This was the 15th running of this local Charity event; The Houghton Trail Event. which consists of various cycling events a trail run and a fun run all in aid of local charites. This would be the third outing for me. As expected it was muddy in all the usual places, and rather muddy at that due to the rain in the last few days. Approximately 400 people took part in the various events being held. The 32km Cycle route was the first away, and it took just under two hours to navigate the course with a couple of stops along the way. As ever the organisation and volunteer marshals were brillant. The unchanged route takes in two of the local climbs, Bucksholt Road climb out of Broughton which is rather sharp and steep, and the longer climb of Church Lane out of Longstock. It also uses the Test way between Horsebridge and Leckford which gives the riders some respite. The weather was grey and rather windy which always seemed to be a headwind.... Photographys of the day are recored very kindly here - Jim Pascoe Photography
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So the annualish trip to Swinley Forest was made today, a typical April day - sunny with the occasion sharp rain burst, which only impacted the last 5 minutes of my time there. Completed a couple of laps of the Blue Trail, but with variations in both, first loop added a couple of sections of the Red Trail, and the second loop avoided some of the more boring climbing bits of the Blue Trail. So in total just over 20kms was completed.
A glouriously sunny morning saw a ride out to Broughton via Spitfire lane and the back via the Wallops and Amport and Monxton. 40km in just over two hours. Early morning ride out to Hampshire Gate via the Hungerford lane (which is a combination of country lane and bridleways.) So cover 30km in one hour and forty minutes, not bad considering the amount of mud we met along the way. The advantage of the route I took is that it's pretty much constant climbing to Hampshire gate, and then a nice long descent into Clanville as the reward for the earlier effort.
So the annual running of the Houghton Trail Event is at the end of April. It's a great local event and has the bonus of being close enough to cycle to the start from the Front Door. Signed up and ready to go....Early morning ride out to Stockbridge along the muddy bridleways around the Clatfords and onto the Test Way to Stockbridge and then back via Red Rice. The Mud was increasingly sloppy in places, not a surprise due to the amount of rain we have had in the last week. The Geax Gato Mud tyres as always were up to the job.
So with the advent of the HONC in a couple of weeks, the realisation that I haven't been putting enough mile in as meant I bought a RSP Plummet Dropper Post to improve my mountain biking experience and get some more miles in.... The RSP Plummet seems a prefect for the Cube Sting, as the Sting has no internal routing options, and actually has external routing already planned in, via three cable clip points along the left hand side of the top tube. The RSP Plummet is as the budget end of the market, and the 125mm drop version I ordered only comes in external routing. ( I took advantage of an Ebay promotion which meant everything was 20% in the Sport and leisure category, so a budget dropper, became a very cheap purchase indeed.) The Dropper arrived with the cabling already installed and it was a matter of a 10 minute job, to swap the saddle over and attach the rather agricultural trigger to the handlebars. The action seems pretty smooth, but as I haven't ever used a dropper post before I can't really comment on it's performance just yet. I wonder how it's going to contend with the Hampshire grit?
January has been a bit of a wash out when it comes to swinging a leg over the mountain bike's saddle. Mostly been shopping by cycle and not much else, but today I blew the cobwebs off with ride out to Kentboro and back, so the usual mix of country lanes and byways. It was good to see the parts of the area i had litter picked before Christmas where still looking rather pristine. So out I went with the litter grabber and bin bags and covered the lanes between Kentboro and Monxton, three bags full!!
So I have registered for the 34th annual running of the Hell of the North Cotswolds ran by the Winchcombe Cycling Club and Cheltenham & County Cycling Club. I almost made it to the start line last year, unfortunately forgot to pack my helmet.
Registration opened for this years Wild Boar Chase today, really enjoyed the experience last year and looking forward to it this year!
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January 2023
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