Two Crunchy Nut Rides

Thursday 25th Sept. began with a good omen. In Alresford whilst shopping I met Mark of recumbent fame from North Hampshire. I had not seen him for some while so we had a good old natter. He must have left home early as it was only a little after nine a.m.

Soon afterwards I too was on my bike, joining up with Simon to go to the Brushmaker's Arms at Upham for the HCMF meet.

This time we chose to do a loop to the south to work up a decent thirst before we got to the pub. Here is our route:

In places the road was littered with the autumn fruits of the fine summer. We crunched our way through  beech mast, conkers and hazel nuts in several places.

When we got to Swanmore we realised we would still be a bit early at the RV if we took the shortest route so we continued Southwards through Waltham Heath to Curdridge before turning back to Bishop's Waltham. I avoided the town centre much to Simon's surprise by taking a little lane past the Bishop's Palace.

At Upham we joined a small group in the garden making the most of the autumn sunshine whilst two more groups of riders remained inside. It was good to see Janice and Dan once more in matching Alton C.C. jerseys as well as Richard, David and Laurence. 

We were also reminded of the dangers to beware of when cycling by Alan, who had come by car, having been another of our members to have been knocked off his bike recently. (Mollie and Sue also having had similar accidents). Fortunately Alan had not had any broken bones or even a badly damaged bike, though he did look a little the worse for wear with grazes on his face and arm.

After lunch Simon and I rode with Richard and David down the steep hill from Upham through more crunchy nut before we parted company at the top of Westend Down. We took the A272 for a fast descent to Cheriton and thence home via Tichborne.

My day was made complete by the discovery that Cycling Weekly had published a letter of mine in this weeks edition. 

Saturday 27th Sept. 2014. Once more the dynamic duo were out to enjoy a social ride. This time for a change to Petersfield, rather than to Popham with the Winchester CTC, as we seem to have been there several times recently.

We left Alresford just after 10.30 and immediately started climbing, over White Hill to Bishop's Sutton. Well it is one way of warming up!

We took a nice meandering route to Petersfield, first climbing Smugglers' Lane to Monkwood then through West Tisted and Privett to High Cross. Next came Stoner Hill, which is very steep in places and with a rough surface and many bends, so is not a hill which one can ride without due care. More crunchy nuts here too. In the aptly named village of Steep we turned off the main road and took a back road through Sheet and rode into Petersfield past the Heath Pond. A nice way of entering the town.

We had a tasty snack lunch at the Cloisters Cafe. We sat with an elderly lady who kindly invited us to share her table and we had a very pleasant chat with her about Petersfield and Lichfield! 

Once suitably refreshed we headed out of town heading south to Buriton before turning towards the Meons and home. Just after Weston I was donged by a conker! 

A mile or so further on we passed this conversion of a oast house into a modern home.  It seems that they have made some progress since mid May earlier this year when I took the second picture below with windows in place and timber cladding and I suspect more progress inside.

Oast House September 27th 2014.

Oast House 11th May 2014

In East Meon we stopped for a piece of cake and for a photo shoot.

Simon with another of his veteran cycles.
This one a Claud Butler.

As usual Simon has chosen his riding clothes with care, matching the colour of the bike.

Gridironman and Posh.

The ride to West Meon was a fast one the worst part of the road having been resurfaced this summer. 
From here we chose to take  the A32 past West Meon Hut as that hill is longer and steadier but less steep than the lane over the hill past Brookwood. From here it was only 7 miles home and apart from the reverse climb over White Hill it was a doddle. From the top of the hill I freewheeled to see how far I could go. A friend of mine claims to have managed to get over the Cheriton Road and onto New farm Road but I could only manage as far as Linnets Lane. I did however have to touch my brakes as I entered Sun Lane.

Another relaxed fun day out.

For those who like to see the route here it is:

Gridironman.