Wiggle Bournemouth Sportive.

Saturday 30th May 2015. 

After the hectic events of the last week I was determined to get out on my bike once more. I joined Cycmon and PinkPal to ride this Sportive event. I was not disappointed, it proved to be a very exciting and rewarding ride.

Cycmon kindly picked me up in his car and we arrived at the venue in Matchams at around 7.45. We met PinkPal and joined the queue for the start. I have never seen so many cyclists together before. I believe there were 2,000 taking part. We were released in batches and our group was away just after 8.30.

The first 15 miles were very easy and I covered them in under an hour. However I could not keep up with my two pals, they seemed to be intent on achieving a Gold certificate. I knew I needed to conserve my effort so let them disappear into the distance. 

Our route was on some familiar roads near Ringwood and Fordingbridge then we were onto new ground climbing over a ridge to Coombe Bissett. I sat on the verge at  the top of the hill for a break and to text my friend Caroline who had enquired if I was cycling. 

The course now turned westwards along a very pretty valley through Bishopstone, Broad Chalke and Fifield Bavant. I had ridden this road before when I stayed in the Youth Hostel in Salisbury a few years ago. I stopped to lend my pump to a guy with a flat tyre. That cost me 7 minutes. Soon afterwards I arrived at the first feed stop in the village of Ebbesbourne Wake. No sign of my pals, so after a feed and topping up my bottle. I got going again. We were now over half distance and near Berwick St. John had our toughest hill of the day we climbed over 400 feet to nearly 900 feet. I struggled to make it and some riders had to walk as they did not have low enough gears. Our reward was the great views from the top then a lovely long downhill for about 5 miles.

View from the highest hill in Dorset looking towards Tollard Royal.

The great thing about these rides is that you are never alone for long. There was a continuous stream of faster riders coming past and if they are not going too fast one can get on the wheels for a while and enjoy the drafting effect. Sadly I could not manage to keep up for long. I did however manage to overtake some riders myself and rode with some for a while.

As we got nearer to Ringwood we were treated to another feed stop in the village of Woodlands. I needed the break as the next few miles were testing with many little ups and downs which were steep enough for me to need my granny ring. Of course having covered 50+ miles I was also getting very tired.  We took a loop around to Edmondsham & Alderholt before heading past Ringwood back to the finish. Here is my official time certificate, bearing in mind I stopped to help for 7 mins I had almost achieved my aim of finishing within 6 hours. 

My map & data including my actual riding time are as follows:

I found my two mates waiting for me just after I had crossed the finishing line and we had a little chat, comparing our experiences, before heading home. Thanks Cycmon for the lift and for both for sharing the day with me and a couple of thousand others.

I have analysed the official results and having adjusted for Simon riding the Standard and not the Epic here are my version of the results

1. Total Number Completing the Event       1888
2. Total Number completing the Standard    794
3. PinkPal's position in standard                  601
4. Cycmon's position                                  657
5. Gridironman's position                           708

Not a bad result for the Alresford Groupetta!

I was delivered home by Cycmon before 4 p.m. and enjoyed a hot bath and a glass of beer to celebrate. But oh! Did my legs ache!
Sadly no one at home to share the  experience with.

Gridironman.

Exploring with John Spiers and the Winchester CTC.

Saturday 23rd may 2015. 

After a very traumatic week I decided on Saturday to get myself out on the bike with my friends rather than to sit about moping at home. I set off at 12.50 p.m. to join John Spiers for his easy afternoon ride with the Winchester CTC. Managed to get to the start in near to record time 31 mins and 33 secs. Felt quite happy that I'd not forgotten how to turn the pedals.

There were 15 of us, some good friends of many years, others new ones. I forgot to put my helmet back on before leading the group up the little footpath taking us out on to the Andover road but John spotted it on top of the rubbish bin and brought it to me. Thanks John!

We had been blessed with a very pleasant day for cycling, for once that cool nip in the air had gone away. 

Our route was an innovative one through a number of little lanes that none of us had ridden before, mainly because they did not really go anywhere!

Here is a map of our route, see if you can spot the unusual portions.

Maybe that is a lttle unfair, but if you look at my Garmin Route here you can enlarge the map and see the detail. 

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/782457911

It was a short but very enjoyable ride as is always the case with John who makes a real effort to bring our attention to some matters of interest, sometimes geographical, sometimes historical or topical. 

 Eventually we arrived at the tea stop, Sacher and Strudel in Shawford. Here we enjoyed delicious coffee/tea and very tasty cakes before continuing our ride back to Winchester. I was treated by Jenny, many thanks Jenny, and everyone was so kind, talking about my recent loss sympathetically. It is at times like these when friends can do so much to help just by being there for one.

We were soon back in Winchester where I left the others and gave myself another challenge, to ride up Quarry Hill. i managed a PB. here is the Strava detail:

Quarry Hill Strava record.

I was only 251 st, but 24 people were slower! One of life's little triumphs. 

I rode a little of the A31 before turning towards Avington down the lanes, fondly expecting it to be all downhill. I clearly had forgotten that it actually has several small climbs in it. 

I eventually arrived hoime just after 5 o'clock. Just time for a change and a quick shower before going out to my daughter's for supper.

Another good day on the bike.

Gridironman.

A Strange Week.

Week Ending Sunday 17th May 2015.

No signs of any of the Alresford Groupetta even getting near the ton this week. Though we did manage 144 between us! We have all had various reasons for not doing many miles. Poor Paddy tried a repeat of Caroline's accident in her ford. Fortunately his injuries were not so severe but he has been unable to cycle any more this week, so his total is a modest 15. Simon had a number of other commitments but did manage about 40  today. I have been unable to ride until today because of looking after Jean, but I did get up early and rode to Petersfield for a breakfast stop at the Cloisters Cafe. More details below. Undoubtedly the best effort this week has been by our roving  continental reporter who had two fabulously Nice rides on the Cote d'Azur. Here is one of her route maps. Far more interesting than mine! 

She racked up a total of 47. (I think she could have ridden today but I believe she was too busy enjoying the delights of the Watercress festival). 

Saturday 16th May 2015.

Although I didn't have time to ride with John Spiers and the Winchester CTC, I did manage to join them at the pub in Upper Clatford for lunch. It was as always good to see many old friends, particularly Mary and Don both of whom I'd not seen for ages.

When they left to continue their ride I followed Phil who was on his bike to have coffee in his garden in Andover. We had a great time drinking far too much delicious coffee and chatting about everything. Thanks Phil.

After I left him I paid another visit to the HRCH before heading home to watch stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia.

Sunday 17th May 2015.

I was awake early, (the result of that coffee?), so not wanting to lie abed on such a nice morning I got out the bike and set off just after 7.30 for Petersfield. I followed a well ridden route, but this time in an anti clockwise direction for a change. Here is my map:

I made good progress with little traffic to deal with and for once used the A272 from Bramdean instead of taking the country route. I puffed up the hill to Brockwood but for most of the way I felt surprisingly able despite not having ridden for a week.

Red Campion.

Solomon's Seal.

Lots of flowers to add to the list of those showing in the hedgerows and woods too. Red Campion, Purple Vetch, and Solomon's Seal.

I took a small loop through Buriton before entering Petersfield and calling at the Cloisters Cafe for a latte.

 I climbed Stoner Hill managing it quite well without needing to use my bottom gear. I am quite pleased with this picture of Ashford Hangers taken near the top of Stoner Hill. How green the trees are now compared to how they looked just a couple of weeks ago.

Ashford Hangers Nature Reserve.

It was too short a route to go directly home so I deviated through Four Marks where I spotted this tree, loaded with blossom.

I was now nearly home so I threw all my efforts into riding at speed to get my average for the day to over 12 mph. I avoided the town centre because of the Watercress festival and went via Drove Lane. Lots of cars here because of the diversions.

A most satisfactory ride. Helped dispel my demons!

Gridironman.

Lunch at Lasham Gliding Club.

Friday 8th May. Once more my daughter Sarah took over care duties so I could get out on Posh for a ride. 

My route was through Old Alresford and Swarraton and up the Candover Valley. In Brown Candover I came across this interesting  scene:

Police car and Two Breakdown Trucks attend the scene.

Baker's Flatbed backing into position to unload the cargo. 

Baker's Truck in position.
Note the ladder to access the cargo.

BUILDBASE TRUCK in the Candover Brook.
I wonder why he drove onto the grass verge? Perhaps he was trying to pass another vehicle and misjudged the width?

I only had three hours so needing to have some lunch I chose not to stay to watch what happened next but to go on to the Gliding Club. I figured that I would get served quickly there whereas the nearby Avenue Garden Centre is always busy and it sometimes takes a while to get served. The GC usually have a choice of three ready cooked meals. On this occasion the choice was Fish & Chips, Beef Curry or Cheesy Pasta Bake. All three looked delicious. I chose the curry and found it to be very tasty without being too hot. (Mango chutney and poppadom on the side.) I also had a very large cup of coffee, all for  £7.80.

It tried to rain while I was in the Club but fortunately nothing much came of it and I was able to return home in the dry.

Near Lasham airfield there was a dead badger.

Lots of spring flowers out now in profusion and most trees have greened up substantially since last weekend.. The bluebells near Ellisfield filling the air with a lovely perfume. Also the more pungent smell of the wild garlic. Other flowers in abundance were dandelions, cow parsley, white dead nettle, stitch-wort & garlic mustard. The barley is already in ear and there is a lot of oil seed rape in the fields.

I was back just before my three hours were up having had another exhilarating ride the details of which are here:

Alresford Groupetta News.

Not up to our usual high standard. for a variety of reasons, mainly health related. Unless anyone has sneaked in another ride today that I don't know about we have only managed a total of 69 miles between us all. PinkPal leading with 41 whilst I managed a token 28!
We promise to try and do better.


GRIDIRONMAN.

Alresford Groupetta Survivor

Alresford Groupetta News:

Another week of mixed fortunes. Here is the leader board:-

Cycmon once more topping the list, but he did have the advantage of time for three rides. Both he & PinkPal did well on Sunday with that very wet and windy weather to contend with. PinkPal rode 66 miles on the IOW Randonee Audax whilst Cycmon was taking part in a 45 mile veteran cycles ride. Well done both.
Not such a great week for Paddy, see more details below.

Saturday 2nd May 2015. The Groupetta had planned short ride to Petersfield for coffee. However things did not quite turn out as planned.

Paddy and I were all ready to go at 1.30 p.m. but there was no sign of Cycmon. A phone call to Cycmon was not answered so we presumed he was on his way. As he still had not arrived by 1.45 I checked my emails and discovered that an email had been sent about midday; unfortunately after my computer had been turned off. So Paddy and I set off for Petersfield as planned but our plans soon had to be revised as  Paddy had a problem with his back wheel and after just 3 miles we stopped to try and sort it. It turned out to be a badly fitted tyre which was causing a bumping. Paddy managed to fix it and we set off once more along the Petersfield Road. 

Paddy does a dance with White Van man.

However after about two more miles at the foot of Smugglers Lane after I had just taken this picture of him doing a waltz with a Yodel Van, Paddy told me he felt unwell. 

He decided to return home. I hope it was nothing serious and that he is now feeling better. 

I was determined to make the most of my couple of hours of respite and I continued up Smugglers Lane to Monkwood. Here a very bouncy greyhound wanted to play with me and nearly had me in trouble as he pranced alongside. However since time had already been lost due to the late start and the two involuntary stops I decided it was far too late to attempt to get to Petersfield. Instead I opted to do a loop through Alton and back home via Medstead. 

That Log!

I was able to maintain a good speed along the A32 through East Tisted and Farringdon. In Chawton I paused to examine the site of my tumble on January 17th. How could I not have seen that big log!

As I exited the village a couple decided to cross the road without looking and when I shouted "LOOK OUT" the woman looked at me as if I was the one who was at fault! 

I skirted Alton and was soon climbing Snode Hill, now much easier since the council resurfaced it.

Lots of bluebells out now. Here is my offering of a snap. I expect others will be posted soon on FB much better than mine!

Bluebells near Wivelrod.

After checking with my relief carer that I still had time, I popped into Owen's Bike Shop for a chat with Owen and to sort out a problem I've had with a light I had bought there. 



Near Lyeway as I rounded a corner a large brown hare crossed the road a few yards in front of me. Shortly afterwards I saw this pretty patch of white flowers, what are they? Possibly a brassica?

From here it was all more or less downhill. 


I eventually arrived home about 4.30 with a total elapsed time from 1.45 p.m. of 2 hours 45 mins. Riding time of about 2 hours 10 mins. (Garmin  record adjusted to add 1.5 miles and 8 minutes ridden without it recording)
It had in the end been a very good training ride and I felt very pleased. Thanks to my daughter Sarah for giving me the chance to get out on my Posh bike.

Gridironman.