Aka Stonehenge by Sunrise.
I planned on completing the full 200k to my parents' house. However, I was up against a headwind the whole. sodding. way. I guess that's one downside to a one way ride, if the wind is against you, it's relentless!
That would have been manageable, but from the Andover bypass, I was in a bit of a psychological pit. So I focused on a nice hot Maccy D's at Solstice Park. 24 hour, right? Wrong. They were closed! That shattered my resolve, but I still managed to drag myself to Stonehenge for the rising sun.
Once (nearly) out of London, I joined the A30 at its very beginning, a very good place to start.
This road runs within a mile of my childhood home, so was an obvious choice... Sat navs? Who needs them!
including cycling right alongside the M25 across the Runnymede Bridges.
This concept very nearly came crashing down when I hit roadworks, ended up off route, and then saw this!
I did backtrack, and it was in fact possible to continue following the A30. But, had I in fact been the diverted traffic, well, I guess I'd have been cycling down the M3, as the nice sign told me to.
Then it was the A303. I guess I
am technically on the M3 here.
But hey, gigantic sign photo op.
Almost immediately I turned off onto the old A30, to visit Sutton Scotney.
Quick flashback to my Winchester Century:
On that ride, I followed the A30 all the way to Dorset. Here, I turned north and rode up to Bullington Cross, thus completing my riding of the A30 as far west as Honiton! And then I rejoined the A303... why the 303!? Services. The A30 would have been a lonely road. On the A303, had the odd passing motorist for company. A few horn peeps by idiots (wholly in the other lane idiots!). But a fast route that redoubled my average speed, despite the exposure to the unrelenting headwind. And the most direct route to stonehenge, where I'd planned to make by sunrise.
