I can post the photo of your climb yesterday it it helps to motivate!
Winchester to London (well Croydon actually) - 28 March
- Thread starter rb58
- Start date
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OP
OP
rb58
Enigma
- Location
- Bexley, Kent
If you look very carefully at the picture above of me coming up Whitedown you'll notice I am, in fact, going backwards. Nice industrial units Tim 
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
That's no way to talk about cyclistsIf you look very carefully at the picture above of me coming up Whitedown you'll notice I am, in fact, going backwards. Nice industrial units Tim
StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
That was a corker, a very slight tinge of regret at falling 13 miles short of a century excepted- I'd have done that if I rode all the way but travelling as far as East Croydon would have extended my journey time back south, and heading on to Guildford (say), let alone riding home, would have been grim indeed. The hoped-for tailwind for the ride east might not have materialised but the headwind certainly would have!
Ride up to Winchester proved straightforward and speedy enough. I was on my way at 6.40, and pleasantly surprised myself by easily riding up Southwick Hill Road, a climb I had avoided for years (once I got the front shifted down to the little ring, that is). I'll be human-powered riding that more frequently in future- that, and the first stretch of yesterday's ride, is now on my (scooter) commute to Southampton. A brief pause when the Garmin decided to shut itself down- an opportunity for a drink and thankfully not repeated- and later on, that old GPS favourite, trying to send the rider down an entirely non-existant path. Instead, I opted to follow the signs marked 'Winchester', and for some reason that seemed to work out well. I made it into the city at about 8.30, 14 mph average, and time enough to join @rb58 and @Bollo at McDonalds for a cup of tea before we made our way over to the station. Once we'd negotiated the exit from Winchester (if you're not careful, considerably easier said than done), much of that first stretch was familiar- roads I'd ridden on, junctions I'd crossed. Can't say I much liked the stretches of singletrack with piles of gravel in the middle, but nothing too bad, and the countryside in this part of the world certainly compensates.
Nice to visit the Greco Grill at Bordon again- a thoroughly unreconstructed old-school caf, and all the better for it. Bacon sandwich and a mug of tea just what was required with fifty miles (for me at least) on the clock. It started raining as we were preparing to leave, and promptly stopped again, which was annoying. On we went into Surrey, across the A3100 at Godalming (don't know that road much, lol) and, on account of the time, an extra stop at Bramley to refuel before Whitedown. I didn't bother even trying to climb it, remember my failure from last time all too well, decided to save energy and walk it instead. Some git seemed to be doing repeats of it. One rolling descent later and Team Trains was bidding farewell to Tim and Paul and heading into Dorking, where I promptly lost the other three, though I made my way to the station just fine. 87 miles on the clock and not long to wait for my train south to Horsham where I could change for a Pompey service.
Thanks one and all, and congratulations Ross for a great job and a fourth ton of the month.
Ride up to Winchester proved straightforward and speedy enough. I was on my way at 6.40, and pleasantly surprised myself by easily riding up Southwick Hill Road, a climb I had avoided for years (once I got the front shifted down to the little ring, that is). I'll be human-powered riding that more frequently in future- that, and the first stretch of yesterday's ride, is now on my (scooter) commute to Southampton. A brief pause when the Garmin decided to shut itself down- an opportunity for a drink and thankfully not repeated- and later on, that old GPS favourite, trying to send the rider down an entirely non-existant path. Instead, I opted to follow the signs marked 'Winchester', and for some reason that seemed to work out well. I made it into the city at about 8.30, 14 mph average, and time enough to join @rb58 and @Bollo at McDonalds for a cup of tea before we made our way over to the station. Once we'd negotiated the exit from Winchester (if you're not careful, considerably easier said than done), much of that first stretch was familiar- roads I'd ridden on, junctions I'd crossed. Can't say I much liked the stretches of singletrack with piles of gravel in the middle, but nothing too bad, and the countryside in this part of the world certainly compensates.
Nice to visit the Greco Grill at Bordon again- a thoroughly unreconstructed old-school caf, and all the better for it. Bacon sandwich and a mug of tea just what was required with fifty miles (for me at least) on the clock. It started raining as we were preparing to leave, and promptly stopped again, which was annoying. On we went into Surrey, across the A3100 at Godalming (don't know that road much, lol) and, on account of the time, an extra stop at Bramley to refuel before Whitedown. I didn't bother even trying to climb it, remember my failure from last time all too well, decided to save energy and walk it instead. Some git seemed to be doing repeats of it. One rolling descent later and Team Trains was bidding farewell to Tim and Paul and heading into Dorking, where I promptly lost the other three, though I made my way to the station just fine. 87 miles on the clock and not long to wait for my train south to Horsham where I could change for a Pompey service.
Thanks one and all, and congratulations Ross for a great job and a fourth ton of the month.
sagefly
Veteran
Go for it! Inspiration for all!
