A fun charity event, which is not a 'race' but everyone's time is posted on the event website. I really enjoyed the morning out, the event was very well organised, with slick registration and loads of Marshall's on hand on the route junctions to guide you along. The 14k and 32k cycle rides started at 10.15 am, it was a mass start which was fun. If you had any serious intentions of getting a fast time you really needed to be on the front row. Route was marked with red arrows on white background, all very easy to follow as the route was well signed posted. So according to my GPS tracker the distance traveled was 33.01 Kilometres, with 406 metres of ascent. According to the event timing I completed the route in 1:51:08. The where two rather interesting climbs involved in the route. The first was a very steep chalky ascent which started at the end of Buckholt lane in Broughton, it had most riders dismounting and pushing their bikes up it. The Second is Church Lane which climbs out of Longstock, it was not as steep as the first climb but just felt like it went on a bit too long. The weather was a mixture of sun and cloud, unfortunately it was rather windy on the exposed part of the route with a nasty head wind. The last bit of the route went through the Bossington Estate, which is normally closed to cyclists as it followed the Clarendon Way's foot path, it's not something I'd miss the use of as it was just a large wide dusty tractor track.
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Got my 'Race' Number this evening for this Annual Charity Event in the Test Valley on the 19th April 2015
40 Kilometres in just over two and half hours, out of Andover on the N246 Nation Cycle Route, then via Red Rice to the Byway which cuts past Danbury Hill Fort over Danbury Down towards Broughton and Houghton. Over the A30 and on to the Byway which again gives you the option of going either to Houghton or Broughton. Followed it down into the Test valley again at Houghton then cut over the River Test at Horsebridge and followed the Test Way back up to Chilbolton Common, then back home via Fullerton and the Clatfords. Saw a nice selection of wildlife, more Yellow hammer sitting on top of the hedgerows, skylarks high in the sky singing for all they are worth, a Red Kite lazily quartering the fields and Red legged Partridge running ahead of the bike down the dusty byways. Another good spot was an adult Hare sitting in a fallow field, once the hare realised it had been spotted in folded it's ears back to provide a smaller profile, it would have worked if the field had anything growing in it, but as it didn't the hare remained conspicuous.
Swinley Forest is an area of the Windsor Estate between Bracknell and Bagshot to the west of the A322. Owned and managed by The Crown Estate, it comprises 1000 hectares of mainly Scots Pine woodland. Took the Cube Sting to Swinley Forest arrived at 0740 and was the only soul in the car park, when I left the car park was three quarters full. We completed the Blue trail twice which gave me a good idea of how the new bike handled compared to doing the Trails last year on the Voodoo Hoodoo. Being a 29er Full Suspension bike it was able to eat up the bumps with ease, rather than the bone jarring experience we had last year with the hard tail. The bike caught me out on a couple of places, a steep descent which we over ran the exit on the first round, and a tight switch back on the ascent back up one of the hummocks which make up the forest trails. As I was so early I didn't see anyone on the first round, on the second round we saw a couple of other riders enjoying the peace and quiet. I timed the two laps separately and was surprised to find the GPS track between the two laps had a difference of 1 kilometre and 10 metres of elevation, which was quite a surprise considering the start and finish points where the same. So much for the accuracy of Mobile Phone GPS systems. Official Distance according to the Swinley Forest Map is 10.1 kilometres.
The weather today was not so great, but at least it was warm, the merino base layer soon came off and we completed most of the route in a short sleeved jersey. We completed 60 kilometres in four hours, not bad going considering the hipster breakfast of french pastry and coffee got me as far as Oxenwood, before the dreaded 'bonk' occurred, then it was gritted teeth to complete the route, lucky Oxenwood is the farthest point and also it is downhill most of the way back from there, apart from the nasty little climb at fullerton. So the left Andover via Weyhill and then turned north cycled through Clanville and at Conholt Park, crested onto the causeway which is the highest point north of Andover. If the weather had been better we would of had great views north and south. Once on the Causeway it is a matter of cycling onto Oxenwood, before cycling back down the River Swift Valley via Vernham Dean, Upton, Hurstborne Tarrant, St Mary Bourne, Hurstbourne Priors, LongParish, Werwell and Fullerton where we joined the N246 National Cycle Route Back Into Andover.
The Great advantage of being up early and being on a bicycle is you get to see a lot of nature. This morning's highlight was on two separate occasions having Stoat's skip across the lane in front of the bicycle. The Second Stoat was much braver and stopped on the verge for a moment to give me a once over before disappearing into the undergrowth. Loads of bird life to be seen, male and female Yellowhammer, Buzzards and Mistle Thrush being the best spots. |
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