Long ride today, 5 Hours in the saddle and covered 58.83 kilometres. Headed out of Andover via Charlton and Penton Grafton then turned west through Clanville, Ragged Appleshaw and then turned North West at AppleShaw.
Around Biddeson House and along the Public Bridleway which skirts Coldridge wood, known as Chantry Lane, it was rather cut up due to the last few days of rain and it's use by Horseriders. At Rutherfords Stud, we met a west going bridleway which took us to Shaw Bottom via a very big deep puddle which gave the bike a wash, ahead was the brooding mass of Collingbourne Wood which again we skirted to Gammon Farm and then onto the Roman Road known as Chute Causeway. We turned East and at the End of the Causeway we dipped down to Vernham Dean and then followed the country road through Upton, Ibthorpe, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Stoke, St Mary Bourne and stopped for a drink and bit to eat at the cross roads at Hurstbourne Priors. We had been lucky up to this point though there where loads of dark clouds about we had yet to be rained upon just the wind in our face. While we where sheltering in the bus shelter, the heavens opened. There seemed little point in waiting for it to clear so on we went through Longparish, Middleton, Wherwell and Cottonworth where we joined the N246 national cycle route which we took back into Andover for a well deserved hot soak in the bath. It was lovely to cycle along with the damp air filled with the smell of bluebells, there where several woods that my route passed by which had a rich scattering of Bluebell's in full bloom on the woodland floor. Unfortunately the damp conditions got the better of my phone, so not photographs. The groundwater level is still high in the valleys around Andover, especially around the aptly named Swampton where the road was still awash with water. The last few days of heavy rain really didn't help with the levels.
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Easter Sunday and the weather was not as good as we would have liked for the morning's cycle ride. Grey and Overcast with a steady gusts of wind from the North East. So I cycled out of Andover on the N246 National Cycle and took it down into the Test Valley, joining the Test Way at Chilbolton and then cycled all the way down to Horsebridge where I left the Test Way. It proved to be a good choice as I as out of the wind for the first leg of the ride. From Horsebridge to Houghton and then Broughton slowly turning north for the return leg back to Andover. Most of the country lanes had decent high hedges which took the brunt out of the wind. There was a particularly nasty straight of exposed road between Middle Wallop and Grately Station which also combine with a long long climb. So not so much fun, but we ground it out to the top. Once on the ridge it was a little easier and we made our way back via Monxton, Abbots Ann and Anna Valley. This really was the reverse of the loop I normally do around the Test Valley.
47.07 Kilometres in just under 3 Hours, which included 383 metres of climb. My fitness tracker is now reporting i have ridden 1606 kilometres, 3 kilometres short of completing the equivalent of 1000 miles. I had changed the back tire to a Geax Saguaro 2.2 from the Geax Gato which had been on for the Winter and the lack of drag was noticeable. What i did notice on my round there were notices for The Houghton Trail Event - which is a charity event taking place on the Sunday 27th April from Houghton, there are various running and cycling events ranging from fun runs to a 32 Kilometre Cycle ride. My fitness tracker informed me today that i have passed the 1500 Kilometres mark since I have been cycling on the bike. Rather chuffed with that as it is little over a year since I have had the bike.
Another lovely Easter day, cycled 42.83 Kilometres with 414 metres of ascent. We left Andover via the National cycle route N246 and then cut through Anna Valley, Abbots Ann and Monxton, Quarley and then under the A303 to Thruxton and then along the Snoddington Road to Fyfield the turned north along Privet Lane and across the A342 to Appleshaw, kept going north and cut around Biddesden House and then followed a series of byways known as Chantry Lane along the edge of Coldridge End and Coldridge Wood. The Land started to really rise before me and the cycling got harder as we got closer to the Chute Causeway the highest point at 252 Metres above sea level. Once on the Causeway we got a great view north across Hippenscombe Bottom to Fosbury Hill. South we could see Andover and the Test valley. We then made our way back to Andover via Conholt Park, Tangley, Hatherden and Charlton. As can be seen the first 2 hours of the cycle was a steady climb, coming back down was rather fun. According to my Fitness tracker I have now passed 1500 Kilometres of cycling on the bike which is rather cool!!!
Having heard a lot about Swinley Forest Bike trails on various mountain biking forums I decided to make the most of the days off over the Easter School Holidays and nip up to Bracknell one morning during the week to see what was what. I arrived on a very cool but sunny morning just after the gates where opened at the The Lookout Discovery Centre. I had heard that the place gets rather busy so wanted to explore on a quiet day at my own pace. Parking was very reasonable at £2 for 4 hours. So once the bike was back together, tire pressures check all ok, we set off. The Blue Trail was our chosen route for the day, I was surprised by how harsh the single track surface was, riding a hardtail seemed to magnify the jolts and dumps coming up through the seat post then big fat rear tire didn't seem to soak as much up as usual, the front was absolutely fine which the fork working well. Now I am use to riding on hard flint byways and tracks in North Hampshire but this was something different. Anyway the surface seems to smooth out the further we got from the start of the trail. So this is what Bike Park is like, lots of switch backs, berms and short ascents and long whooping descents, once I got my rhythm going it was great fun. It took 49 Minutes to complete the trail and get back to the car pack for quick snack and drink , we only saw one other Mountain Biker as we went around. The second circuit was much more fun, as I knew what was coming up ahead and rather than surprise, I could try and place the bike in the best place for the ascent/descent and didn't use as much brake as the first time around. Again I only met another lone Mountain Biker on the trail, this time it took around 54 Minutes to complete. By the time I had completed my second circuit the car park was getting rather full of mountain bikers getting ready to sally forth. I can see why people buy full suspension mountain bikes with dropper posts, etc. They seem well designed for this sort of environment. Though the 26inch Hard tail was great on the tight turns which made up a lot of the sections. Guess we should be looking at applying the N+1 rule ;-) Below is the Crown Estates Leaflet which covers cycling in Swinley Forest, and a GPX file of the Blue Trail Route
Well this mornings ride started out very pleasant and as we had an early start, and the sun was up. We cycled through Anna Valley, Abbots Ann, Monxton, Quarley and then round the perimeter of Thruxton. As we where coming out of Fyfield there started to come from the front of the bike a rather nasty grinding noise and vibration up the stem and into the handlebars. So was it the Brake Rotor rubbing on the caliper? If seemed a more constant noise than that would produce, and in the end I was distracted by the front tyre then being punctured by a rather large thorn.... The tyre flattened immediately. Luckily we travel with a puncture repair kit and spare inner tube lesson learnt from the last puncture which was over 9 months ago, and we had the bike back on the road within ten minutes of stopping. The Grinding noise continued, so we shortened the planned ride and returned home to investigate....
On investigation at home there appears to be grit in the ball bearing race, which has scoured the cone and some of the ball bearings on the Brake Rotor side. We re-greased the hub and put it back together again, and order some new ball bearings to attempt to improve the situation... A typical April day - overcast with persistence drizzle, at least it was quite warm and I wasn't exposed to the wind too much. So the route was a follows, out of Andover on the N246, then Anna Valley, Abbots Ann, Monxton and instead of carrying onto Grately we turned north and went through Quarley which had a very nice Church, under the A303 and then around the perimeter of Thruxton Aerodome and Racing Circuit. Through Fyfield, Appleshaw, then turned back towards Andover and then a mixture of byway and green lanes to Clanville, Penton Grafton and Charlton and finally back into Andover.
33 Kilometres and 277 Metres of Ascent. |
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