A "Test" Ride with the Pedallers and a Late Breakfast with Simon.

Thursday 27th November.
I made good my promise to be more active in the Pedallers Group.
Simon joined me to ride to Crawley Pond to join the group. Surprise, Surprise! We arrived 15 mins early and were the first there. Other groupies soon arrived. Unfortunately Graham had a problem with a mudguard stay fracturing so our start was delayed while repairs were attempted by our resident expert Simon. Eventually the mudguard was removed and stowed in the back of Alan's car.

I was very impressed by Jo's lovely Boardman cyclo-cross bike. Great knobbly tyres for the winter roads! Later I discovered that Jo is also a Strava member so was able to link with her and compare our performances.

Alan led us over the ridge past Leckford Hut into the Test valley. The lane is much better now it has been resurfaced. Our route continued through Longstock towards Stockbridge before we turned northwards past Danebury Hill to Abbots Ann. I was finding the pace a little high on Sporty, perhaps i should have ridden Posh. However the others in the group kindly waited for me to catch up as we crossed the A343.

We turned to the East and arrived at the very large Andover Garden Centre. It has lots of ouitlets in their own units on the site including Cotton Traders and Bon Marche. (Not the Bon Marche I remember from my youth in the centre of Gloucester).

These colourful & interesting characters were also for sale:-

After some confusion as to where we could safely leave our bikes we queued for what seemed ages to get served with coffee and cake. When we got it it was  very good.

Our route home was via the Anna Valley and the Clatfords and over the hill to Wherwell. Shortly after leaving that village Simon and I left the group to ride home to Alresford. Simon chose a very good route through Barton Stacey, Stoke Charity and Micheldever. By the time we got home we had done over 50 miles.

It was an extremely enjoyable day out with some of my best cycling buddies including Karen & Bill, Brenda and Ian.

Thanks to all who took part for a good ride.

Saturday 29th November 2014.
As I rode to Simon's house I passed about 30 cyclists in New farm Road, Some event taking place by the look of it.

Simon and I had once more decided to do our own thing due to time constraints. Simon suggested we went towards Odiham, So we set off up the valley to Medstead. our highest point for the day at about 700 feet. As we started to climb the hill we passed a group af beaters in one field and in the next were half a dozen guns popping away at the pheasants that had been flushed by the beaters.

We were taking it gently as I had had a slight problem with my left leg. However it did not cause me any distress on the ride.

When we got to through Lasham Village  I suggested that we headed past Golden Pot and down the B3349 to South Warnborough. Here we stopped for an all day breakfast in the village shop. Extremely good value at £5.00 including a mug of coffee.

A couple riding a Tandem were also in the shop and we had a nice chat with them before they left.

Afterwards we headed home via Upton Grey. On the way I pointed out to Simon where the Alton CTC hold their Pace Judging and Freewheeling competition.. We had a go at the freewheeling, Simon beat me by some 5 yards. We were both in the range of the recent competition though I was some way short of where I'd reached on Posh.

We pootled along enjoying the lovely sunny day and enjoying more chat as we  headed down the Candover Valley to Chilton Candover. Here we turned off over the hill via Spiers Lane which I much prefer to Bugmore Lane as that has a number of undulations.

I was home just in time to enjoy England beating Australia in the rugby match. Great stuff!

A different type of ride entirely to Thursday's.

Thanks Simon once more for your company

Route and Data for Saturday 29th November.

By the way my "Guess my Miles" competition is now closed. A total of 56 entries. So the first prize is £5.60 and second and third £2.80 each. Now we have to wait another month to see who are the lucky winners. So far I have covered 3,167 miles.

So far I have raised £314 for Forever Angels thanks to the very generous donations received so far. I have been promised more! Not bad considering my original target was £100, updated to £200 after my birthday.

Gridironman.

Pamber Heath to Chieveley and back with Richard and David.

An unusual start to the week. On Tuesday 18th a group of my friends had a good ride in the New Forest from Poppies, Timsbury to the Alice Lisle pub in Rockford near Ringwood. It was a lovely day and I was really very sad that I was working while they were having fun. When I thought more about it I decided that I was not going to cut off myself any more from the opportunities of riding with the Pedallers Group and that I would pack in my role as volunteer in the Save the Children Shop to increase my choice of rides each week. I have worked at the shop for about 5 years so it is now time for someone else to have a go. I shall however continue with my role as treasurer for Save the Children, Alresford Group.

Thursday 20th November was a very grey day to start with fog in some places..

Simon and I had planned to join Richard and David for a ride from Pamber Heath into Berkshire. Unfortunately Simon had to opt out at the last moment due to other commitments, so I drove alone to join them at Richard's home. I got there a few minutes before 10.30 and soon the three of us set off through Silchester and headed north through Mortimer West End towards the Avon and Kennet river and canal. I was riding Posh so was a little dismayed that despite the last few days having been dry, in places the lanes were wet and muddy. (Should I have ridden Sporty?)  I managed to avoid the worst and so did not get too muddy.

We crossed the river and canal and shortly afterwards the A4, Not so busy as it was before the M4 was built but still busy enough.

Next came my nemesis a short but steep climb up Lambdens Hill. It was more than one in seven. I just had to stop and get off and walk for about 100 metres. Richard & David waited for me at the top.

A lot of the lanes in Berkshire were very rough and it was good when we came to a smoother stretch. We rode through Bradfield and Bucklebury and shortly afterwards crossed the river Pang on the footbridge beside the ford. A number of interesting birds in this area, three kites, a buzzard or two and a couple of large black birds which Richard thought might be ravens and a kestrel.

We also met this monster and felt it was wise to give way to him.

We passed under the M4 and continued northwards until we came to Hampstead Norreys. From here we turned westward over the A34. Next we turned south to the village of Chieveley where we enjoyed a nice glass of beer and some tasty bar snacks.

We had covered about 22 milesat an average speed of 11.2 mph. It had been a decent pace whilst enabling us to enjoy the countryside with its autumn colours and wildlife.

We had enjoyed a fair amount of sunshine despite the gloomy forecast but we had found the air was quite cold, about 9 to 10 deg C. It seemed to be colder after lunch but maybe that was because we'd cooled in the pub.

Now what was that lock combination?

Ah! Remembered it!

Whatever the reason I set off at a strong pace just to get warm and led for a few miles. We came to some more climbs and I was soon once more at the back, but after Hermitage and onto the ridge towards Cold Ash David set a very good pace with me on his wheel and Richard behind me.

We dropped down into the valley to Woolhampton where we crossed the A4 Bath Road again.  Next we came to the railway crossing by Midgham Station and had a break while we watched two trains pass.

Soon afterwards David left us to return to Baughurst and Richard & I continued through Aldermaston and up the hill past the AWE and back to Pamber Heath.

A very good day out with Richard and David looking after me really well with their route directions, comments on road conditions and the surrounding countryside. Thanks Guys!

Before I returned home Richard showed me his workshop complete with all kinds of lathes, drills and other equipment.I wouldn't have the faintest idea on how to use most of them! 

He also gave me a set of wheels and some other bike bits to take to Simon which i duly delivered on Friday.

Here is my map and data for the day:

 Note that thanks to David's pace setting the homeward bound sector was done at an average of 12.5 mph.

  

Gridironman.

North Waltham HCMF meet and Winchester CTC ride to Woodfalls..

THE GOOD NEWS IS I HAVE PASSED MY TARGET OF £200 FOR FOREVER ANGELS.

THE TOTAL IS NOW £274. MAYBE WE CAN GET TO £300?

Simon and I managed to avoid most of the rain on Thursday 13th November when we rode to the HCMF meet at The Fox, North Waltham. 
We set off at ten o'clock and headed north up the Candover Valley. When we got to Axford we had a discussion about the route and I led us towards Ellisfield with Simon querying my intended destination. I was convinced this was North Warnborough!
Suspecting that Simon was correct we paused at Ellisfield and I phoned home to ask Jean to check the diary. Of course Simon was right and we had to retrace our route to Axford. Still that did add 4 miles to my total miles for the year!

Simon with his newly restored Gillott Spearpoint in Ellisfield Village.

Simon usually relies on me for route finding so he was delighted to post the following sketch on FaceBook making it clear what he thought about this effort!.

When we got to The Fox, (North Waltham), we discovered that although we were early Charles had beaten us to it. 
We were soon joined by a number of other members, some of whom had got a little wet in rain showers. 
As always on these Thursday rides we were able to catch up with some folk we'd not seen for a while. It was especially nice to see Audrey and chat with her about David's new Zealand tour.

We were lucky with our return ride only getting a few spots of rain but having to fight a very strong southerly wind as we descended into Micheldever.

The Map of our ride. Notice the little spur from Axford to Point 2.

For Saturday 15th November the weather forecast was not too favourable but when I checked the rain radar it seemed likely that Karen's route would be taking us into an area that was not so likely to have showers.
Due to other commitments I was unable to make the 9.30 start in Winchester so by arrangement with Karen I drove to Kings Somborne and joined the group there at 10.30. This worked well except for John making a little circuit of the streets to find me as I'd left my car in Old Vicarage Lane before riding round to the church.
There were six in the group including Alex who like me was only doing a portion of the ride. He left us soon after Houghton to return home via Mottisfont.
It was quite foggy in places with the sun trying to break through and we rode with lights on.
Karen's route was a good if rather hilly one, including Dean Hill which has a climb of about 12.5%. Steep and long enough to test us all.
The reward was that it was in bright sunshine at the top and it remained so until just before we got to Woodfalls. Where it was foggy once more.
The conversation and drinks were good but the quality of the food was variable. Karen, John and Lee were all happy with theirs but that of Simon D. and Graham was not mixed evenly and my chili beef was far too salty and I only ate about half of it. When I told the bar lady we did get three free coffees to compensate.
Shortly after we'd left the pub we had a short shower as we entered the village of Lover but it was soon over. 
Only a little further on we had a setback when graham had a flat tyre. Lee was leading and didn't hear the cries to stop so I tried to catch him but he was going too fast for me. I went back to the group and five minutes later Lee reappeared.
It took about 20 mins to replace the tube. John as always being a great help whilst the rest of us tried hard to help, me by keeping out of the way and taking pictures!
Here is one:

Lee searches for the hole while John helps Graham to replace the tyre and Simon stands ready if needed.
Karen inspecting my "Sporty"?

Karen did a great job of navigating the lanes through Landford and Sherfield English to Awbridge. there are so many little lanes in this area that it is easy to take the wrong one. We were all sporting flashing lights now as the light was beginning to fade.
Simon D. left us here and soon after Lee did too.
I rode with the other 3 until we reached Braishfield where I turned off over the hill to Kings Somborne and my car.
It was already 4 o'clock when I got there so I think Karen's decision to omit a coffee stop was a good one as that would have meant another half an hour elapsed time.

Here is my map for my part of the ride:

Many thanks Karen for such a good ride and also thanks to my fellow riders for their company, especially John who nursed me along when I was struggling to keep up at times.

Gridironman.

HCMF Meet at Tichborne and another circuit through Petersfield.

Thursday 6th November 2014.

Time for another HCMF ride. I joined Simon who was testing one of his latest refurbished bikes. This time a 1947 Selbach. As it had not been ridden far before, this was a test ride over a modest circuit.

We paused on the bridge by the ford for a photo shoot. 

Here is the proud Simon with the Selbach.

We rode a loop to the Tichborne Arms, passing it once to go through Cheriton, then along the A272 to Bramdean before returning to Alresford via Bramdean Common and Old Park Lane. In Alresford we diverted down Broad Street and thence via Drove Lane back to the Winchester Road and then to the Tichborne Arms again. We had covered just 15 miles.   Map of the day's Ride. There was a very good turnout of riders. I counted over 30. For this time of the year with somewhat indifferent weather this was very good. I was able to register another 20 entries on my "Guess my Miles" sweepstake. the pot is now over £38. (A couple of extra pennies having been donated).  There was a lot of interest in Simon's unusual and rare bike. After a good time chatting Bob Damper joined us for the long return Journey to the bottom of New Farm Road in Alresford. (1.76 miles). here we parted company and feeling I owed my supporters a greater effort to reach my target of at least 3,000 miles I decided to reverse the loop from the centre of Alresford back to the Tichborne Arms. As I neared the pub for the third time in the day I passed Alan, Colin and Mick all riding away from it towards Cheriton. I put a lot more effort into this loop. Here are my additional data for the day showing this lap of  almost 12 miles being completed at a speed of 13.7 m.p.h. In the end a reasonable number of miles ridden considering the pub is only a couple of miles from home. Saturday 8th November 2014. The day dawned wet with strong breezes and the forecast for more rain after lunch. As both Alton and Winchester CTC rides were afternoon ones and neither route appealed to us Simon and I decided to do our own thing once more. We decided to go over to the Meon Valley and see how things transpired before deciding where to go next.  We went through Cheriton and up the hill to the Milbury's. Simon was disappointed that I was not up to my usual "Posh" speed, as due to the forecast of rain, I was riding Sporty. We sped along the ridge and down Wheeley Down to Warnford. Simon doing a Good Samaritan Act here removing a tall cane that had blown down across the road while I phoned home to report our survival thus far and to give further details of our proposed route. This was through both West and East Meon. Then along the lanes through Ramsdean to Stroud. (The Hampshire one, not the Gloucestershire one). Here we decided to continue into Petersfield for refreshments. We had coffee and snacks at The Cloisters Cafe and Simon's Hetchin's Cycle, another of his precious steeds. attracted attention from a couple of other customers. I had a delicious Italian Ciabatta toasted sandwich with a cheese and bacon filling and a small side salad whilst Simon tucked into chocolate cake. Simon chats to another enthusiast. We decide that we should not linger as rain was likely to come soon so I chose to ride Stoner Hill out of Petersfield. For those who don't know it, this is a 2.5  mile climb with a maximum gradient of 7.2%. We took 17 mins 48 secs to climb it at an average of 8.5 m.p.h. according to the Strava analysis of my Garmin record. A PB for me even if I am only 635 out of 671!  Once at the top we headed for home via the lanes through Privett and West Tisted. As we reached the latter it began to rain and by the time we got into Ropley it was coming down very heavily. We paused for a short while under the canopy of the Shell service Station before continuing into Alresford via White Hill. The roads in the town were awash and I had to dodge showers from passing cars too. When I eventually arrived home, apart from my feet, I was not too wet, my waterproof jacket having done a good job. Thanks Simon for your company on another most enjoyable if very breezy ride, as we exclaimed at one point "Oh! What fun! Map and Data for the Day.  Gridironman.

HCMF Meet at Dummer. Via Bradley, Ellisfield and Hatch Warren and Chasing the Winchester CTC Riders.

Last Sunday 26th October I managed to squeeze in another short ride to King's Worthy and return via Easton, Avington and Ovington.  Too mundane to require a map and data! However what was interesting was the comparison of the two routes, to and from KW. On the B3047 my average speed was 14.1 mph whilst the hilly route back through Easton, Avington and Ovington it was only 12.1 mph.

Thursday 30th October was another very mild day and although it started rather grey it did brighten up later so I was able to enjoy another ride, mainly on my own as my pal Simon was busy working on a bike ready for his Vets Ride on Sunday next.

I decided to reverse the route we'd ridden last time we had met at Dummer and head there via The Candover Valley, Bradley and Ellisfield. When I got to the turning for Farleigh Wallop I decided to change my route and continue down the hill to Cliddesden. here I crossed the B3046 and climbed over the ridge to Hatch Warren.

Near Sainsbury's Store I followed a cycle path into Beggarwood Park before joining the A30. I rode along that to the motorway junction and after another half a mile I was at the Queen in Dummer. 

Here I found a modest number of riders. A few from Southampton, Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford, and five from Fleet. Don and Angela from Winchester and David, Richard and Laurence from the Tadley area. Many of them had a go at my "guess my mileage" competition which is now getting underway in aid of "Forever Angels Baby Home". So far £12.90 in the pool.

After a pleasant hour or so I set off for home, but not wanting to go the shortest way I rode with Charles towards Overton. Just near the Dummer Cricket Centre Charles hit a pothole and shed both his back and front lights with a mighty clatter. I was a few metres in front and feared the worse. When I turned and found Charles himself was unscathed I felt very relieved.

Charles en route for Overton.

We crossed the A30 and soon after North Waltham I left Charles and climbed to Popham Airfield where I stopped for a coffee and to watch an aeroplane take off.  Apart from that one plane the airfield was very quiet with only a handful of folk about.

The Airfield Clubroom and Control Centre.
 My bike the only one  parked by the cabin.

I headed homeward from the Airfield via Micheldever. Just outside the village I discovered two fields in full bloom with some white flowers and a small patch of yellow. I suspect the yellow was some late oil seed rape but was mystified by the white flower; perhaps some form of brassica? Any suggestions?

The Mysterious Crop.

Unfortunately it was impossible to get into the field to get a close look. 

After passing through the village I decided to be a bit more adventurous and took the fire track through Itchen Wood. This is mainly tarmac, but for about a quarter of a mile it is a muddy and stony  track. Easily passable, though the downhill section was a tad frightening as I skidded a couple of times.
Once past that section it was only a few more miles home through Itchen Abbass.

It was very quiet in the countryside with only a couple of tractors passing me and one working in a field. I did see three buzzards and heard a couple of robins singing their little wispy song; a couple of squirrels  and a pheasant or two and sadly a dead roe deer near Preston Candover..

Sorry Simon you did not join me you would have enjoyed my unusual route. Should you wish to do it you can always follow my route. Here it is:

Saturday 1st November 2014.
I  had thought I might be able to join the Winchester CTC all day easy ride in Alresford at their coffee stop. However due to domestic necessities I was unable to do so. Fortunately just before mid day I was able to get out on my bike and I set off to follow their probable route through Medstead, Four Marks and Ropley to the Flower Pots in Cheriton expecting to catch up with them at the pub.

As I would only be doing about 20 miles I saw the ride as a training ride and challenge to get to the pub as quickly as possible. I made good time to Medstead setting a new personal best on Strava for the segment from the end of the Soke to the junction at the top of the hill in Medstead.. 
I reasoned that the most likely route was via Lymington Bottom and Lyeway and through Ropley to the Petersfield Road. I kept spotting tyre marks where there were wet patches on the road and followed these. I went along Park Lane and crossed over Old Park Road onto the steep hill of Cheriton Lane. Another cyclist in Alton Colours passed me and I heard more riders behind. I thought they were probably more Alton Riders but did not stop to check. Once over the top I made super fast time to Cheriton and arrived at the pub around 1.20 p.m. to discover no sign of the Winchester Riders. They arrived a few minutes later.
 Yes. You've guessed it, the riders who had been following me were the Winchester group who I'd managed to pass in Ropley by taking a different lane from the centre of the village to the Petersfield Road. Apparently Jenny had started to try to catch me but had been called back into the group so they did not get seperated.

It was good to see them and join them for a drink while they ate their lunch. Present in addition to Debs who was the leader for the day, were Jenny, Alex, John Spiers, Claire and Darren, Graham and new rider Robin.

Debs and her group at lunch.

As you can see from the picture we were in the marquee; having sat in the sunshine for a while we'd been driven inside by the strong cool breeze.
I left them to return home for my own lunch and got there just before 2.30. 

Map and data for the day.

Thanks Debs for a very interesting route.

Not quite the ride I'd planned last night but a very enjoyable one.

Gridironman.