Great start to the week with over 75 miles covered in 2 days.

Monday 19th January (Already)!

Cold but lovely sunny morning. Too good to waste it on domestic chores, so I went for a ride. 

Just a gentle loop from home via Ropley, Four marks and Medstead.

Popped into the Tree House Cafe at the Garthowen Garden centre and had a very good Americano. They have enough space there to be able to cope with a group of riders and they serve some very good nosh, so try it.

As I joined the A31 at the Eastern end of the village I discovered that it was totally closed just to my right, just as well I wasn't planning to go that way. It seems there must have been a major incident as there were flashing lights on vehicles everywhere including an ambulance.

I looped around through Medstead and Upper Wield before heading for home and lunch. A modest 20 but very enjoyable miles covered.

Tuesday 20th January.

Simon and I rode to Crawley Pond to join the Pedallers. It was the coldest it had been all winter at -5 deg C. Fortunately the roads were clear of ice as it had been dry yesterday, though Simon was having trouble with his rear brake which had frozen up.

We spotted Barrie ahead of us as we approached Three Maids Hill and caught up with him near Littleton shortly afterwards we discovered Graham at the side of the road, also with frozen brake trouble! 

At the RV we met Alan, David & Carol, Chris and after a brief chat Barrie left us to return home and the rest of us set off to go to the Waitrose Farm Shop & Cafe on the Leckford Farm Estate.

I soon found myself alone as the other six all seemed intent on being first to the coffee stop. No matter I plodded along at my own pace and caught up with them as they waited for me in King's Somborne. 

Our route was a good one through Houghton, Broughton and the Wallops and the roads were fine except in two places. The first in Middle Wallop where water was spilling onto the road causing a small area of mixed water, ice and slush. The second a larger one on the lane down to Grateley where the water from  a couple of large puddles were being splashed onto the road by vehicles with similar results. I'm glad to say we had no problems with either.

A brief pause in Monxton enabled me to woof down an energy bar before he headed South towards Leckford. I was struggling once again to keep up and as it was already gone noon I decided that I could not afford the time for the coffee stop as I needed to be home by three o'clock. So at Fullerton I bid farewell to the others and headed home via Barton Stacey. In Sutton Scotney I popped into the village shop to "get some nuts" to fuel me for the last 12 miles home.

I did manage to get there well before three. 

It enjoyed the ride but having spent 5+ hours in the saddle with only short breaks no wonder I felt a little shattered. This was soon put right with a cuppa and a nice hot bath and later a sausage risotto of my own recipe.

 Saturday 24th January.

Simon and I had planned to do our own thing and we soon had Sarah and Simon asking if they could join us.

I suggested a ride to Wickham starting at 10 a.m. However when I went out at 9.15 I found the roads to be quite icy in places so I phoned the others and we delayed our start until 11. A wise decision as even then there were still one or two icy patches in the shade.

Our route was very similar to one ridden by Simon and I in October last year with some variations and at least one lane used I'd never ridden before.

We headed to Cheriton on the B road rather than our normal route south through Tichborne, just in case there was ice there.
Up the hill through Kilmeston and over Beacon Hill, our highest point of the day at a little over 600 feet. Sarah as always showing her climbing ability despite her lack of recent miles. The couple of miles downhill to Droxford were covered rapidly apart from a pause just before the village where a horse, pedestrians, cars and cyclists all met!
From Soberton I omitted the hill up to Soberton Heath and took us straight to Newtown. Hoever there was no easy way of avoiding that hill from there to Bere Forest. 

We decided to patronise Lillie's Tea & Coffee Shop rather than the pub. A good choice as we had a very good lunch as you can see from these pictures:

Paddy enjoying his salad.

My Hampshire Beef Stew with roasted vegetables.

Sarah had a coronation chicken sandwich with doorstep size slices of granary bread, sorry no picture, she asked me not to publish it!! I though she would never manage it, but she did. Meanwhile Simon was enjoying Sausage and Bubble & Squeak.

Service was a little slow as they were so busy, but we didn't mind, we were in the warm and enjoyed chatting about all manner of things

The sun was still shining brightly when we emerged to take the road hoime. Why are tea shops always at the bottom pof hills?

I chose a route I'd not tried before via Prickett's Hill, High Street & Solomon's Lane to Waltham Heath. On to Swanmore and into Bishop's Waltham where clever dick tried a new route through the town. We found it was as i had warned the others it might be a no through road. Never mind if you don't explore you never find new routes.

We climbed the hill to Ashton lane and thence to the top of Beeches Hill.

Sarah decided she wanted to crack on and headed off with the three of us trailing behind. However by the time we got to the junction with Salt lane I was still only about 200 metres behind her, so wanting to get my average speed above 11 mph I tried to keep her in sight. She pulled away but then she stopped briefly and I closed within a 100 metres. On the hill down through Beauworth I caught and passed her. At the junction of the A272 I said farewell to her again as I waited for the other lads. 

Paddy Crossing the A272.

We were almost home now and Simon and I took the lane by the ford while Paddy carried on to the B3407.

Simon approaching the foot bridge.

A most enjoyable ride to finish a great week with over 110 miles covered.

Gridironman.

Pedallers & Alresford Groupetta Rides

A much less frantic week than last week. I did mange to fit in two rides, dodging the worst of the weather and finding some nice sunny days even if they were a little on the chilly side.

On Tuesday 13th January I rode to Crawley Pond to join the Pedallers. Only David & Carol and Brenda were waiting but Chris appeared soon afterwards having been held up in traffic in Hursley.

Brenda suggested we aimed for Annie's in Michelmersh for coffee. We took the route of least resistance via Kings Somborne and Mottisfont. It was bright and sunny but the forecast cloud and rain could be seen approaching from the west.  It arrived while we were just finishing our coffee/tea and cakes.

When it eased we set off on our return trip, Brenda choosing to return home via the Test valley whilst I led the rest past the Bear & Ragged Staff to Braishfield via Michelmersh Village. 

In Braishfield we split up with David & Carol climbing over the ridge to Kings Somborne, Chris heading for Romsey and I through Slackstead to Standon. the rain had stopped completely by now and by the time I reached Crab Wood I had dried out in the sunshine.

I took the Sarum Road into Winchester and thence home. 

Here are my map and details for the day:

A very enjoyable day despite the heavy shower.

Saturday 17th January Simon was leading the Winchester CTC Intermediate ride in place of Daren who is unwell. (Get fit soon Daren). The weather started with frost and some slippery surfaces but Simon rode into Winchester to the usual RV. Unfortunately no one else turned up so he rode back alone to meet Sarah, Paddy & I, as arranged, at the top of Broad Street.

His route took us through Medstead and Lasham to the Avenue Garden Centre where thee of us indulged ourselves in the largest Belgian Buns I've ever seen. They defeated us!!! Simon more wisely had chosen a more modest sponge cake.

The lane down to Shalden was in very poor condition with pot holes all over the road in places. Fortunately only for a short way. We were soon down the steep hill onto the B3349 and into Alton. 

Next we rode along the Old Winchester road and through the underpass into Chawton.  we paused by Jane Austen's house for a picture shoot. 

The Alresford Groupetta by Jane Austen's House.
(Sporty and my shadow making up the group)

Shortly after taking this picture whilst negotiating the shortcut past the Chawton village church with the sun in my eyes I totally missed spotting a large fallen tree log, hit it and tumbled in a heap. Fortunately neither Sporty or I seemed to have suffered any significant damage though I was feeling rather shaken. Once I had recovered we started off again, but then Simon had problems with a mudguard so we had another short delay while he fixed that.

The A32 was busy and we were a little concerned about drivers approaching us from behind being dazzled by the bright sunshine.  Fortunately we only had to go as far as The Angel near Privett.

Here we had a very enjoyable lunch and chat before heading back home to Alresford. We took the direct route through West Tisted and Ropley. In Bishop's Sutton Sarah & Simon chose to go the shortest route home over White Hill and I decided to go with them. Paddy being sensible took the easier option through the town.

My Garmin map for the ride has not recorded the route correctly but the mileage data seems to be correct, so I have retraced the route on RideWithGps for my records.

I greatly enjoyed the day especially as I had not ridden with Sarah and Paddy for some time so it was good to catch up with their news and ambitions. 

Paddy is riding his first event of the year in two weeks and Sarah will be riding LeJog in September so she is starting her training programme in earnest now.

Many thanks to Simon for his unusual route and to all three for their company and concern when I tumbled to the ground in Chawton.

Gridironman.

A Busy Week On and Off the Bike.


On Monday 5th January I handed over my post as registration Officer for Winchester CTC to Marian., on Wednesday 7th Simon and I checked the route for the Early Spring 50 mile challenge, on Thursday I had an interesting  ride with Don Anderson and on Friday 9th I handed over my role as HCMF Treasurer to Bob. Then to finish off the week in style, if not in distance, I rode to Kings Worthy to help with the serving of refreshments to riders on completion of  the Watership Down.

Monday 5th January

Marian came to me to jointly deal with the December list of Winchester CTC members and to take over the post of Registration Officer. We had a bit of "fun" transferring the ownership of the Mail Chimp utility, but otherwise the job went smoothly and Marian is now firmly in the post. 

January 7th 2015.

Simon joined me on a ride to check the northern loop of the Early Spring 50 mile ride.

We left home just after 10 a.m. and rode to Ovington to check that the work on Caroline's Ford had been completed and that the road was open again. it was. Much improved and the water quite low at present.

Here is our Map and Data for the day:

With Simon's help I amended some of the written instructions to make them clearer and I have sent these to Sue Coles for use on February 15th. Sue has since amended the details from my suggestions and those of Gary who checked the southern half of the course., coincidentally on the same day.

Thanks Simon for your valuable assistance.

Thursday 8th January.

It was a very wet start to the day and I had anticipated not riding, but by 1 p.m. the sun was shinning brightly and Jean suggested I should make the most of it. I changed in a flash and by 1.30 I was at the English Partridge in Bighton. On my way I was held up by one of our arch enemies, a farmer showering the road with hedge trimmings. I picked my way past him and shortly afterwards passed Charles on his way home. 

At the pub I only spotted one bike outside and feared that only one rider was within. I was wrong there were about a dozen in there. Some had parked their bikes on the other side of the pub, others had come by car. 

I had a pint with them before we all left to seek our various routes home.

I had mentioned that I would not be going straight home as that would only be a total ride of 6 miles so Don asked me to join him on a roundabout route towards Winchester. I agreed. here is the map of my route from which you will be able to see that we crossed the Candover Valley and went via Woodmancott and East Stratton to Itchen Abbas.

We chatted for most of the way, about many things, most interesting was when we discussed some of our families' connections with the first world war. 

In Itchen Abbass by chance I met Caroline a very good friend from my days volunteering at Naomi House. We had a short but good chat before Don and I continued to Avington. here our ways parted and I headed back to Alresford while Don went west.

Thanks Don for a most enjoyable ride.

Friday 9th January.

I divested myself of another role, that of HCMF treasurer. I drove over to Bob's home taking with me the records and funds of the Fellowship. Had a coffee and a piece of delicious Christmas Cake before passing over the goodies including a cheque for the funds.

Now I only have one volunteer job to deal with that of Treasurer for the Alresford Branch of Save the Children.

Sunday 11th January.
Having been unable to take part in the Watership Down Audax this year I thought I could at least help a little and repay the club for the fun (?) I have had on this event in the past. So after lunch I rode over there and helped with clearing tables and washing up. 
Among the ladies there in the kitchen were Marian and Caroline and Don was doing sterling work with the Brevet Cards and timing along with several other folk I do not know. 
I spotted and chatted with a number of friends from Alton, Winchester and Southampton CTCs and everyone seemed very happy with their day. It had certainly been one of the best regarding weather.
I could only stay a liitle while but I was happy that it had helped at the busiest time. Just before I left, Sue and Stephen arrived, having ridden most of the course after starting the event earlier in the day. Stephen was wearing one of the new Winchester CTC tops. The first I'd seen Very smart!

Just for the record here are my map and data for the day.

A most satisfactory week.

Gridironman.

New Alresford to Popham Airfield and back

Sunday 4th January 2015.

An unexpected change in family plans allowed me to sneak out for my first ride of 2015.

Too late to contact Simon as I needed to get going immediately, hope he will forgive me! 

I thought I'd head north for a change and decided to go to Popham Airfield to have a coffee in the clubroom.

Just after I left Old Alresford I was passed by two riders. One male, one female. I am not sure if they were together or not but they were both going at a good rate with the lady about 100 metres behind the gent. They continued up the hill towards Swarraton whilst I forked right to take the alternative way to the Candover Valley. 

I descended Spiers Lane to Chilton Candover and just as I was leaving the village the surprised lady rider came past me again. "How did you get here? You must know some thing I don't" she said. I replied "I know a shorter route of course!" She soon disappeared into the distance.

The mist got thicker as I climbed towards Dummer and it seemed colder too. I crossed the A30 and was soon through North Waltham and up the hill to Popham Airfield which was shrouded in mist.

Grounded!

When I pulled up outside the clubroom I spotted another bike outside which I thought I recognized as Caroline's. However  as there was no sign of Ian's bike I thought maybe I was mistaken. Lucky for me I wasn't. Caroline was inside enjoying a light lunch. I joined her and had a coffee and piece of fruit cake.

It was really lovely to see Caroline and exchange news and gossip but all too soon it was time for both of us to make our way home. We rode together for the first mile or so before our ways parted.

I took my usual route from the bridge under the A303 home, via West and East Stratton, up the short but steep pitch to the top of Northington Down and then a fast descent of Mollie's Dismount.

I was home soon after 2 having covered almost 28 miles.

A decent average speed for the day of 11.6 mph and surprisingly two personal bests on Strava despite the fact I was riding Sporty.

Ride and Data for the day.

Only the one ride to report today as I included last Tuesday's ride as the final one of 2014 the other day.

By the way Les Frewin, the winner of Guess My Miles, has donated his winnings to Naomi House. Thanks Les!

GRIDIRONMAN.

My last two rides in 2014. Solo to the Departure Lounge and to West Meon for coffee with another Pedaller, Simon.

Saturday 27th December 2014.  Solo to the Departure Lounge.

Had considered joining the Winchester CTC afternoon ride, but as no details of the ride's destination having been published and with a bright sunny morning and cloudy afternoon forecast I decided to make the most of the good weather and go for a solo ride. My thought was to go to the Departure Lounge for coffee.

First I had to get some milk and the Saturday Times for "her indoors" to enjoy whilst I was out, so I popped into town on Sporty to do that. 

I was soon on my way through the town again and through Old Alresford heading for the climb up Lower Lanham Lane to Upper Wield. As I climbed the hill I decided to take the small lane on the left which is a cul-de-sac, signposted Armsworth Hill. I wanted to see for myself what is at the top of it. There are several large residences up there and also a farm. It is a beautiful situation for a house with extensive views over the countryside and very quiet being a quarter of a mile from the country road.. I kept expecting someone to appear and ask what I wanted but no one did. 

I returned to the road and climbed once more to the top of the ridge. Passed through Upper Wield and skirted Lower Wield to get to Bentworth. I took the lane past the Sun Inn towards Shaldon. I then followed the A339 down the valley towards Alton and  the Cafe. I was ready for a cappuccino and a  mince pie. One of the other customers chatted to me for a while, it turned out he is also a cyclist but having had an accident recently was not on his bike today. We exchanged yarns about various rides and he gave me some ideas for future ones. 

Also there were two lady cyclists from Fleet. Mother and daughter out for a post Christmas Ride to get some fresh air too. We had a nice conversation and it turned out the mother who has only recently joined the Fleet CTC was at the HCMF lunch as a guest of one of the members. A small world! 

Here are details of my data and map for the day from which you can see I took the scenic route rather than the direct one back to Alresford, climbing Snode Lane, always a challenge at 8%, and through Theddon and Wivelrod to Medstead. 

Note the little spur on Armsworth Hill that was my investigation of the little lane.

The lane from the end of Lymington Bottom to the A31 in Ropley, North Street, was very mucky and flooded in a couple of places lots of pot holes too, I would recommend the alternative route through Lyeway and Ropley village centre.

A gentle ride at a modest pace, it was good to be out in the country with the many small birds that were thronging the hedgerows and the rooks and jackdaws making lots of noise in the air.

Tuesday 30th December 2014.  To West Meon for coffee with another Pedaler, Simon. Our route inspired by one of  PinkPal's training routes.

With most riders having other commitments I was only able to find one other Pedaller to join me for the last ride of the year. 

We were however somewhat cautious because of the overnight sharp frost of about 7 deg. C and the fog and agreed not to start until midday. I almost missed the time as my watch stopped at 11 a.m. and I only discovered the correct time at 11.45 a.m.

When I arrived at Simon's he was already out on his mountain bike testing it up and down the Shepherds Down.

We had no firm plan so decided to try the usual route to the South through Tichborne, through Cheriton and up the hill through Kilmeston.

The hoar-frost on the trees and hedges making a real winter wonderland. 

Hoar-Frost by the road to the ford. 

The road in New Cheriton was covered in slushy ice for a few yards. There must be a small spring there as it never seems dry. The rest of the way to Rooks Grove Farm was dry and passable without any problems. We decided to take the descent of Wheeley Down with caution as the road was wet in places and with ice on the edges of the road. As Simon commented we hardly went any faster down than we would normally do coming up!

A mile or so on the A32 to West Meon where we popped into the Springs the little coffee shop behind the village shop. (Not included on PP's route!)

We had a very interesting chat with another customer, an ex policeman, about cycling and cars whilst I devoured a piece of Christmas cake and Simon a chocolate brownie.

Once refreshed we rejoined the training route and headed for home via Brockwood Bottom. Passing Joan's Acre, Simon says it should be Jean's Acre.

The entrance to Joean's Acre.

At Hinton Ampner we took advantage of the lovely sunshine to have a photo shoot. Here are the results:

Simon says "Let me out!!"

Why am I waiting?

We exchanged banter about bicycling with two ladies and a gent who came out of the church before continuing with the route through Cheriton and across the Battlefield Site to the A31 roundabout near Ropley. Once again we were very cautious riding down the steep hill by the farm. In all these downhill sections I took the sensible precaution of  letting Simon go well ahead so I could stop if he fell off!! Well he did have nice fat tyres on his mountain bike.

Not content with just riding the shortest way home I joined my mate climbing over White Hill. This descent was fine and I achieved my top speed of the day here 27 m.p.h

Here is a different style of map to my usual one, using RidewithGPs and a variant of the OS mapping. 

 

OS Map.

How does it compare with the usual one:

Garmin Map and Data.

I was home just after 3 p.m. Perfect timing as it was starting to get colder with the threat of more frost. A warm bath and a good cooked dinner and I am almost ready to go again. On second thoughts, perhaps not.

My Challenge for Forever Angels.

I had pledged to ride at least 3,000 miles in aid of Forever Angels and I am pleased to say I have done well over that. My final mileage is 3,464 (97 miles more than last year) and the winner of the sweepstake is.......................

Wait for it..................

Les Frewin one of the HCMF riders. He wins £6.60

Second and third are : Ian Douglas well known to most of you as that witty Scottish git and Eddy a lady who works in the Save the Children shop in Eastleigh. They each win  £3.30.

The grand total so far raised for Forever Angels is £347 with still one or two promised donations to come.

MY FINAL STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR.

Summary	Miles	No. of Rides	Average Length
Winchester Easy Rides	448	11	41
Hares & Tortoises	0	0	0
Midweek Fellowship	906	28	32
Barrie's Padalling	279	7	40
Independent	1344	44	31
Special Events *	287	5	57
Alton	200	5	40
Total	3464	100	35

* Special Events.		Miles
Early Season 50		51.95
Naomi House		59.6
WintonMediate		69.88
Plain Cycle Challenge		38.61
Gridiron		67.34
		287.38

A great year of cycling with my various friends. Especially memorable were the BBQ with the Alton Group

Winchester CTC at the Alton CTC BBQ.

and the Gridiron which I rode with my friends Sarah and Simon on my lovely birthday bike Posh.

At the end of a record breaking Gridiron. (My seventh)

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GREAT CYCLING IN 2015.

GRIDIRONMAN

Pedallers' ABCD, HCMF last meeting of the year & Daren's ride to the Flower Pots via Bishop's Sutton

Tuesday 16th December 2014.

Woke to find a very foggy day dawning, wondered if it would be OK to ride. By 9 o'clock it was much thinner so I set off with both front and rear lights flashing. Visibility about 200 metres. As I got to Itchen Abbass my phone bleeped, an incoming message. I stopped to see what it was and discovered the start had been delayed to 10.30 because of the fog. Not wanting to hang around for half an hour I diverted when I reached Kings Worthy to my daughter's home to have a chat and a cuppa to kill some time. 

When I eventually arrived at CP I found Chris and Dave already there and soon afterwards we were joined by Alan.

We decided to ride to Poppies for our coffee stop but not wishing to take the usual route via Mottisfont we diverted through Up Somborne and Ashley to Farley Mount. Thence down hill to Standon. this of course meant we had to climb Merdon Castle Hill the steepest hill of the day at 8.2%. Not satisfied with that we took the high road up Dores Lane to near Farley Church and thence along Farley Lane to Braishfield.

Farley Church.

We were at Poppies soon after 12 noon. We enjoyed a variety of cakes and coffees and soon after I discovered that Dave and I had a common interest, having both served in the Royal Navy. This led to a very interesting conversation about frigates, submarines, aircraft carriers. and the suitability of modern aircraft for the Fleet Air Arm.

All too soon I manage to persuade the others that we really ought to consider our return route so I could get home in daylight. 

We chose the quietest lane over the hill through the hamlet of Eldon to King's Somborne. Here Alan left us to return to Stockbridge.

At CP Dave rejoined his car and Chris and I took the Littleton Road. Chris soon left me behind, heading for Chandler's Ford while I carried on into Harestock and thence to Headbourne Worthy and eventually home. 

As I rode the last few miles I could here a strange clicking coming from the rear wheel and thought that sounds like a loose or broken spoke. After I got home investigation revealed I'd got a cracked rim causing one spoke to be lose. Well it has covered around 12,700 miles over the last 4 years.

Simon has kindly offered to have a look at the damage for me with the possibility of replacing the rim.

Map and Data for my ride.

A very good ride with three interesting pals. Thanks Guys!

P.S. Has anyone worked out why the title is "Pedallers' ABCD"?

Wednesday 17th December 2014.

Once more Simon has worked his magic. I took my damaged wheel round to him to see if the rim could be replaced. Later in the day he called me to collect my wheels. (Yes plural).  It transpired that as he had no suitable rim he had contacted Owen at Owen's Cycles and had done a deal swapping some parts that Owen needed for a customer for a wheel suitable for my Sporty. So not only had a a new wheel but Simon had swapped the rear cluster but then he fitted it into Sporty. Next he spotted I had a broken rail on my saddle and he replaced the saddle with a Sella Italia Anatomic leather saddle that he just happened to have knocking around.

What a friend! I guess I owe him a few pints now! The damaged wheel is hanging in my garage in case the hub and or spokes can be reused.

Thursday 18th December 2014.

Only a modest ride today to the HCMF meet at The Milbury's Beauworth, but a good one to test my new wheel and saddle. After the good but long ride on Tuesday I was quite happy with a pleasurable jaunt via Cheriton and Kilmeston to the top of the hill at Rooks Grove. Then as I rode along the ridge the sun was trying to break through the heavy cloud cover illuminating Hinton Ampner House. Of course by the time I'd got the camera out the bright spot had moved eastwards and the moment was gone.

At the pub I found a good number of members there enjoying the day. Here are some pictures - how many riders can you identify?

I discovered that Simon had pulled a flanker on me and had come by car! 

I was pleased to see that Jane who had just joined the group had come to enjoy her first meet. 

As befitted the last meet before Christmas there was a lively and convivial atmoshphere.

Nice Cosy Fire!

Gridironman!

One sad matter we had to discuss was the news that long time CTC member and good friend to many of us, John Fairbrother had died.

As always remember these pictures can be viewed full screen by 

clicking on one.

My ride home was shared with Charles as far as Jacklyn's Lane in Alresford. He was heading north to Preston Candover where he had left his car.

I tried to beat my freewheeling record down the hill to Beauworth village, reaching a top speed of 34 mph and then coming to a stop in the same place as I'd managed on Posh earlier this year. Not bad of Sporty!

Another few miles in the bag. I'm now at 3,379 miles and have raised £347 for Forever Angels so far.

Not much of a map this ride but for the record here it is!

Saturday 20th December 2014.

Simon (1) arrived outside my front door bang on time but we were delayed in starting off because I'd forgotten to get the Times so had to pop to our local Mini mart to get one. It only took a few minutes and we managed to get to the start of Daren's ride in Winchester with plenty of time to spare. (The 8+ miles, including the visit to the shop, taking only 37 and a quarter minutes.)

Daren, Karen, Simon (2), David were already there and Eddy and Yi-Chun joined us just as we were about to set off. Our route out of Winchester via the park and the cycle way to Hockley was blocked by a delivery van obstructing the cycle path by Winchester Mill. Enjoy the irony:-

Yodel Direct Love Cycling.

Our route from the Hockley lights was through Twyford and up Hazeley Road and Mere Lane to Owslebury Bottom to tackle one of the nice little hills Daren had planned for us. (Much better than the traffic filled flatter main roads).
As we headed towards Baybridge we passed a BT engineer working at the top of a pole. He shouted a greeting to us. I believe it was one of our CTC Members "Big Dave", I guess he would rather have been on his bike with us.
More ups and downs which we all found hard work especially Eddy who is relatively new to cycling. 

Eddy crests the hill on Peak Lane near Ashton.

At the edge of Bishop's Waltham some of the group had not had enough of hills and took the hilly way into town whilst the rest of us took the flat way.

We had a cosy break in the corner of the busy cafe before heading north towards our lunch stop at the Flower Pots in Cheriton. 

Daren had chosen another good quiet route through Dundridge to the top of Beacon Hill. Whilst this is largely uphill it is a more gentle and steady climb rather than the more up and down route to the Milbury's. 

Riders at the top of Beacon Hill.

Once over the top of the hill at just over 600 feet we sped down the hill through Kilmeston in record time arriving at a very full Flower Pots to discover a large group of cyclists already there enjoying themsleves as well as a lot of others.
After a beer Simon, Eddy and I hleft the group and aeded home to Alresford. Well we had done the |Alresford to Winchester leg already!

Here is my chart of the route together with my data for the day.

Thanks Daren for a good route and thanks also to to my other companions who made it a really enjoyable day out.

Another good week of cycling with three different types of ride shared with some friends new and old. I covered just 99 miles in the week. Should have done an extra mile round the block!

Gridironman.

Pedallers Christmas Lunch Ride - The Elite Section! and Dan's ride to Country Market near Kingsley

Tuesday 9th December 2014
Exercising my new found freedom for Tuesdays I rode over to Stoke Charity to join one group of Pedallers for a ride to The White Lion, Wherwell for Christmas Lunch.
As I rode down Lovedon Lane I spotted Sara and Debs ahead of me. Fortunately the were not going too fast and I was able to catch them on the hill out of the village. I had not seen Sara for ages and Debs only a couple of brief times so it was great to catch up with their news.
We were soon at SC where we were joined by Martyn. I had not ridden with Martyn before although we had met a few times. So that was good too.
We received a message from Sarah telling us that she and Graham were going to CP to join the other group, so we set off via Hunton for Whitchurch and H's for coffee. 
I popped in to Caroline's as we passed her home to see if she and Ian would like to join us at H's and ride with us to Wherwell. They duly did so.
As we left the town a lone cyclist from North Waltham came alongside me as I was riding Lantern Rouge. I chatted with him for a while. Poor Sara who was just in front thought I'd gone dolally as the other 4 were in front so she thought I was talking to myself. She was relieved when he rode past and greeted them all.
We were ahead of the other group at the pub, good move as we got served at the bar very quickly!
The other much larger group consisting of :-
Karen, Bill, Brenda, Barrie, Alan  M, Barbara, Dave, Carole, Chris, Sarah, Graham M, Graham S, and Alan G,arrived soon afterwards & Yi-Chun a few minutes later, having come by car from work.
Some with healthy appetites had opted for a starter and these soon arrived and promptly disappeared. 
Pies and other fare came next. There was a very lively and convivial conversation that was only muted as we got stuck into our pies etc.
My pie, lamb with mash and garden peas, was delicious and very filling. I only just managed to eat it all.

Here are a few pictures of the group.

To view them as full screen slideshow click on any picture.

All too soon it was time to head for home so that I arrived there before it was dark. My original three companions joined me and we set off just before 2.30. 
Our route was via Newton and Barton Staceys. Martyn left us near S. Wonston and the ladies were soon at home in Lovedon Lane. I just failed to make it home by 4 p.m.

A great way to celebrate my new found Tuesday freedom 

Saturday 13th December 2014.
I  felt it was time to enjoy another ride with my Alton CTC friends and to wish them a Happy Christmas so I arranged with Simon to join them. They only do afternoon rides but have moved their starting time to 12 noon. Which suits both Simon and me. 
To avoid the possibility of riding home from Alton in the dark Simon took us in his car. It is spacious enough for us to pop both his Boardman and Posh in the back.
We parked in the Old Winchester Road and rode to the usual RV by the civic centre arriving just in time to slot into the group as they rode away.
There were 21 of us altogether and our leader Dan had decided to change the route and tea stop to a more suitable one for such a large group.

The Bunch Departing from the Civic Centre.
 That's me in the middle with my South Hants Jacket and Simon in the red on the right.

Here is a map of our route from which you can see that Dan found a very interesting circuit. (Looks a bit like Cyprus).

With the mid day start the frost and ice had nearly all gone and our main hazards were minor flooding and mud.  
Dan led us out of Alton via Holybourne and under the A31 via the underpass near Neatham Mill. 

By Neatham Mill.

I had tried to guess what route Dan would take and this was the first section I'd not foreseen. Soon we were through Binstead and down the hill to Blacknest.  A lot of water in some of the lanes to Frensham and a couple of very muddy ones too. I wondered if I should have come on Sporty.
As we turned South and West the sun was right in our eyes and we were a little worried about cars coming from behind not seeing us.

Our tea stop was at the Country Market near Kingsley. Some of the group went in by the back door, some by the front! Fortunately we did not lose anyone. The cafe had an efficient system working to ensure we got served quickly (Unlike the Andover Garden Centre which took ages on a recent ride). 
After the stop some riders left us to ride home having come from places other than Alton. 
Dan led the rest through Oakhanger. Unfortunately Mark had a puncture just afterwards and urged the rest of us to carry on. Several riders decided that we could not abandon him and stayed behind while the main group continued to Selborne. 

Posh and I climbing the hill near Selborne.

Our route was up Gracious Street and Northfield Hill to Newton Valence and to the A32. More riders left us here as we climbed the steepest  hill of the day (8.2%), Mary Lane, to Four Marks. 
Our numbers had dwindled even more by the time we reached the edge of Boyneswood. Dan suggested that we took the gravel road through the wood but Posh was not happy with that idea so we continued through Medstead, Wivelrod & Theddon to the edge of Alton. Simon and I found ourselves alone by now as Dan had turned back to look for a missing rider. We waited until Janice appeared and said our good byes thanking both her and Dan for a good ride only spoilt by a few idiots in cars who hurled abuse at us as they drove past in the opposite direction. (Why?, Just because we were  cycling it seems).

We were soon back at the car and were home in the daylight, just in time to pass Paddy on The Avenue  returning from a solo ride. We had time for a chat with him as we unloaded a rather muddy Posh.

I, for one, thought that although it was not my longest ride or my fastest ride it had been an exceptionally good one.

Thanks Dan and Janice!

P.S. I rounded of the day at 11 p.m. by spotting 8 Geminid meteorites in about ten minutes, it was too chilly to stay outside in the scary dark any longer. If you haven't done so give spotting some a try tonight if it is clear.
The sky was beautifully clear last night with many stars visible, Orion taking centre stage and a planet, maybe Jupiter, low in the East.

Gridironman.