Would have loved to have joined you guys, but finishing the Hellfire on Friday evening required the weekend to be spent on the sofa/bed/hammock, with the rehydration process taking its usual professional form....planning to do the DC perm next Saturday instead now. It will probably tip down....
But, it didn't. Chris Beynon and I made it round in under 10 hours, due to the stunning weather - unbroken sunshine, light winds, mid 20's all day - and a couple of excellent cafe's (Bellanie's Bakehouse in Abbotsbury (contender for the award for the biggest cakes) & the Sublyme Cafe in Axminster (contender for the award for the best flapjacks)). The Top of the Town in Dorchester was closed due to our late start (missed the ferry) so the Shell SS sufficed, but with the light tailwind it was fast back from there to Sandbanks, whence to a pizzeria to celebrate my first Wessex SR.
We included an off road section for added fun - take the road left at Owermoigne to Holworth Farm, which becomes a bridleway which gradually deteriorates until you get to the National Trust land above Chesil Beach, where you turn right onto some strada bianche to their car park and then back to tarmac. All good fun, especially the farm dogs trying to unseat Chris. Seeing the barely clad crowds in Weymouth was an eye-opener though. We also took Cycle route 26 after Maiden Newton from Frampton into the back of Dorchester. Again, a little bit off rough stuff but no punctures there or anywhere all day despite being on racing bikes & not audax bikes. Just watch out for the roaming herd of cows there, and the cats - neither seem inclined to move when we approached.
One of the best days out on a bike ever I think.