Last rides of 2017.

The Last Issue of the Blog On My Bike 2017. The next one will be On My Bike 2018!

With a mixed bag of weather and family and other social events taking place I only managed two rides this past week. 

Boxing Day 26th December 2017.

Saturday 30th December 2017.

Cycmon and I, being the only two of the Groupetta available and both feeling a little delicate, decided on a gentle ride of about 20 miles. All went well until just after we had passed Warnford I had a flat tyre. The first ever for Paris after about 2790 miles. I was lucky to have Cycmon with me. He took charge of the job and soon found the cause, a Hampshire flint, quite small but very sharp. It was only about another mile before we were in West Meon and I was able to reward Cycmon with coffee and cake at the little Cuppacheeno Cafe behind the village store. A number of other cyclists there most looking very muddy, but they had ridden along the old Meon Valley railway track. 

I set off up the slope to the centre of the village and realised that Cycmon was not behind me, so went back to find him. He was in deep conversation with another keen cyclist about the merits of Brooks saddles and many other matters. I listened as if to a foreign language as they moved on to the good and bad features of various gears, hubs etc.

As we neared Bramdean Common we found a lot of cars parked on the roadside. Then we heard a hunting horn and rounded the corner to find a large group of mounted horses with fox hounds. We paused to take pictures.

We soon were back in Alresford having covered just about 22 miles. It had been an excellent ride apart from the puncture.

Don't forget to look at my other "pages", accessed through the tabs at the top of the blog, for updated details of my bikes and new data for 2017 complete with charts.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.
Gridironman.

Seasonal Fun

A milder spell to end the week. This also meant the roads were much muckier as there was no sunshine and the roads remained very wet from gentle almost imperceptible drizzle at times. However it was a very jolly one for me, I met up with three different groups of pals. And enjoyed much banter and exchange of Christmas greetings. 

Unfortunately my Garmin 200 has continued to malfunction so I think it is probably worth getting a new Garmin 25 to start my 2018 records. I have had to reconstruct the routes and data from other sources but at least the Garmin unit has continued to record the overall mileage so I can be reasonably accurate.

With only one week to go before the New Year I am very pleased with what I have achieved and enjoyed during the year. I will be adding the 2017 data to a new page at the end of next week so for those of you who are "nerds" like me enjoy! I can't pretend to have clocked up the miles of some of the other CTC members. It will be fun looking at their data on Strava.

On the wild life side there has been a lot of activity in the gardens and hedgerows of many tits, including the long tail tits. Some very close sightings of Red Kite and also a welcome return to Kestrels. I am also amazed at the number of flowers showing out of season like primroses, common hogweed and roses.

Tuesday 19th December 2017.
Festive ride with the Pedallers.

Time to enjoy more of the festive season. I was keen to do something special for my Pedalling Pals so I suggested they should meet at my home, do a shortish ride and then enjoy coffee/tea and cakes there after the ride. With the weather being very frosty to start this worked perfectly as you can see from the details along with the map below. I hope I have set a precedent for the future!

Thursday 21st December.
HCMF Meet at The Brushmakers, Upham.

Saturday 23rd December 2017
With Winchester CTC over Christmas Hill.

Wishing you all "A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Gridironman.

Mixed Weather Riding.

It has been a week of variable weather but I have managed to get in two very enjoyable rides after we had called off the Pedallers ride on Tuesday due to icy conditions.

The First on Thursday 14th December. 

Rode to Braishfield to join the HCMF.

The Second on Saturday 16th December.
Rode Solo to the Golden Glider for Lunch.

It has been a week of very mixed weather which has caused revision of plans almost daily, but in the end I have greatly enjoyed being out on my bike. There has been quite a lot of bird activity with regular sightings of robins, blackbirds, rooks, jackdaws, pheasants, a few partridge, surprisingly few pigeons and starlings, (have they gone to overwinter in towns?). Only one red kite. A couple of squirrels but no deer. There have been some intersting cloud formations but the surprise of all came today when several times I  saw rainbows; caused probably not by rain but the sun being low and shining through very thin cloud.

Arc en Ciel near Preston Candover.

I hope to get a couple more rides before Christmas but to all my readers here is my special Christmas Greeting. Beautifully stitched by my cycling friend PinkPal.

I will not be riding tomorrow as I have two of my best friends coming for lunch.

Gridironman.

More eating than cycling!

It has been a very different week. Only one ride but two Christmas Meals with fellow cyclists.

The first was on Tuesday and I rode with 4 others to meet another nine at the Brushmakers Arms, Upham. The second was at The Milbury's, Beauworth. 

Tuesday 5th December 2017. 

Pedallers Christmas Lunch at the Brushmakers Arms, Upham.

Five of us had chosen to ride to the pub following a route devised by Chris. I was very familiar with the lanes involved so I led from the start but then climbing the steep pitch from the A272 up Brockwood Bottom I had to walk a short part of it and the others waited for me at the next crossroads. When I caught up I rode straight past and was soon in West Meon. Chris was just behind me as I turned up Old Winchester Hill Lane and I presumed the others were there too. However, as I climbed the hill after walking the short steep pitch near the bottom Chris told me the others were not there. I carried on expecting them all to catch up but when I arrived at the top I had to wait about 5 mins for Chris who had been on the phone and established that the others had gone along the main A32 to Exton. We agreed they should carry on and we would persist with the planned route having already climbed the highest hill. We did cut off the corner into Droxford and went straight down to Soberton. I reckon the others just didn't fancy trying to catch me on the climb so had taken the flatter route.

Chris and I arrived at the pub only a few minutes late and about 10 mins behind the others. Others of our members were already there, Bill having come by bike and the rest by car.

Here is our map of my route from which you can see we took a much shorter route home after a very enjoyable lunch.

Thursday 7th December 2017.

HCMF Christmas Lunch at the Milbury's, Beauworth.

This was a slightly more formal event with about 30 of us attending. Around a third had come by bike whilst the rest of us not wanting to get wet had come by car. Most of us had traditional fare with two or three courses proceeded by mulled wine and followed by coffee and chocolates. 

Julie's Jug was presented to Charles Taylor for his regular attendance at our meetings combined with his service in the past as a volunteer Hostel Warden and his inspiration to us all by continuing to ride at least part of the way almost every week at the age of 84. Indeed he had ridden part way on the day but had had to return to his car and drive to the pub  after a mishap. He had an overall majority of votes. 

WELL DONE CHARLES.

For me that concluded my riding for the week as I had to abandon my plans to ride on Saturday as I had some severe pains in my back. I think I did too much house work and tidying up the garden on Friday including cleaning a gutter full of moss.

Following an easy day yesterday I am feeling much better today so hopefully will be able to ride this week provided the weather is OK.

Gridironman.

Into Winter with Sunshine, Shivers & a Shower

I seem to be getting fitter gradually and am managing longer rides without getting too tired, even on the hills I am improving but still manage to be last up most of them! I even manged to clock up several personal bests on Strava. I was very pleased with this one, over 4 mins quicker on the climb from Froyle on Saturday afternoon:

Tuesday 28th November 2017.
Pedallers ride from Crawley Pond to
 Leckford Estate Farm Shop.

I love riding with the Pedallers partly because a small compact group is more to my taste than a large group. I am a little more wobbly at slow speed and with getting off and on my bike and find it easier in a small group. 

I think my back problems began during my tour in Holland earlier this year when I managed to tumble a couple of times due to congestion. Our ride on Tuesday was quite undulating so was quite testing for me but with the friendship of the others was very enjoyable.

Thursday 30th November 2017.
HCMF Meet at the Selborne Arms.

Saturday 2nd December 2017.
Groupetta ride with Alton CTC to Odiham

Sunday 3rd December 2017.
To the Flowerpots & Back.

I was disappointed when I got home on Saturday to discover that I was still short of the "Ton", so decided a little ride to my favourite local to get me over the mark. It was much warmer than yesterday but very grey and dull, but nevertheless I enjoyed my short ride through Tichborne which is always a pleasure. Many of the trees making stark images against the grey sky. I have broken my camera so have not taken many pics lately. I'm not very good at using my camera phone. 

Altogether another enjoyable week, though I did prefer the temperature today riding in my "civvies". The barmaid at the Pots thought I'd not cycled. 

I think I have done enough to retain the TUK Medal.

Cheers

Gridironman