Sunday 30 June 2013
CTC Inters ride to Mere
Before I started to write this blog on our latest ride I decided to have a swift count up of the miles completed since we started recording our weekend rides. Well without revealing an exact number I shall just say that the bubbly is on ice to celebrate a significant milestone which we should reach on our next ride.
Moving on to this ride, previously I have only ever driven to Mere, and my thought then was that this is a long way to come for a day's paintballing - now we are choosing to cycle there!
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| Airfield and cafe |
We meet up with the group on a gorgeous sunny morning at Wimborne Square and it looks like the day is going to be hot and sunny so the sun screen is out. We head off for Witchampton and on to Long Crichel following our normal route to Compton Abbas and the Cafe at the airfield our first planned stop. Our route takes us through the pretty villages of Chettle and Tollard Farnham before we turn off for Ashmore and onto the airfield. It's funny how your brain works; now bear in mind that the airfield at Compton Abbas is on one of the highest points in Dorset, so why would you forget that the ride to it is mostly uphill? The human brain has a wonderful capacity to only recall the good stuff, hence all those childhood memories of long hot summers. Talking of which, we are cycling on just one of those days as the temperature starts to rise into the 20's. The airfield is really busy today as there appears to be a large flying event on judging by the amount of planes we see arrive.
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| View over Dorset |
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| Kathy takes a break.... |
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| ......along with the rest of us! |
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| Church at Mere |
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| At lunch! |
After coffee we head off towards Mere down one of my favorite descents down Donhead Hollow you can really get some speed up if you hold your nerve. A reminder from John our ride leader to take it steady probably slowed us all a little today. Our ride then takes us through a collection of small villages known as the Donheads, as they all share this prefix, before heading to East Knoyle. East Knoyle is famous for being the birthplace for one of England's greatest architects Sir Christopher Wren who was famously responsible for the design of Saint Pauls Cathedral and also for the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. He was also responsible for the design and rebuilding of 52 other churches after the great fire of London in 1666. Leaving East Knoyle behind we climb steadily further into Wiltshire and on to Mere where we stop for lunch taking our sandwiches in the churchyard under the shade of the yew trees before heading to the pub for refreshments prior to the ride towards home.
Our next planned port of call is Cafe 65 at Blandford and this is reached via Gillingham, Child Okeford and Stourpaine. Gillingham (pronounced with a hard G as in goat) is Dorsets most northerly town and has seen settlement since the stone age through the Romans and is mentioned in the Domesday book. Stourpaine is now renowned for the staging of one of the UK's biggest steam and historic vehicle events in the Great Dorset Steam Fair which is held over the August Bank Holiday every year.
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| Blandford |
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| Cafe 65 |
Milkshakes for some and ice creams for others at Cafe 65 and then on to home. Another long but enjoyable day in the saddle and it looks like the after sun lotion is going to be needed - I hope I haven't got 'panda' eyes!
Sunday 23 June 2013
CTC Inters ride to Beaulieu
We leave home to once again meet up with the inters at Hurn Stores, this time for a ride out into the New Forest. Fresh in our minds is the experience of our last ride with the inters which was pretty tough but chanting the mantra of 'ride harder to get better' we join up with the group. The plan according to the programme is to head out to Eling tide mill but due to the strong winds it is decided to head for Beaulieu instead and then make the cycle back against the head wind a lesser distance. So to make the ride a similar length as the one planned we head off for a big loop round the top of Ringwood taking in the villages and hamlets of Ripley, Sandford, Somerley, Harbridge, Ibsley and Poulner before stopping for coffee and breakfast at Crow Farm. A welcome break at the farm shop cafe and shelter from what appears to be an increasingly strong breeze, perhaps the change of destination will turn out to be a good idea.
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| Beaulieu River |
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| Lunch stop at Beaulieu |
After the short break we set off into the New Forest National Park en route to Beaulieu passing our Saturday ride coffee stop in Burley before riding on to Brockenhurst. From Brockenhurst it is a fast ride with the wind at our backs to Beaulieu where we stop for lunch by the rive in the shadow of the Abbey. Lunch by the river is enjoyable and the sun is out but the stiff breeze makes it a little chilly so we decamp to the cafe for a coffee before starting the ride home into the headwind.
The route for home takes us initially south towards the coast at Sowley where we turn to head west into the teeth of what is now approaching a gale. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger' we wonder if philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is right but it's still a decent mantra to keep you going! Onwards to Lymington where the usual Sunday sailing crowd are out frequenting the bars so we have to be careful dodging the crowds as we take some interesting short cuts around the backstreet's of the town. There has been a settlement at Lymington since the Iron Age and evidence of the hill fort can still be seen at Buckland Rings. Lymington over its history has been famous for a number of things including the production of salt, in the Napoleonic period it was a major military centre and in more recent times a centre for ship building and yachting.
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| White horses at Barton on Sea |
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| Beach Comber Cafe Barton on Sea |
From historic Lymington we follow the coast to Barton on Sea where we stop for a drink at the cafe and to catch our breath. The cafe is perched on the cliff top and from here you can see the white horses out to sea and unusually no boats which tell us something about the strength of the wind!
From here we briefly cycle again as a group to New Milton before splitting up to head or separate ways to home, we join a small group heading back to Hurn and from there head for home. We arrive home a lot more tired than when we started but having enjoyed another great ride in good company.
Sunday 9 June 2013
CTC ride to Blandford and Hinton St Mary
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| Bob |
Today we joined up again with our old friends in the 'Potterer's' for an easier paced ride out to Blandford for coffee and then onto Hinton St Mary for lunch. We meet at Wimborne recreation Ground under grey forbidding skies but with the promise of sunshine to come.Ann and Alan arrive on the tandem trike with a front wheel puncture and by the time it is fixed and the offending piece of glass removed from the tyre the sun is out. We take our usual route out to Blandford following the river valley along quiet country lanes..............hang on a minute did I say quiet? What are all these people doing running along our lanes? We have unwittingly shared our route today with a half marathon so as we ride alongside and past the runners we pass on words of encouragement and support. Once we clear Shapwick we have the roads to ourselves again and enjoy the peace and quiet. That is until we catch up with Bob and others who are on there way to join us at coffee having set off from other directions.
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| Ann, Alan & Trike |
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| Shillingstone Station |
Our now slightly larger band rolls into Blandford and a coffee stop at Cafe 65 where Kathy and I sit with Ann and Alan and listen to stories of cycling in the 1950's, tandem touring clubs and rides in america. As much as i could have listened to Ann and Alan's stories for much longer it is time to set off again in the general direction of lunch and Hinton St Mary. Our route takes us along the North Dorset Trailway by-passing Durweston and back onto the roads through the pretty village of Stourpaine before once again rejoining the trailway. The trailway here is not a tarmac surface and needs a little ore care, especially on the downhill sections, as one of our number discovered when his front wheel hit the loose stuff and so did he! Fortunately no serious injury and we carry on to Shillingstone where the trailway goes along the platform of the old Shillingstone Railway Station. If you want to you can stop here for refreshments but we had a lunch date to meet.
We leave the trailway again and cross the River Stour and cycle through Child Okeford a quintessential English country village that appears in the Domesday Book. It's history dates back to 1561 when its then vicar William Kethe wrote the hymm "The Old Hundredth" now better known by its first line "All people who on earth do dwell". Hambledon Hill which lies outside the village was the site of an English civil war battle where Cromwell's Parliamentarians took on 2000 Dorset Royalists. Leaving the history of Child Okeford behind we roll through beautiful undulating countryside to Hinton St Mary another village with its fair share of history. It is famous for the discovery of a virtually complete Roman mosaic in the early 1960's.
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| Millennium Garden |
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| Hinton St Mary Church |
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| The White Horse |
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| Kathy enjoys a break in the sun |
Sunday 2 June 2013
CTC Inters ride to West Tytherley
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| Coffee this way |
We met up with the group at Hurn Stores and were made to feel very welcome. It appeared a number of the group had also previously been in the same position as us in making the transition from first group riding with the 'Potterers' to stepping up to more challenging rides.
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| a quick breather |
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| Mottisfont Abbey |
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| lunch on the green |
Having got over the shock of being at Mottisfont we are next confronted with a stiff little climb at Bossington before following the route of the old roman road before eventually turning south again for West Tytherley and psychologically heading for home!
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| we wonder if they will give us a tow.... |
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| The Black Horse, Tytherley |
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| View across across two counties - Wiltshire & Hampshire |
At 50 miles out we bowl down Rectory Hill and then turn left onto Ashmore Lane this is the 'bit of a hill', in fact a 12% gradient of a hill for the next half mile, to the top of what on the map is named The Hanging. If we had the energy there might have been one - a bit of a hill indeed!! A well deserved break at the top for the view and photos before heading off in the general direction of home via Whiteparish, Redlynch, Downton and Breamore. After a gentle climb into Redlynch the road home is fairly flat and easy cycling as we follow the Avon Valley through Fordingbridge and onto a swift tea stop at Ringwood where the cafe owner seems none too pleased to be invaded by cyclists half an hour before closing. There follows much hilarity after Colin is served a bigger portion of cake than Jackie and this after no breakfast as well!! |
| Kathy makes it to the top! |
The group now splits up as we all head in different directions for home we join Bob and cycle back to Hurn Stores via the Christchurch Road and the Avon Causeway. We bid Bob farewell at Hurn and head for home a little wearier than when we set out 87 miles and 7 hours ago. It's our longest ride so far and at an average of 12.5 mph on of our quickest. Will we be joining the 'Inters' again? Most definitely, we have had a great day, it has been hard work but great fun. However, we may cycle with the 'Potterers' again next week to catch up with old friends before joining our new ones again in a couple of weeks.
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