D
Dave Larrington
Guest
Short RR: less rain; more p+nct+r+s and dead badgers than last year.
Longer RR: The start was from chez Pilbeam rather than the Denmead
Community Centre, and a pretty relaxed affair it was too, with a Several of
people taking off at 07:45. Being a gude little boy, I sat around until
08:00, idly filling in the answers to half the info controls - two of them
were the same as last year - before wandering off on my own. The first few
km were a bit of a drag Scenery-wise, but things levelled out before long,
and by the time Bosham was reached, I was on a pretty respectable average
speed. Of course, had I been unscrupulous, I could have cut across country
somewhere near Finchdean and avoided:
o getting a little bit lost, and
o the P+nct+r+ Fairy
The Slime in the right inner tube did its best to seal the hole, but gave up
the struggle after about 35 km chiz. Average speed duly plummets from 24
km/h to about 18, though the VAR tyre lever made getting the tyre back on a
Simple Thing.
With a sensible quantity of air back in the tyre, I was cracking on towards
Harting when Lo! a pair of Horseys appeared, and took severe umbrage at the
sight of a low-slung-inna-three-revolving-wheels-kind-of-thing. I offered
to stand up and smile sweetly as they came past, but instead they turned
around and proceeded - very very slowly - back along the route I wished to
follow. Average speed plummets again. Bah!
Not quite last on the road as I reached the first control near Trotton, as
I'd actually managed to overtake a couple of riders. One of them on a
climb!! A swift ingestion of tea and shortbread ensued.
A couple of lumpy bits of narrow lane followed before the Big Hill - the 25%
into Liphook. However a 13" bottom gear made short, well, medium-sized work
of this, and soon it was back into the lanes, where last year a deranged
signpost caused a certain amount of tooth-sucking and a rather unpleasant
stretch of the A325 to get back on route. The section from Bentley to
Crondall was as draggy as I had remembered from last year, the more so
given:
o the stiff headwind, and
o the sight of a van labouring up the valley ahead.
Finally zoom zoom down to Hartley Wintney for coke and cake, and about time
too...
Set off on the next leg to Alresford determined to make up time, having told
Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) that I intended to be back at his place by
19:30. But it proved impossible to get a rhythm going. "Odd" I thought, "I
don't remember this bit being so hard!" This miserable state of affairs
continued for quite some time, until Captain Thicko finally noticed that,
once again, he had set off with the Trice's parking brake set firmly in the
"stop" position. For 22 km...
Dead badger spotted near Preston Candover. Loud cheers. Natives alarmed.
"Fork R on fast descent no $" WTF? There *was* a right turn, with a
signpost saying "Overton". Not a fork at all. I ignored it, due to doing
65 km/h at the time, and finally found Overton by a process of deduction.
Alresford at last, and the sun is starting to come out. Optimistically
changed lenses from "happy shades" to "inscrutable rock star". Quick stop
for bottle filling and away to the info on the way to Bishops Waltham.
"What colour is the road at the crossroads?" Apparently everyone had a
different idea - "green" and "mauve" being two of the more outlandish
suggestions.
What's this? /Another/ road closure? We were plagued by these on the
Cheddar Gorge last weekend and now here's another. The signs did not lie,
but there /was/ just enough room to squeeze past on the pavement, if I
folded the mirrors in and bumped the left wheel over the legs of the
barriers. Fortunately the natives of Swanmore were not engaged in
promenading about their town, as had I met an oncoming ped, there would have
been gridlock.
Newtown -> Denmead = autopilot. Though not for the chap tentatively
identified as Rudolph Del-Prado, who missed the second-to-last turning...
11:20, an hour slower than last year, chiz. /Next/ year...
--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
I have a shell collection, have you seen it? I keep it scattered
on the world's beaches.
Longer RR: The start was from chez Pilbeam rather than the Denmead
Community Centre, and a pretty relaxed affair it was too, with a Several of
people taking off at 07:45. Being a gude little boy, I sat around until
08:00, idly filling in the answers to half the info controls - two of them
were the same as last year - before wandering off on my own. The first few
km were a bit of a drag Scenery-wise, but things levelled out before long,
and by the time Bosham was reached, I was on a pretty respectable average
speed. Of course, had I been unscrupulous, I could have cut across country
somewhere near Finchdean and avoided:
o getting a little bit lost, and
o the P+nct+r+ Fairy
The Slime in the right inner tube did its best to seal the hole, but gave up
the struggle after about 35 km chiz. Average speed duly plummets from 24
km/h to about 18, though the VAR tyre lever made getting the tyre back on a
Simple Thing.
With a sensible quantity of air back in the tyre, I was cracking on towards
Harting when Lo! a pair of Horseys appeared, and took severe umbrage at the
sight of a low-slung-inna-three-revolving-wheels-kind-of-thing. I offered
to stand up and smile sweetly as they came past, but instead they turned
around and proceeded - very very slowly - back along the route I wished to
follow. Average speed plummets again. Bah!
Not quite last on the road as I reached the first control near Trotton, as
I'd actually managed to overtake a couple of riders. One of them on a
climb!! A swift ingestion of tea and shortbread ensued.
A couple of lumpy bits of narrow lane followed before the Big Hill - the 25%
into Liphook. However a 13" bottom gear made short, well, medium-sized work
of this, and soon it was back into the lanes, where last year a deranged
signpost caused a certain amount of tooth-sucking and a rather unpleasant
stretch of the A325 to get back on route. The section from Bentley to
Crondall was as draggy as I had remembered from last year, the more so
given:
o the stiff headwind, and
o the sight of a van labouring up the valley ahead.
Finally zoom zoom down to Hartley Wintney for coke and cake, and about time
too...
Set off on the next leg to Alresford determined to make up time, having told
Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) that I intended to be back at his place by
19:30. But it proved impossible to get a rhythm going. "Odd" I thought, "I
don't remember this bit being so hard!" This miserable state of affairs
continued for quite some time, until Captain Thicko finally noticed that,
once again, he had set off with the Trice's parking brake set firmly in the
"stop" position. For 22 km...
Dead badger spotted near Preston Candover. Loud cheers. Natives alarmed.
"Fork R on fast descent no $" WTF? There *was* a right turn, with a
signpost saying "Overton". Not a fork at all. I ignored it, due to doing
65 km/h at the time, and finally found Overton by a process of deduction.
Alresford at last, and the sun is starting to come out. Optimistically
changed lenses from "happy shades" to "inscrutable rock star". Quick stop
for bottle filling and away to the info on the way to Bishops Waltham.
"What colour is the road at the crossroads?" Apparently everyone had a
different idea - "green" and "mauve" being two of the more outlandish
suggestions.
What's this? /Another/ road closure? We were plagued by these on the
Cheddar Gorge last weekend and now here's another. The signs did not lie,
but there /was/ just enough room to squeeze past on the pavement, if I
folded the mirrors in and bumped the left wheel over the legs of the
barriers. Fortunately the natives of Swanmore were not engaged in
promenading about their town, as had I met an oncoming ped, there would have
been gridlock.
Newtown -> Denmead = autopilot. Though not for the chap tentatively
identified as Rudolph Del-Prado, who missed the second-to-last turning...
11:20, an hour slower than last year, chiz. /Next/ year...
--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
I have a shell collection, have you seen it? I keep it scattered
on the world's beaches.
