Having recovered from the adventure that was cycling home from Winchester and enjoyed some quality time with my family over Christmas I felt the urge to get back out on Red the bike, if time and family pressures allowed for one last long cycle ride before the end of the year.
With Jan and my youngest daughter Chloe around and on their holidays from work in the week between Christmas and New Year the possibility of getting back in the saddle presented itself, so with minimal preparation (water bottles, snacks, lights charged....) I set off once again on one of my favourite local loops, the East Dorset loop, taking in Ringwood, Cranborne Chase and back beside the River Stour via Wimborne and back to Christchurch.
I've had the pleasure of undertaking this ride, around the area I have lived since the age of 7, an area I would probably accurately describe as home. Having the chance to get out on Red the bike to escape onto the chalk downs of Cranborne Chase is one I would take everyday if time allowed, and even with the tail end of yet another storm with a name battering the UK I was genuinely excited to stretch my legs, get some post-Christmas exercise and add a few final miles to the 2023 total.
This enthusiasm was tested on mile 2 as the cloudy sky broke and I cycled through Christchurch High Street in a rain shower.......with a little over 50 more miles planned on the route I could have had a slightly better start. However this was genuinely a short sharp shower and as I continued out of Christchurch up towards Ringwood the rain stopped and was replaced by grey clouds and occasional strong gusts of wind from a roughly westerly direction.
Satnav wasn't needed for this ride, Strava was counting the miles and keeping Jan updated on my progress, so I was able to focus 100% on taking in every minute of the ride, every pedal, gear change..... you get the idea.
In a similar style to my pre-Christmas Winchester cycle ride traffic was relatively light and I was soon heading further north towards Horton, home to Horton Tower / Sturts Folly and my gateway to Cranborne Chase. No matter what the time of year or weather for that matter the world feels like it becomes more relaxed in my experience as the geology changes to soft rolling hills, the chalk downs of the Chase.
In the early morning of a summer ride this would involve spotting nature like I was on Spring Watch; I've seen numerous birds, rabbits, hares and been witness to all these creatures not noticing me as I have quietly cycle past, which really does feel like a privilege I will never take for granted.
Winter wildlife is a little more sparse, but I still saw plenty of bird life as I continued up to meet the Blandford / Salisbury road, very few cars and I felt like I was making good progress as I got towards the top of the loop.
My progress and general optimism was met with an ever increasing headwind as I joined the main road, I turned left and had to drop down a few gears to maintain leg speed and momentum! Even before I got to the junction I realised that I was being protected by the excellent hedgerow, but every gap for a gate into a field gave me a taste of the headwind to come.
The next mile or two of the route involved me either suffering a really, really, really strong headwind (which I'm pretty sure is that I suffered), but this combined with a general lack of peak summer cycling fitness and maybe a few more calories consumed over the festive period ended with me having to cycle downhill in a gear I'd usually consider using when climbing uphill! As I write this I'm reflecting that maybe I was lucky to not be simply blown away ! 😄
Relief from the headwind was to be experienced as I turned to cycle along the Tarrant valley, a relatively flat run of road that links up a series of villages connected by the river Tarrant. After a few minutes of headwind even the relief of a flat protected road still took me a good mile or so of recovery to start to feel comfortable again. As I've mentioned previously I'm not a lycra clad cycling boy racer, Red the bike and I are made for the more leisurely pursuit of cycle touring, but even as I continued to add miles to my journey I couldn't help feel that the headwind might have slowed me down a little.
Another quick stop to take a photo of the ford that crosses the river Tarrant in Tarrant Monkton, accompanied by a long drink of water and a snack and I reset myself for the remainder of the ride. The chalk stream at this ford is crystal clear, a visual reminder that it is possible to have a clean (visually at least) waterway in the UK.
From here I continued on the road that would eventually take me to a sharp left hand turn and a series of lanes that run alongside the River Stour along towards Wimborne. Apart from the very early shower the rain at least was on my side, and this last major change of direction should have aligned me with the aforementioned headwind to become a tailwind. The general lack of energy / fitness meant in reality any tailwind for this run along the Stour valley didn't feel like I was about to break any speed records......but the ride was at the very least enjoyable, and with another total lack of any other vehicles a very quiet ride along towards the town of Wimborne.
I was slightly shocked as I headed through the town centre of Wimborne, the previous few hours of cycling had allowed me to avoid humans, but there were plenty driving around the town or walking between the various shops in the centre of Wimborne. I managed to cycle past a short traffic jam and headed on towards my childhood home of Merley, on past Canford School and the victorian houses of Canford village.
Another left hand turn and I was on the final stretch skirting the north of Poole and Bournemouth. I cycled past shopping hotpots, aka Castlepoint and I soon found myself back in Christchurch crossing the river Stour, encountering a few more humans enjoying the shops / pubs and restaurants of the town, and within ten minutes I arrived home.
Strava had captured the route - 54.91 miles complete (Strava is nice and accurate!), but sadly this particular cycle was about 30 minutes slower than my average and over 45 minutes slower than my fastest ride around the East Dorset loop..... clearly the headwind played its part, but the lack of fitness is likely to have contributed as well. I wasn't disappointed; it would be unfair to measure this ride against my quickest because I had undertaken very little training this time around.
For the year however I had completed over 3914 miles on Red, including completing my own version of Lands End to John O'Groats, a cycle around the Isle of Wight and a huge number of rides to and from work. All in I was, and still am very happy with the miles achieved ..... and as stupid as this might sound (or read) I am so humble that I have been able to be given the opportunity to experience so much of the year on my bike.
A perfect speed to enjoy life without missing anything; its allowed me to ensure my mental and physical fitness is maintained and hopefully through these blogs (and my Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/greenhorseontour/ ) you've all had a chance to come along for the ride.
I'll end this blog with huge thank yous to Jan and my daughters Chloe and Maddie for their support and everyone else who has supported me through out 2023. Whilst I've kept cycling so far in 2024, and I'm quietly working on some possible long distance cycling adventures (don't tell Jan) for the moment I'll finish the 40th blog here, feeling grateful.
Now where can I cycle next ? 😄