Winchester CTC Intermediate Ride to Hannington

Saturday September 20th 2014.
I had missed a ride on Thursday as I had felt unwell and had stayed in bed till nearly 11 a.m. so I was keen to make the most of the opportunity for an all day ride. Simon joined me at 10 o'clock and we rode to Popham Airfield where we joined the Winchester CTC intermediate riders. Ten had ridden from Winchester and Ian and Caroline had come directly from Whitchurch. 

The day was grey and dull but not cold. The high humidity meant that all the country smells were greatly enhanced. For some smells this was welcome but one or two were distinctly "off". A dead animal in the hedgerow?

Not many flowers out now but here is one I could not identify:

Rose Mallow.

Coffee stop over Barrie chose to return to Winchester with an escort of two lady riders, Lynne and Jocelyn. I was a little disappointed not to have longer to ask Barrie about the Pedalers TdF. 

David led us the most direct route to Hannington along a very gravelly lane and through Ashe. The hill to the village is quite a drag, but at least it is not very steep, the gradient being about 6%.

Four of us had opted to have a picnic on the green whilst the other 7 enjoyed a pub lunch. When we arrived at the green we found Alex who had ridden from Winchester on his own bypassing us at the coffee stop. It was a lovely surprise as Alex has not been able to ride much recently.

Whilst we ate our sandwiches Ian and Caroline told us more about the TdF Pedalers' ride, answering a lot of our questions. It seems that it had been a great success and I for one was quite envious of their experience.

We popped into the pub for coffee and to link up with the others before starting our return journey. David chose a good route and I actually found myself on at least one lane I'd not ridden before.

We passed through Oakley and when we got to North Waltham Ian and Caroline left us to return to Whitchurch.

The descent from Dummer to Axford was a relaxed one and we paused there to regroup. Next we rode along the Candover Valley to Swarraton and over Abbotstone Common Hill. 

I have recently joined the Winchester CTC Strava Group and am having a lot of fun from it. I have set up an auto synchronise  link from my Garmin Connect so I am able to see how well I've done compared to previous rides and compared to other members of the group and the wider cycling fraternity. Being paced by QOM Karen up the mile long hill from Swarraton I achieved a personal best in 6 mins 37 secs (9.3 m.p.h.). Mind you I'm only no 1716 out of 1865!

Final Conference before we went our separate ways home.

We paused in Old Alresford by the church to say our farewells as we began to split up. Several riders opting to have tea at Tiffins whilst others were heading home independently. Karen must have clocked up well over 60 miles by the time she got home.

Alex called into my home to pick up Cycling Weekly and we had a chat and a cuppa before he headed off home with a pot of frozen ratatouille in his bottle rack!.

A most enjoyable day out despite the grey weather.

Map and Data for the day..

Many thanks David for such a good ride and to all who took part for their friendship.

Gridironman.