A rather entertaining Video - 'Mountain Bike Buyers Guide - sub £500' by BikeRadar. Seems to be only one bike that they want you to buy ;-)
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Like Bing Maps as it includes an Ordnance Survey Map view, which is rather better than the main rivals i have previously used.
A rather fun website which allows you to calculate Bicycle Gear Size and Speed/Cadence. The attached is the calculator for my set up which is 32 Chain ring upfront and 11-34 at the back.
A bit of a mixed bag today, 64 Kilometres in 4 hours - a mix bag because we ended up walking some of the Test Way in the Andover Direction. Cycled out on the National Cycle Route N246, and followed it all the way to Netherton where the road branches to Combe or Facombe. We carried on to Combe and a very steep climb up onto the ridgeline of Combe Gibbet, the Test Way crosses the road at this point on it's way to Inkpen Hill and it's end. The views north are fantastic towards Newbury and HighClere. I turned west onto the Test way at this point cycled along the Combe and then south along a series of at times very nice bridleways, we descended down into Combe Valley, and back to join the road at Combe, no longer following the Test Way. We traced our route back to Hurstbourne Tarrant, where we rejoined the Test Way and climbed up into the Great Wallop Hill Copse which was rather lush with damp loving Ferns and Mosses. We then left the Test Way again and descended down the Stoke Road which lead us back to Smannell and ultimately home.
Hours flat out effort last night, got home before the rain arrived. Was good fun mixed up the route by taking a couple of random turns. Trying to follow the Cycling Training Schedule that the British Heart Foundation have provided as preparation for the South Down's Event in July.
Gloriously sunny day, managed to get in 101 Kilometres (62miles) in just under 5 hours, the biggest difference from last weeks big ride was changing the back tyre out for a Continental Race King 2.0 which really made the bike move along, much less draggy than the Geax Saguaro which had been previously on. It really runs well on hard pack/tarmac can be a little vague when it gets a bit muddy, as it was on the way up the Test Way to Chilbolton Common, which still hasn't dried out. The Smart phone battery died at 85 kilometres but did register up to that point 749 metres of ascent, the big climbs around 'The Chutes' proved a little easier today, but these came in the first half of the ride so still had energy in the legs to get up them. Took a bag of trail mix and a couple of snickers bars to sustain me, the water bottle was emptied rather quickly due to it being a hot sunny day, something to be aware of for the big day, will need to ensure I have more than one water bottle full at any one time.
Todays route was an extension of previous northern loops out of Andover. Left Andover on the N246 south to Fullerton then, to Chilbolton, Longparish, Hurstbourne Priors, St Mary Bourne, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Oxenwood where we turned onto the Chutes Causeway to Conholt Park, Clanville, Weyhill, Fyfield, under the A303 to Quarley, Grately Station, Nether Wallop, Broughton, Houghton, Stockbridge up the Test way to Chilbolton, and finally up the Fullerton hill and back into Andover on the N246. 22 kilometre figure of eight based on the Fullerton road/Longstock Road crossroad. Glorious evening, a great end to the day. Out of Andover on the N246 National Cycle Route then to Longstock, and took the 'Bunny' across the Test Valley floor to the Test Way and back up to Chilbolton Common. Up the steep hill at Fullerton and then back to the cross roads of the Fullerton Road and Longstock Road, crossing to Red Rice and then back into Andover via the steep descent into Upper Clatford.
So nine weeks to go until the British Heart Foundation South Downs Off Road event, been following the handy training schedule they provide so hopefully by the time the day arrives i will be fit enough to do the event justice.
Found a very informative website - http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/ which covers cycling the South Downs way in great detail, particularly like the route breakdown and photo's of each section. 75.70 Kilometres in just under 5 hours. Extended the loop from last week so rather coming back into Anodver via the Pentons and Charlton, went south under the A303 at Thruxton and through Quarley, Monxton, Abbots Ann and Anna Field.
The Weather was rather blustery, with a fresh breeze from the west, which on the leg between St Mary Bourne and Oxenwood meant a headwind, and heavy going. Once we got up onto the Chute Causeway we really felt the wind, but luckily it was now a very nice tail wind as we cycled eastward. We stopped at the Conholt end of the causeway for a bite to eat, and got to watch a Red Kite and Carrion Crow in close order combat, the Kite finally had enough of the mobbing and drifted north and out of sight. The bike was running much smoother after the replacement of the cassette and chain, which i am rather pleased with. Minor Upgrade - changed from the 11-32T Sram Cassette that came with the bike to a Shimano HG-50-9-AU cassette to get a little wider gear ratio of 11-34T. The Change out proved very easy once we had got the required tools together and watch a couple of Youtube Videos, i found this one particularlly useful to see how it is done. I also changed out the chain at the same time, so good to go for this weekends ride. Will be interesting to see what the difference on the hills will be.
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January 2023
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