Stockbridge struggle - April

Hi all,

Stockbridge. Stockbridge, Stockbridge. I have a love hate relationship with this route. I've done it 3 times and every time has been a bitch. The first time, my legs really weren't up to it as I'd only just started riding. The second time, I was with 2 people on roadies and I pushed far too hard on my 20kg commuter to keep up with them.

This time, I was on my own. I could ride at my own pace. Surely this time the ride would be better?
Surely this time I'd be sorted?

Nope.

I ran out of water about 10 miles from the end. I hit the wall horribly. No energy left and no water.
I phoned my wife, and I was going to beg pathetically for a pick up, but then she said that there was an ice cream parlour nearby.

I dragged my sorry ass the next 2 miles and got to the shop. "Home-made" ice cream. Real Coffee. OMG so good. I stayed there until the stars went from my eyes, and I could walk without my head fizzing and headed home as nice and gently as I could. I'm going to try it again soon!

I will crack this ride!

Pictures and Strava below:

Thanks for reading,

New Totton to Marchwood cycle lane

Hi all,

This route has since been completed and I've been down it a few times. It's a bit safer than Pookesgreen but a little bit longer as it takes you through the village. Here is a video from when a a mate of mine and I found one end of it after a hop to Hythe and back.



If you are going to tank it down there, don't bother. Not because the surface isn't very good, you can see in the video it's flat as a pancake, but because small children and families go down there as it keeps everyone away from the main road. Personally I like taking it easy down there, and I like being nosey and checking out the solar farm.

Thanks for reading

Fordingbridge

Hi all,

This was a nice ride. I found it on a CTC website so I thought I might scope it out. It's a very picturesque route with a couple of really good cafe stops in the village before you turn to head south.

Some of the hills I found a little hard going towards the end. It was also fairly warm and humid which didn't help. I am getting better at food and drink management but I've still got a little way to go.

On one of my rests I got interrupted by a military plane flying fairly low. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to photograph it quickly enough. You can see my effort below though.

It's such a nice area of the Forest and I'm aiming to do this ride again soon.

Pictures and Strava:

Thanks for reading

Keyhaven

Hi all,

My best solo ride by far this year has been a ride to Keyhaven. I found a Fort on Google Maps while frantically scrolling around and fancied cycling down and giving it a look. Unfortunately, despite looking around, there are no ways of getting there from the pebble beach on a road bike. If you're on an MTB and fancy a go...good luck to you!

Here are the photo's from the day and the Strava link.

Thanks for reading,

New Blog!

Hi all,

A lot of weird and wonderful stuff happens while I'm on my bike. I get some really nice shots of Hampshire's beautiful countryside and I get to meet some cool and interesting people.

I thought it would be nice to share stories, pictures and videos with a wider audience, so here I am. Writing another blog. Or not writing another blog, depending on how it goes.

There are far too many blogs and youtube channels about the negative "OH MY GOD XY23 6TF NEAR MISS!!" stuff around. I won't be doing that. There's far better odd stuff that happens once you start putting the miles in. Here's me hitting a seagull for example:



And it's this sort of stuff I want to capture. A ride diary of the cool and the odd.

Thanks for reading,