A grand day out and a great weekend in all.
Despite the forecast, the weather was superb with not a cloud to be seen all day. It was chilly at times but for me, didn't feel as cold as the Denmead hilly social ride in December and despite the sub-zero tempertures there were (thankfully) no black ice encounters.
After a quick cuppa at Hummers Halls, there was a false start for me as within a mile from home it became apparent that all was not well with the front wheel. A not so closer inspection revealed about 4 inches of the rim had split away and was bulging out rather nicely.
I sent the rest of the group on and cautiously returned to home to fix the puncture on my SON hubbed wheel and fit that one instead. I was on the road again by 10:40 and put the hammer down to arrive at the Rowlands Castle cafe almost at the same time as the others plus a large group of riders from the South Down Velo RC.
The Cillmoister met us at the cafe, fresh from his early morning exertions, followed by Paul Whitehead, fresh from his 5am post round
Clare and Vern:
Non-forum chums:
A Hummers Minor:
Team ESB:
The Chillmoister:
The group leaves, upwards and pubwards:
Our next destination was the Harrow Inn, Steep. We took the gently uphill route over the downs to Buriton and Paul led us through a devious route to get to the pub as most of the roads that would normally have taken us there have been cut off by the A3 bypass. If you have not been there before, the family-run Harrow is the closest thing you will get to an unspoilt pub in Hampshire. There are a selection of local, well kept ales straight from the barrel and home cooked no-frills grub. Mind you, it's not roomiest pub in the world and I don't think our arrival was especially welcomed by either the locals or landlady with almost no room at the Inn. Given that the sun was still out, we shunned the real fire and cosy comforts of the bar and decided to sit outside. I know, this sounds bonkers but the low winter sun was still strong enough to keep the chills at bay for two pints.
We also bumped into a bloke called John Spooner who (we think) rides the odd Audax or two.
Mr Whitehead (AKA Postie):
No room at the Inn:
A change of route was needed as we were running late and I didn't want to out after sun set as it was likely to get considerably colder. I suppose we could have kept to the planned route and not stopped at any more pubs.
This idea occupied very little headspace and was never seriously entertained although we forfeited the George for the newly reopened Bird In Hand.
We soon warmed up in the not so gently rolling section back to Pompey. Hills like this always help the process:
But
are worth the view:
Are we nearly there, Dad:
We arrived back in Pompey just as it was getting dark (perfectly timed IMHO), showered, changed and rolled staight into the second event of the day, a classic Hummers Halls party.
Pictures of this will be posted in a separate thread. Be warned, mind bleach may be required.
H
