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.