When You Fall Off Your Bike...... Get back on etc etc

Had a great weekend just gone. Amanda took her cycling ladies out for a jaunt around the Hatchets Pond area and I elected to do my so called Killer route again - this time doing the whole route and not falling off.
The weather has been very dry for March and nice daytime temperatures with little breeze made for a perfect cycing day.
I did do the whole route - nearly fifty miles in 2 hours 50minutes with an average speed of 17.3 mph. Got home feeling good and happy that my climbing legs seem to be coming back. Just as well since the timing chip for the Fred Whitton Four Seasons arrived yesterday - no turning back now, and in a way, I am actually starting to look forward to it. Huge challenge.
I had a go with a helmet camera while on the route and got some (very shaky) footage of Winchester Hill and Beacon Hill which I will edit and then put on here - when I work out how to.
Old Winchester Hill

Beacon Hill

Sunday brought another superb day for weather and myself and Amanda took to the New Forest for a gentle 64 mile route that she designed. Very good it was to with a few areas that I had not been to before.
Lake District next week and hopefully a report on a successful Fred Whitton Challenge.
Hardknott ( and Honister, and Wrynose, and Matterdale, and Kirkstone, and Whinlatter) here I come! - bet they are not very scared.....

Al's First Crash

It has been a sore week, and hence the reason for no update following last weekend.
Amanda was at her Mum and Dad's and I was looking forward to getting out following a week off the bike to regenerate tired limbs.
I have protected my Madone all winter and resisted the temptation to take him out during the winter months to protect him from salt and mud, but following a dry period, I decided that this should be the first time I take him out this year.
I felt like climbing so I thought a route that I had used as training for London to Paris, which I had called the "Killer", would be ideal - although having done Exmoor and the Lake District since this route, it's killer status is somewhat diminished.
What a difference - I love my trek 1.2 but the Madone is just a completely different beast. Everything about it is fast and responsive, and it seems to want to go up hills.
The Killer route takes in two different ascents of Beacon Hill and the three steepest ascents of Old Winchester Hill.
Unsurprisingly it has a warning sign at the bottom but this is a fairly long climb with a steep start that then steadies off to around 7%.

I fairly bombed up this bit and even had time to ride one-handed to take some pics on the way  up

Feeling suitably pleased I descended down towards West Meon and then turned right, up a short sharp hill and towards Coombe.

This stretch of road is lovely as it clings to the side of a hill in a heavily wooded area. The road was covered in debis and I can rememeber thinking to myself to be careful - only to come a cropper.

Turning left towards a farm building, my front wheel hit a patch of mud and slid away from under me, I nearly got control back but then hit the loose garvel in the middle of the road - down I went. It happened so quickly that I can't really remember what hit what but I picked myself up (very shakily) so see some (thankfully) minor damage to my bike, but as the shock subsided, more painful bits became apparent.

The shredding to my top was the first giveaway as I felt pain in the left side of my chest, but also pain around my right elbow and left thumb, both of which were swelling up as I watched.

Realising I was in shock, I sat down on a wall for a bit and started checking my phone and music player, all of which seemed undamaged. Relieved, I looked up to see a elderly gentlemen making his way towards me with a mug in his hand - This very kind man had seen me come off while he was in the car park of the Meon Springs Fly Fishery and had made me a cup of coffee - what a lovely, kind thought, and many thanks to him.

After probably 15 minutes I thought, "this is no good, I am about as far from home as I could be and I have got to get home before things really start to hurt". Getting back on I now realised that my right hand was also hurting just below the palm. Still, I thought, I have full movement in everything so nothing is broken.

The first obstacle to overcome was the ascent of Old Winchester Hill from one of the North Easterly routes which are by far the steepest - I used to think that these were horrendous but it wasn't too bad on this occasion and I got to the top with no issues.

Riding home was not too bad either. I got in and after cleaning my bike down, I got straight into the bath and found various scrapes, a nasty burn to my right forearam and a very sore left thumb.

One week on and I have been back out on the bike with Amanda and have all but repaired...... all in all a very lucky escape.

The Outlaws Cometh

Saturday morning and the prospect of of Mum and Dad coming down for the weekend meant that the only chance to get a ride in was to do an extended route home from work. Both myself and Amanda had given blood the night before, so this really limited us to a fairly short, non-taxing route home.
So I went in and while I was working, Amanda rode in to met me (my Trek 1.2 was already at work), and we set off through the south side of Winchester and did an extended route along various stretches of the beautiful River Itchen.

This is a route that we have done a few times but today was beautiful - a (insert appropriate collective noun here) of Long Tailed Tits escorted us along the hedgerow as we set off...

The ride itself was fairly uneventful except for the the huge number of snowdrops on the bank of the River Itchen as it passes through Ovington.

We were so taken that Amanda insisted on a photo....

A lovely stretch this.
28 miles later and we arrived home to find Mum and Dad already arrived, in the house, drinking tea and tucking into the cake that was made for me!!!........ We knocked on the door only to get no answer......Honestly, you couldn't make it up.

Hampshire Hilly Hundred - In December - Alone .........Why???

With all the bad weather that we have been having of late, the "big thaw" (has there ever been an average sized thaw??) is now in full swing, and I thought that it would be good to get out and really shake up my limbs.

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.