Did not fancy either Winchester CTC or Alton CTC rides this week as they were on very familiar roads. So I contacted Simon and we agreed to head south towards Fareham. I spent a little while on Garmin Connect plotting what I thought would be both an interesting route and a testing one too. I then loaded it into my Garmin 200.
(A note of caution, when plotting routes on Garmin Connect be aware that although one has selected the option follow the roads this results in the plotted course trying to use footpaths and or private roads as well as roads. One needs to check carefully as one plots that the route chosen is actually on public tarmac roads!)
I left home at 10 and collected Simon from his home. We took our usual route to Cheriton across the bridge by the ford and through Tichborne. My devious route then veered away from the obvious one to the top of Beacon Hill going via Hinton Ampner, and the steepest hill of the day at 8% and then up River Down to the top of Wheeley Down.
As we descended into Exton we passed a lot of other cyclists climbing the hill, perhaps they were all straining to achieve their PBs on Strava.
The weather was mild for the time of year and I was quite warm enough with two thin layers and a long sleeve jacket.
Next we followed the Meon Valley southwards through Soberton. As we rode another cyclist from Fareham caught up with me and asked why Simon was 50 yards ahead of me. I told him "younger legs"! We then chatted as we rode and I discovered my new pal was 76 and looking good! We parted company in Soberton and dropped into a dip. I sped down the hill behind Simon and just as I was going flat out to climb the next upward slope Simon stopped to check the route and I narrowly missed running into him!
We plodded up the sharp rise and soon afterwards I managed to miss a turn. As we stopped to retrace our steps for 30 yards my earlier "pal" appeared from the road we were to ride down with another cyclist. It seems he knew the area well enough to miss that dip we'd ridden through! (Note to self to remember that next time we come this way).
This area is hillier than I had expected, those little ups and downs on the route profile don't look much and singly they are OK but we seemed to keep getting little hills to climb. Fortunately the roads were very quiet and the route through Bere Forest was very pleasant. Here lots of sweet chestnuts on the road too.
We arrived in the centre of Wickham around midday and made our way into the side entrance of the King's Head where we found a safe haven for our cycles while we popped inside to enjoy a refreshing pint and Eggs Benedict for lunch. We were almost the first customers and that was good as we got served relatively quickly. We sat in a window seat and had a good view of the activity in the square and the charming window boxes of winter pansies.
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| Note the CTC Badge on the top left hand side of the pub. |
Eventually we decided it was time to start our return journey. More surprises in store, not only for Simon but for me too, It transpired that I had chosen a route from Wickham to Knowle Business Park along a Private Road. We chose to follow it anyway and apart from the sleeping policemen every 100 yds or so and numerous potholes it was fine!!!
After Knowle we were back on proper roads once more and discovered my Garmin route took us along some new lanes with some very nice houses dotted along the way.
We passed through Waltham Heath and Swanmore before stopping for refreshment in Bishop's Waltham.
The sun was well out now and we found it was very pleasant sitting on a wall in the sunshine.
The final 12 miles beckoned, they were through Upham and over the Downs past Milbury's. From the crest of the hill here I did not pedal until after I'd passed through Beauworth. I had hoped to get all the way to the A272 but the flat stretch just after the village slowed me to a stop and I had to pedal just 50 yards or so. Seems I need a following wind to help.
When I got to the A272 Simon was waiting wondering why I was so slow over the last half mile.
The rest of the ride was routine and I arrived home just before 3.30 p.m.
A most pleasant day out with some new experiences and roads. Thanks Simon for your company and the beer.
A check on our climbing revealed that we had climbed 1.918 feet. Interestingly more than on the Gridiron 67 miles which only had 1,653 feet. No wonder we were both a tad tired by the end.
Here are our map and data for the day.
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| Map and data for the day. |
A big plus point for me was a number of PBs on Strava.
GRIDIRONMAN.
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