Autumn Colours & Sunny Sunday.

Paddy Power.
At North Waltham.

Wednesday 23rd October 2019.

A somewhat dull day but at least it was dry. I found a somewhat lumpy route to and from the QE Country Park and was glad I had chosen Txiki for my mount of the day. 

The trees are really showing their autumn colours now and it was a shame there was not a sunnier day to show them to their best. Still a few odd flowers about and plenty of old man's beard to decorate the hedgerows. 

I even found a road I don't remember ever having ridden before, maybe I just forgot it. Will check with my maps.

Two red kites soaring over me as I climbed Wheeley Down. I think they had spotted a dead pheasant on the road. A little further on a buzzard took over the soaring duties.

I notice The Cricketers on Tichborne Down is still closed with some fencing round. I wonder if refurbishment is in progress or has it been bought by developers?

Thursday 24th October 2019.

With rain forecast over the next few days, I felt it would be good to ride to the HCMF meet at Easton despite the rain forecast for the middle of the day. As I rode the first few miles the roads were almost dry and apart from a spot or two of rain it was dry but just as I was riding out of Sutton Scotney it started to rain more. Fortunately not very heavily. When I got to the Cricketers I found Simon and Andrew on the doorstep so we went in together. It was good to meet up with them both as I'd not seen either for a while. The rain came heavily for the next couple of hours and it was gone 3 by the time it stopped and we headed home. So overall a good day out despite the weather.

Sunday 27thy October 2019.

A beautiful sunny day but rather chilly at around 6 deg C when we set off. Warmer in the sunshine. We had planned to go to Jolly Ollie's in Oakley but when I realised they were closed on Sunday we changed the plan and we stopped at the Old Barn Stores in North Waltham. We had to wait a while for our coffee and cake but it was well worth it as it was a lovely day to sit by the duck pond in the sunshine while other customers from the shop sat on a nearby bench and a lady and her two boys fed the ducks.

Many thanks Paddy, for making my day so enjoyable and for a post-ride dinner "en famille" with the entertainment of premier league football and "Strictly"!

Gridironman.

Another good week cycling despite various distractions.

A good start to the week with a Pedallers ride in the New Forest but then on Thursday rain delayed my start and then a flat tyre curtailed my ride. On Saturday with rugby and a family celebration, I didn't ride with the Winchester CTC as I had planned. So I made up a bit for that with a solo ride on Sunday between watching two more WC Rugby matches.

Tuesday 15th October 2019.

Thursday 17th October 2019.

Sunday 20th October 2019

Gridironman.

Welcome back to the Pedallers International!

Pedallers International having returned from their trip it was time to resume normal service. With other matters to attend to we were still only four on the ride on Tuesday 8th October. Sometimes small is beautiful, so it proved on this occasion with a most enjoyable ride. We were back in time to miss the rain too!

Thursday 10th October saw me out on my own again but meeting up with lots of friends en route, both during my visit to NH and in the pub at lunch. It was good to hear from June Morton that having learnt to ride as an adult recently she is now thriving on the bike and has joined her local Breeze group.

Sunday 13th October 2019.

It seemed to rain all morning so i was in no hurry to go out on my bike. However, after being entertained by the Japanese V Scotland rugby match while I had a delicious lamb steak for lunch it started to brighten up so it was time to get cycling again.

Still not quite averaging a ton. (99.8). Just 8 miles short. 

The most important thing is I am still greatly enjoying my rides thanks to a little assistance from Txiki! I still work hard but don't feel knackered when I get home. Today I used less than 50% of the battery.

Gridironman.

Pinging Nuts & Acorns & Scrunching Beech Mast.

As my friend Bob observed last Thursday there are plenty of hazelnuts littering the roads recently and every now and then as one runs over one it pings across the road! I can remember as a child going "nutting". It was an important source of food like blackberrying and gleaning at a time when we had rationing.

Tuesday 1st October

For a second week running the morning was wet but the afternoon dry so a late start enabled an almost dry ride.

Thursday 3rd October.

We are really into Autumn now, the temperature into single digits early on and not much into double later. Fortunately I'd checked before setting off and I was wearing my winter tights and gilet for the first time.

Saturday 5th October.

Not having any of the Groupetta to ride with I opted to join the Winchester CTC ride led by Bob. A good choice as the ride was much easier than my other recent rides with the elevations being more modest and plenty of flatish going along the valleys. I took Txiki because I knew I'd be covering over 50 miles, but I could have managed on one of the others having covered over 45 miles on the first 25% of the battery. 

Bob had planned a good ride with coffee at Leckford and lunch at St. Mary Bourne, where we had a lovely chat at lunch with the others, taking care not to overhear the rugby in the next bar.

Another over the "ton" week. My average weekly figure now 99.5 miles. Need to beef that up during the better weather.

Gridironman.