I had the idea that I would do the Hampshire Hilly Hundred (normally done in May) route as I already had it in my Garmin Oregon 300 GPS, so I didn't have to do too much planning.
On the Saturday morning, I dragged myself (silently kicking and screaming) to get ready and although the freezing temperatures of recent days had gone, a grey sky loomed overhead. Not the end of the world as I have plenty of kit to keep me warm, but it left me with the common cycling problem of how much to wear so that you are warm enough, but not overly warm when you are climbing. Worse still - the Madone was in the corner looking at me and wanting to go out - really wanted to take him but decided not to because I didn't want to cover him in salt and mud.
So at 8.45am I set out on the Trek 1.2, complete with mud guards, two spare tubes and enough cereal bars to feed a small army and headed for Twyford which is the closest point to the route.
My support vehicle had decided not to join me and instead, headed for equally testing (so she keeps telling me) Gunwharf Quays for a day a of Christmas shopping - hardship indeed....
As I turned right off Hazeley Road, onto Mere Lane I come across Whites Hill, which is a nasty short hill with 17% gradient at one point. It's a road I know very well but was a bit slippy on this occasion, as water ran down the surface. Once safely negotiated, I turned through Owslebury and then right towards Corhampton Golf Course which I was surprised to see was still covered in snow with little sign of thawing.
The route then turns towards Broxbridge and on to the Bat and Ball Pub which signals the start of the climb up Old Winchester Hill, which although one of the highest points in the area, is not a difficult climb at all from this direction (there are four other routes to the top all of which are tougher). Halfway up though, the bike seemed to be slow and heavy, and I was convinced that I had a puncture - this was a prelude to me hitting what was not "the wall" but was more of a waist high picket fence. I had eaten and drunk plenty but the cold conditions were sapping the strength from my legs and looking skywards, there was no sign that the sun was going to able to get through the cloud. Still, I kept going over the top and descended towards West Meon and over the main A32 and on towards the lovely village of Exton.
The route goes around the edge of Exton as this takes you to the bottom of Beacon Hill and it is the most testing climb in the area in my opinion, as it is fairly steep but also is long enough to mean that you cannot simply overpower it - you have to think your strategy a bit to climb it well.
At the top, fairly tired but pleased with my efforts I saw something that I had to stop and admire - a Red Kite, still fairly rare in England circling low almost directly over my head.
Picture from http://www.northernkites.org.uk/He/she circled around for three minutes or so, then shot down behind the hedge and rose back up with a small kill in its' claws - truly awesome.
The next stretch of the ride is fairly unremarkable and is there essentially to get you to the North side of the M3, but I was becoming increasing cold and hungry and was starting to curse the small village Christmas fetes that advertised "Homemade Mince Pies" aplenty - but hadn't opened yet. Worse still, there are no more village shops anymore - Hampshire is littered with beautiful villages but none of them have a village shop - curse you Tesco!!
Arriving in Overton I at last found a CO-OP and having stocked up on bananas, snickers and lucozade and got back on and headed towards Hannington and a different White Hill which leads to the long fast descent into Kingsclere - the Gateway to Watership Down.....
....... one of the areas toughest climbs, nothing compared to what you can find elsewhere, but the fact that it arrives at just over sixty miles into the route make it testing enough. A very steep opening stretch relaxes to almost flat as the road sweeps through the tree-lined hill side, giving you just the breather that you need before the final ramp up, which is crippling to tired legs.
The descent of Watership Down is great - long, fast and not too twisting - the only shame is that the road surface is not great, but it does mean virtually no cars. It also signifies that you only have one climb of note remaining - Farley Mount.
It was starting to dawn on me that, with around 25 miles remaining and the time approaching 3.30pm, I was still along way from home and I had not thought to bring any lights with me (it just didn't occur to me that I would be out that long). Fortunately, Amanda phoned, and although drained from her days' shopping, she offered to meet me on top of Farley Mount with my lights - good job too as by the time I got there it was nearly dark and the prospect of the last part of the ride amongst the traffic was not pretty .....my support vehicle had come through in fine style!
After nearly 6 hours 45 minutes in the saddle I finally arrived home and got stuck into homemade soup and sandwiches - pleased with the fact that I had completed my longest solo ride to date - well chuffed.
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