Andy, Chris and Gary set off from Hertford at 9:30am and headed down the the river Lee tow path. Good progress was made and Team A arrived at Waterloo station in time to catch an earlier train. Which got them into Winchester at 13:48. They got off the train only for Andy to realise in the confusion of getting three blokes and bikes of the train, he left his bag on the train. He ran after the train, shouting as it left the platform. Didn't do any good. The train disappeared into the distance with Andy's bag.
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| Team A @ Waterloo Station |
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| Coffee stop for team A at the Olympic park |
Mean while.... Team B were mucking around loading bikes and battling with the M25. PG left his debit card at home and by the time we set off from Hertford we were 10 minutes behind schedule.
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| Team B arrives at Winchester |
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| Team B (PG; Garry; Adrian and Hugh) on the way |
After some discussion on how to retrieve Andy's bag (which had ended up in Southampton), it was decided that Andy would jump on the train and pop down to the coast and retrieve his bag. The timing should be such that by the time Andy got back to Winchester, Team B should have arrived in Winchester and be ready to make the start.
Bag retrieved and Team B making it to Winchester, it was time to get going. We cycled the 1km to the official start at the old Winchester City Mill for a team photo.
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| Winchester City old mill - the start of something great! |
Then we were off! As with all starts, getting 6 riders organised and figuring out which direction we should be going was a challenge. It wasn't long before we had taken a wrong turning and had to do a U turn. During the U turn, we lost Andy. As we had used Google maps to share our location we could see where Andy had gone wrong and missed a turning. 10 minutes later, the team was all back together to make a proper start out of Winchester.
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| Lost someone already! |
Following blue acorn signs the first 5 miles was pretty good and flat. It wasn't long after we suffered the first puncture (1 and only of the day). Chris, said he would catch us up and Gary, stopped to help. Andy, Adrian and PG cycled ahead with Hugh just behind.
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| Check the map |
The terrain changed and more and more climbing was confronted. The group started to fragment. We even came across very slippy wet chalk too, that meant walking was needed. Climbs today included Old Winchester Hill, which was very steep and no possibility of a run up, which meant everyone had to walk up some of it if not all. This was nothing to compare to what was to follow. Beacon hill wasn't too bad, just a bit slippy. GPS, said 3km to go and then we hit the 'almost impossible climb' (Strava Segment name). Chris's time was 5.53 up this hill 12th fastest this year for the segment. The record is 2:37!!! Must be an electric bike!
Once over the top of the 'almost impossible climb' we hit our digs for the night. The sustainability Center. PG arrived first (6:45pm) to be greeted by Garry with a much needed cuppa tea. Soon after Chris; Andy; Garry and then Adrian and Hugh.
As we were a bit behind schedule, the pub was ruled out and our beer supplies from the back of the car were quickly hacked into. Stewart Pepper, lives locally and came up to see us. It was nice to catch up with Stewart and hear what he has been up to since he moved to Droxford from Hertford.
Some where more tired than others...
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| Adrian a sleep on the sofa. Zzzzzzzz |
A great ride today. But bit of a reality check as this was due to be an easy day!
that see what tomorrow brings.
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