Got a lift to Swampton with the bike, and then cycled down the Bourne Valley through Hurstbourne Priors, Longparish, Chilbolton and then the Clatfords home. A very sunny but chilly start, but as the morning carried on it got warmed. 28 kilometres in one hour and twenty six minutes. Avoided the Fullerton climb by going via the byway at Hazel Down which progress a less steep climb onto the Longstock Road.
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40.6 Kilometres in two hours and thirteen minutes. A very sunny morning with a steady breeze from the southeast, which ended up being a headwind on the way down the Bourne Valley.
So the rode the annual Houghton Trail Ride yesterday, it is a 32km mixed off and on road event which covers much of the Test Valley. The actual weather on the day was glorious - sunny with a light breeze, in the previous week it had not been particularly nice with lots of rain which made some parts of the course rather muddy and prone to skidding. It is a mass start event so we headed out of Houghton on the byway which runs towards Eveley Farm, this part of the route is narrow and so the riders end up line a stern for the first few kilometres, until we drop onto the road down into Broughton. Out of Broughton via Church lane and the steep climb up past Smith Plantation and Cold Harbour. Once on the top of the saddle ridge onto another country lane which follows the route of an old Roman road to Bossington, On to Horsebridge and the Test Way up towards Stockbridge, unfortunately at this point I picked up another puncture. (The second in two rides using the Schwalde Noddy Nic's tyre on the rear.) Once repaired we continues north along the Test Way and then across 'The Bunny' to Longstock and the long climb up Church Lane this being the last real climb of the route, Then back towards Houghton down Spitfire lane and the finish. 33.2 Kilometres in two hours and seven minutes rolling time. The official timing was two hours and fifteen minutes, so the puncture delayed my effort by 8 minutes, though i think the mud slowed progress considerably more. As always the event was very well organised with loads of Marshals out along the trails route directing the riders especially at the road intersections that we had to cross. Well the weather forecast was a little out this homing, it had predicted heavy rain to arrive in the afternoon, unfortunately it arrived early when I was cycling though Houghton which was the far point of this morning's ride. Getting completely drenched was followed by a puncture at Monxton, At least the rain abated while I changed the inner tube out. It was a pleasant moment sitting on the benches on the Monxton village green, watching the river slowly rising due to the rain. The ground water level is so high that there was a lot of minor flooding on the country roads as the drains struggled to cope. So completed 43 kilometres in two hours and twenty minutes. The Houghton Trail Event on Sunday is going to be very interesting, as the tracks are going to be very wet and muddy indeed!
Assuming the Houghton Train event follows the same course every year, cycled out to Houghton to have a look ate the sections of off road that the event covers. So out to Kentboro via Monxton. At Kentboro followed the Old Stockbridge road pass Danebury Hillfort and then took the bridleway which goes south skirting Danebury Down, it then pops out at the top of Spitfire lane which is a nice long descent to the A30. Crossing the A30 towards Broughton you come to another byway which goes towards Houghton, As expected it was very badly cut up at the top buy the passage of motor vehicles, It then varied from good going to falling back to
a muddy quagmire, and being heavily rutted. The byway carries on south towards Broughton, but we took the east fork below Eveley Wood, again this section of varied from reasonable going to very heavy going, you eventually get to a rise above Houghton which is a reasonable descent into the village this byway passes the Village Hall and then joins the country lane which runs between Stockbridge and Bossington. Through Stockbridge and then joined the Test way, which proved more of an adventure than usual, as there where four separate obstructions due to fallen trees, so there was a some carrying of the bike around/over the fallen trees. Once clear it was up to Chilbolton and the up the Fullerton climb and then back to Andover through the Clatfords. So 38.5 kilometres in 2 hours and 11 minutes. Hampshire grit has taken it's toll on drive train, as the two most commonly used gears are skipping under tension, so a needed change out was required. So a replacement Shimano SLX (CS-HG81) 11-36 cassette and a HG-X chain where fitted.
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January 2023
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