnham. Here, many drivers seemed to think that cyclists only need a foot or so of road, so we had a number of "Peter Moments".
We found a pub, The Nelson Arms, and we were soon enjoying a pint of Hob Goblin to wash down our delicious Prawn sandwhiches.
Time was marching on so with the shortening day in mind we soon made tracks over the border into Surrey. We climbed another hill to Rowledge then headed south towards Frensham. We turned for home through Kingsley and Oakhammer and thence to Selborne, (more hills!) Simon suggested a stop for tea, but mindful of the setting sun we agreed it would be better to press on. Between Selborne and Farringdon we saw pheasant shooting going on, looked like the same group we'd seen earlier in the day near Bighton
Just after we had crossed the A32 we met Mark again at the bottom of Brightstone Lane so we paused to exchange experiences of the day.
Eventually we made it over the hill, through Four Marks. As I descended Swelling Hill I hit a pothole or other obstruction quite hard and I fear that it may have caused a puncture for as I rode the last few miles through Ropley and into Bishop's Sutton my rear tyre felt a bit soft. However thankfully I made it home with a reasonable amount of air in the tyre just before 5 o'clock.
As we rode into Bishop's Sutton the sky in the west was beautiful, a very deep red with trees outlined against it, however it was so transient that it had gone before I had time to stop and take a picture.
This morning my rear tyre was flat. I have repaired the tube. The puncture seems to have been caused by something with a sharp point, not the bump. We did pass hedge trimming in several places so perhaps I picked up a thorn.
As we rode into Bishop's Sutton the sky in the west was beautiful, a very deep red with trees outlined against it, however it was so transient that it had gone before I had time to stop and take a picture.
This morning my rear tyre was flat. I have repaired the tube. The puncture seems to have been caused by something with a sharp point, not the bump. We did pass hedge trimming in several places so perhaps I picked up a thorn.
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| Our Route and Data for the day's Away Play. |
Sunday 10th November.
Made the most of the sunshine taking a roundabout route to West Tisted to try and find the hidden church.
I was anxious about my back tyre as I had not found the cause of my flat on Thursday so I opted not to go too far from home. In the end the tyre was fine!
When passing through West Tisted on previous rides I had never seen the Saxon church and decided to find it. It is tucked away behind some trees and bushes with only footpath access.
This is the view of it from just inside the churchyard.
A very interesting little recepticle in the wall just as you enter the church. Is it for holy water?
.jpg)
There is also a massive yew tree nearby, another one vying to be the biggest in Hampshire?
It was a lovely day to be out on the bike, warm in the sun but cool in the shade with a small breeze in my face as I rode home.
To see my route for the day go to:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/402384856
Happy Cycling.
Gridironman.
Made the most of the sunshine taking a roundabout route to West Tisted to try and find the hidden church.
I was anxious about my back tyre as I had not found the cause of my flat on Thursday so I opted not to go too far from home. In the end the tyre was fine!
When passing through West Tisted on previous rides I had never seen the Saxon church and decided to find it. It is tucked away behind some trees and bushes with only footpath access.
This is the view of it from just inside the churchyard.
 |
| St Mary Magdalene Church, West Tisted |
A very interesting little recepticle in the wall just as you enter the church. Is it for holy water?
.jpg)
There is also a massive yew tree nearby, another one vying to be the biggest in Hampshire?
It was a lovely day to be out on the bike, warm in the sun but cool in the shade with a small breeze in my face as I rode home.
To see my route for the day go to:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/402384856
Happy Cycling.
Gridironman.
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