Rocket Fuelled Gridironman.

I had a great ride today Tuesday 28th March 2017 with six of my Pedaller friends. I set out to lead the group to Petersfield for our coffee break. Apparently I set a fast pace as I was told by PinkPal at one point that she were going to let my tyres down to slow me up. 

Picture taken today, March 28th 2017.

I was forgiven when we got to the top of Stoner Hill to enjoy a fast descent into Petersfield. I stopped to take a snap of the view to the east across the valley towards Rake.

Picture taken from the same spot May 17th 2015.

When we reached the town centre there was some discussion on which of the many cafes we should patronise before we decided on Heidi's. A good choice as they had a good selection of cakes and other delicacies.

I spotted a artist painting a picture of the statue of William III in the square and had a pleasant chat with him and a young lady artist who was also interested in his efforts. 

Our route home was via the Meon Valley and we sped along the A32 for a short way before climbing Wheely Down. (The second time for me this week). Unfortunately Alan had a puncture at the foot of the climb. He had three ladies for company while he fixed it as the other three men of the group waited at the top of the hill! Was this some dastardly plot?

When we reached Alresford five of my pals joined me for tea, in my garden. They did leave me a very small piece of Belgian Chocolate Cake for later. They insisted it was in my best interest that they had removed most of it from temptation.

Another most enjoyable day done and well and truly dusted.

Here is the map and data for the day.

Gridironman.

Explorations

To round off the week I had an exceptionally enjoyable ride with Andrew. I had planned another ride of exploration, this time to go to the QE Country Park via the new Cycle Path from the Puriton Roundabout, but when I woke on Sunday morning I did not feel at all like riding as I was full of aches and pains after gardening all day yesterday. I convinced myself to go and I am so glad that I did because we enjoyed a lovely spring ride. 
The tree that had diverted us last week near West Meon had been removed. Must have taken a lot of hard work even with modern saws.
The route was a familiar one until we got to near Weston. Along the way we saw a lot of other cyclists out enjoying the spring weather. We saw a brimstone butterfly and heard a green woodpecker calling. 

Our first step into the unknown was into Weston village which is now isolated from Petersfield only a mile away by the A3. We were very fascinated by the approach to the village through an old cutting with large trees growing out of the sides.

There are a couple of footpaths and a bridleway from the village but only the one road in.

The New Cycle Path.

We retraced our ride to the Puriton Roundabout and took the new cycle path. The top of it is some way above the A3 itself but he climb is not hard.

View of the A3 from the path.

There is a good cafe at the centre and I enjoyed a piece of bread pudding and a coffee while Andrew had wild boar baguette! We chatted with some other visitors and then found ourselves a good route homewards. We went under the A3 then along a cycle path to the bottom of the road over the ridge to Clanfield. As we climbed I passed a couple of cyclists chatting by the roadside. I recognized one of them as Dave Pilbeam who is, along with his wife Pam, leading the CTC Holiday I am joining in April, so of course I stopped to have a word with him. We then climbed almost to the top of Butser Hill and paused to enjoy the great views in all directions. The descent of Harvesting Hill is much nicer than the ascent!

To round off our day we climbed Wheeley Down and then in Cheriton we had a couple of pints in the sunshine along with survivors of the Battle of Cheriton. When I asked them why they were not on the battlefield they replied "We have made a strategic withdrawal!"

Thanks Andrew for your company and companionship on a spectacular day.

Gridironman.

My Week

I finished the week with a most enjoyable day out with the Veteran Cycle Club Hampshire Lightweights. As you can see a more modest mileage on fairly flat terrain, but oh! that wind made me use all of my 2 gears! This was Scottie's first appearance on such a special ride with me in the saddle. (Bob may have ridden him there before). Lovely countryside with lots of primroses lining the banks.

The Red Dragon Team on their F.H. SCOTT Red Dragons.

I am very happy that I seem to have coped very well with 4 rides in the week totalling just over 154 miles.  The weather has been a bit grey and windy but that is much preferable to the rain.

Many thanks to all of those who have ridden with me this week for making it all such fun!

Gridironman.

A Hilly Fifty, Another visit to Braishfield & Scottie's Maiden Trip.

Tuesday 7th March 2017.A Hilly Fifty.

I decided to join the Pedallers despite some recent problems with my energy levels. I rode to the start knowing that we would most likely be riding northwards so I could if necessary take a shortcut home. Having decided to head to Overton to start with, I led the group through Hunton and along the A30 towards Popham. We had several hills to climb before we got to Overton and  I drifted to the back. We paused in Overton to decide where to go next and the vote was onwards and upwards to Kingsclere. I set off immediately knowing the others would catch me on the hills. Take a look at the profile and you will see how the route challenged us. However it was a lovely day and the view from the top of White Hill and then a fast descent, (34 mph), made it all worthwhile. A huge kite flew over us as we climbed one of the hills and drifted away in search of other prey!

After a very enjoyable coffee break where the staff made us feel very welcome allowing us to move the tables so we could all sit together. Then we decided not to climb back up White Hill but take the busy main road for a little way and then climb the easier way to Hannington.

In North Waltham Cycmon and I left the others to find our own way home via the Candover Valley. Here we paused for Cycmon to change his library books:

I felt quite tired by the time I got to Alresford but not too much so that I found a creative last mile or too to ensure we had reached the magic 50!

Thanks to my 8 pals for looking after me so well.

Thursday 9th March 2017.

Another visit to the Wheatsheaf, Braishfield.

Having been to the Wheatsheaf last Saturday I suggested to Cycmon that we should find an alternative way to the one we had used then. Here is our map of the day:

Another lovely spring day which brought out a much larger number of HCMF members. It also brought out lots of lovely flowers both in the hedgerows and gardens, celandines scattered like flakes of gold and daffodils everywhere. The birds were singing well too, skylarks, robins and many others. I was so intoxicated by my focus on wild life that I totally missed spotting this magnificent vehicle.

Simon's comment:
Today I thought I saw a Ghost but that was just a Phantom of my imagination. In fact it was a Roll Royce Phantom with its huge 7 litre engine returning about 10 miles to the gallon outside the Bear and Ragged Staff. I had a good chat with the owner - sorry Bryce Mansfield for holding you back. Obviously the human body is far more efficient as I covered another 50 miles on a pint of beer and about the same in water! Today at the Wheatsheaf Braishfield for the Thursday Cycling Fellowship Meet.

Light and shade along the Test vall

My arms were beginning to ache for some reason so I needed a couple of stops to relax including a nice one by Crawley Pond.

Thanks to my pal Cycmon once more for his considerate company.

Saturday 11th March 2017.Scottie's Maiden Ride.

It was time to test Scottie as I will be riding him at a Veteran Cycle day next Sunday (19th March). 

Cycmon came to collect me bringing a saddle bag for me to borrow. He had deliberately chosen a very easy route for me as Scottie only has two gears. This was a good choice as I managed all of the hills

Gathering for the start.

We went to Twyford for coffee and cake at the Bean Below. Visited the Churchyard for a photo shoot too. We then rode to the centre of the City to join Ian and 21 others for the CTC Easy Afternoon Ride. 

I only rode about 7 miles with the group before I suffered what frank Spencer would call a "bit of bother". First my saddle tipped forward when I hit a section of rough road and then the rear mudguard started to rattle. One of the clips had broken. Well it was quite old! My guardian angel Cycmon stepped in and fitted a cable tie to stop the rattled and tightened the saddle clip. His work was not done however as near the ford we met a young lady from Winchester, Michelle, who had loose cleats. Simon was able to lend her a tool to tighten them to enable her to ride home safely.

Cycmon rode on to catch up with the others while I chatted with Michelle until we parted company in Itchen Stoke. I was home in time to see England annihilate Scotland in the Six Nations match. I did feel a little sorry for Scotland who did seem to have more than their fair share of bad luck.

I just hope you all had as great a week as I have had. Feeling much more like my normal self now!

Gridironman.

Pancakes and Windy Days.

Tuesday 28th February 2017.

The Pedallers Search for Pancakes.

Thursday 2nd March 2017.

HCMF Meet at The Royal Oak, 

Goodworth Clatford.

Cycmon persuaded my to take the interesting way to the RV, rather than going along the much travelled B3047. Interesting climb within the first three miles up Mollie's Dismount, with the very strong wind in our faces. It was so blustery at first that I was nearly blown off course as I rounded the bend by the cottages in Abbotstone. Thankfully the hill did provide us with some shelter as we climbed the lea side. Another cyclist who had been just ahead of us turned round and went back to Itchen Stoke. We battled on, taking sheltered lanes as far as possible but I still needed a breather at 11.5 miles, in Stoke Charity. 

The hill out of Barton Stacey was also a real challenge. I struggle on it normally (it is about 8%), but with the wind in my face I only just managed it. Once more I was grateful for a breather. This one on the wooden bench beside the trig point in Memory of Paul Fanes. 

Through Chilbolton and Wherwell we found it much easier as we were more sheltered. We arrived at the pub well after noon to find another six fellows there. Two more joined us later. A somewhat disappointing turnout for a beautiful sunny day. (OK perhaps it was too windy for some). We had a animated and enjoyable lunch with chats about ancient bikes, travel plans and the low numbers attending before setting off to find an alternative route home. Of course, as we know sod's law decreed that the wind would have abated considerably by now and was not even strong enough to wave the tree branches. On the plus side at least it wasn't in our faces. As you can see from the split times we could only just manage double figures for our speed to the pub compared with 11.4 on our way home. I was happy to get home for a reviving shower and a cup Rosie! Thanks Cycmon for supporting me so well when I needed encouragement.

Gridironman Cresting the hill 

between Leckford & Crawley in Bright Sunshine.

Saturday 4th March 2017.
Joined the CTC for part of the ride to Braishfield.

To avoid driving to Winchester I decided that I would instead shorten my day's riding by finding my own way to the Coffee Stop at The Waitrose Farm Shop, Longstock. This also meant I could go at my own pace which seems to have become slower over my last 20 rides.

My plan worked well. I left home around 9 a.m. and got to the cafe at 10:45. I had to wait nearly 25 mins before the Group started to arrive. Here is my summary of the day:

The day was a good one for me as I was able to link up with the CTC riders and enjoy their company whilst for most of the day travelling at my own pace. Of course I know they always accommodate slower riders but it does add pressure to the slower riders to go faster than they would ideally like. 

Gridironman.