Sea, Sun & Gravel

Well you can't have everything!

So Thursday, Aunty Bev and I loaded the bikes up with the intention of a day riding down in the New Forest. I think i told you about this bit of mostly Hampshire when i had my Isle of Wight trip earlier in the year but just a quick refresh, it's an area of heath and forest, at just under 300km square, it was declared a Royal Forest by William 1st before Domesday. A thousand years later it's now a National Park almost entirely given over to leisure activities from walking, riding and cycling to sailing where it butts up against the western Solent. Anyhow, from Brizzle its a couple of hours drive and we reached our base for the day at Ringwood @ ten thirty.

It was close on eleven before i left Bev, my route heading south, vaguely following the Hampshire Avon (the river nearest to Stonehenge) to the coast by Christchurch. From there my route followed the coast eastwards, along the cliff tops at first before dropping to the gravel trails across the salt flats as i neared my lunch destination at Lymington. It was getting a bit warm by now, i rested awhile with a cuppa and my sandwiches at the yacht marina before returning to the roads for the return leg.

I was now threading my way north and west on fairly quiet roads across pony infested heathland, thatched villages and cool woodland. Brockenhurst, Marshfield Moor, where i stopped for ice cream, then through the Tall Trees Arboretum, the trees are quite tall, planted as an ornamental park in the 19th century the highlight are the Redwoods & Douglas Fir, stretching over 50m towards the heavens. The route continued through woodland for a while although i exchanged tarmac for gravel forest roads which reminded me somewhat to riding in southern Sweden.

Eventually i returned to some busyish tarmac for a short stretch before returning to trails and lanes for the last, westbound stretch back to the car. It wasn't a super long ride, 78km and just @ 300m of up, but it was a nice day and i look forward to returning to explore further at some point.

Friday was a bit cooler and the main thing of note was getting another 1200 words down of the new story. For those who follow my Patreon posts, there are now Fifteen 'chapters' posted ( https://www.patreon.com/user?u=38088018 )

And so to Saturday. A damp start to the morning meant a later departure for what i intended to be a shorter loop, no repeat of last weeks monster! The first hour took me out onto the Cotswold plateau where i started the first stretch of over fifteen kilometres of Bridleway riding, twelve of which being new to me. The route took me across fields, along old coach roads and modern well maintained gravel to my stop at the Somerset Monument on the Cotswold Edge at Hawkesbury Upton.

Then it was a drop down to Hawkesbury Common to take in the last stretch of off tarmac for the day, around 4km through Lower Wood Nature Reserve. By the time i got back the total on the GPS was 61km with 548m of up which shows how flat the New Forest ride actually was!

Today then, well you can read Balancing Trick part 7 now, a scene setter for what's coming up next! I'll be taking a walk this afternoon and possibly getting some more writing done later.

That's it i think,
So for now,
Tak,
Madeline Anafrid