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around home, bikes, GPS, history, MTB, UK

Hurst Castle

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After a week of gorgeous sunsets & sunrises on mild rides to & from work, winter finally decided to make a little bit of an appearance on Saturday with a few degrees of Jack still lurking when I set out for a little bit of ride west to check out Hurst Castle. A few miles down the road Beaulieu was looking pretty nice in the crispness.

I continued on back roads enjoying the peace & quiet, skirting around Lymington & many yachts propped up for the winter around the marina before riding the paths through the Lymington-Key Haven Nature Reserve.  It’s all very marshy and before rocksalt & transport was cheaper, it was a very profitable area for making salt. Now it’s quite the habitat for many species of birds & that curious breed – birdwatchers. I did my best not to hit any of them into the marsh as they stood on the path peering skyward.  After 25 km my goal was tantalisingly close across the water, but there were still a few miles of following the shore around through Key Haven & then along the two mile-long spit which was very shingly to the castle.

Hurst Castle is lying low next to the lighthouse

It was a bit of a slog along the shingle spit, but still a lot faster than walking

The Isle of Wight is only three-quarters of a mile across what is the end of the Solent

This Hurst Castle is rather underwhelming compared to the extravagance of the last Hearst Castle I went to.  The centre part of the castle dates back to Tudor times when Henry VIII built a string of castles stretching around the south-east of England to defend against invasion as he managed to antagonise the Catholic nations. They are all similarly designed – low-slung & circular. Being in such a good position to defend the Solent, the Victorians extended the castle a long way along the shore in both directions. It’s a little odd walking in & seeing just how long & narrow the castle is – definitely not your usual square keep. They put in numerous 38 ton guns, but a shot has never been fired in anger from the castle – that includes during its defensive duties through the two world wars.

At the end of the long spit on a reasonably chilly day, there weren’t a lot of other people around as I clattered around in my bike shoes.  There were plenty of nooks & crannies to explore around the Tudor central section.  I wasn’t exactly overdressed for the weather, so didn’t spend too much time reading the exhibits.  Instead I opted for eating my lunch watching the tide creep in – if I had have brought lashings of ginger beer I could have easily imagined I was about to discover a smuggler’s long forgotten treasure buried on Kirrin Island.

I avoided the circuitous route through the nature reserve on the return journey, but detoured back to Buckler’s Hard after Lymington. I took a few little walking paths trying to find an obelisk, the top of which I spied from some distance.  I tracked it down along Monument Lane, funnily enough, read the long tributes to a past MP & continued down the walking paths.  It was a little weird crossing a private airfield, but I was pleased to discover that the USAF used it for a while around D-Day to fly Thunderbolts on bomber-escort missions.  Find curious little bits of history like that is one of the great things about being following one’s nose in a country such as this.

Back through Beaulieu the sun was setting & as I climbed up to Hill Top I was surprised to pass a roadie struggling up the hill.  After forty miles, I was hardly fresh – this guy caught up to me on the flat, turns out he works in our head office & had ninety miles under his belt to explain my passing him.

Sunday was supposed to be a much shorter ride with Dan & Chris off-road in the Forest.  We looped around a bit & Chris showed us giant sequoias.  For the New Forest, these are big trees.  But after Yosemite & the NorCal coast last year, I was pleased just to be mildly interested.  Somehow we ended up way out west in a quaint village, Burley, with a good pub-stop to refuel on some big potato wedges.  Just as well the Forest is flat – the ride turned out longer than the previous day’s at 45 miles/72 km.  Beautiful day it was too, this place must be a zoo in the summer – there were so many people out on another frigid day.

around home, bikes, GPS, history, MTB, national park, UK, vehicles

Pedal & Steam Power

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Well thrilled at the prospect of a weekend at home & not having to drive hundreds of miles, I planned absolutely not-much. Of course, a couple of rides figured in that not-much – it having been a month since my last adventures off road & that shoulder op getting closer. Saturday’s was not at all ambitious – I headed to the diametrically opposite side of the Forest & followed some of the marked cycle trails (wide double track & some road, with plenty of walkers out). There were scruffy looking ponies in abundance as usual.

Just to prove that not all of the New Forest is beautiful, I think I stumbled on its secret ugly corner. It was bleak – low scrub, a dim day, sand, mud; I wonder why I didn’t see many people out there. But I was out on my bike pushing the cranks around & it was good. With twenty clicks under the wheels, it was a pleasant hour & a bit out stretching the legs.

The local MTB club (New Force) had a fortnightly ride on Sunday, northeast of Winchester. So I dragged myself out of bed & went & joined dozens of others. We split into three groups & ours proceeded on a long anticlockwise circuit along bridleways through rolling farmland. While it was dry overhead, there was plenty of moisture in the ground to deal with – the mud was draining & a good technical challenge, especially on any long descents. In fact a bit of road was sometimes welcome for the respite it provided. I’m not sold on these club rides, I thought mountain-bikers were generally friendly. Perhaps the English are just over people from all over the world – four hours & I hardly got a word out of anyone, I miss riding in North America. That’s beside the time when our group got split in two – who leads rides & doesn’t wait at big intersections?

Did see this good looking flag randomly down some country lane. Actually, I’d much prefer it were a silver fern on black

The day was salvaged by a big plate of cheesy chips (not quite poutine, but good enough), Somerset cider & then stumbling across a steam train near where I’d parked my car. I wandered up & down the platform a bit checking out the hissing engine & beautiful old carriages with the fascination one would expect of a history & engineering fiend. It occurred to me that I had no real reason to get home, so I paid my pounds & was issued with a quaint stiff cardboard ticket for the last return journey of the day. I had no idea where I was going, but that was just part of the fun.

We headed east under the setting sun across more green pastoral land, with plenty of cuttings to climb up a couple of hundred metres. The Mid Hampshire Railway, also known as the Watercress Line due to its predominant market-gardening commodity in the nineteenth century, has been restored since the ’70s & now runs the ten miles between Alresford (where I embarked) & Alton (which I’d never heard of) on many days of the year. They have a surprisingly large fleet of steam & some diesel engines & all sorts of old rolling stock stashed on various sidings along the line. With all the staff in period dress & the engine chugging in to the fast approaching evening, billowing smoke swirling down to cover the carriage windows it was all good fun – not to mention the first time I’ve been pulled by a proper steam engine in I-don’t-know-how-long.

It was easy to see all the signal control wires running alongside the rails

A pleasant end to the day – even if I was a little tired from the mud-riding & got told off by the guard for almost falling asleep on his train.

bikes, Canada, family, friends, MTB, national park, roadtrip, snow, travel, USA

A little on the late side

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So, I never quite made the time to compose a Christmas letter. This will have to do as some sort of missive for me to sum up the year & wish you all happy holidays. 2011 was separated into distinct thirds for me. The first of those was the end of my year living & working in the Canadian Rockies. That spur of the moment decision to go & bike & ski in the mountains for twelve months still rates as one of the best of my life – I had a great time with fantastic friends; the snow was good too & my skiing could do nothing but improve with all those consecutive weekends on the hill.

The middle of the year – the end of a long winter & the first of summer – saw the completion of a long held dream. That was, a roadtrip around the West (USA) with a bike in the trunk/boot visiting many of the famous riding spots & national parks. My aunt, Valerie, joined me from Australia & we managed 22000 km (almost 14000 miles), 13 states & 2 provinces and an awful lot of quality mountain-biking (for me). Scenically, the highlights were Bryce Canyon & Crater Lake National Parks. As always when I visit the States, spending time with old friends & making new ones stays on top of the many memories.

Naturally, it was tough to leave close friends & the beauty of the Bow Valley; the last part of the year sees me finally starting to get around to what I left home for two and a half years ago. That is, to get a job & settle in the UK for a while and take full advantage of the proximity to Europe. I’m back process engineering for the first time in four years at a small rubber factory on the edge of the New Forest (not far from Southampton at the south of England). Mum’s been over here for the last three months at university, so it’s been great to see her every so often. The hospitality of extended family (some of whom I’m still only meeting now) helps to lessen the distance from home – as does Skype & 1p/min phone calls.

That’s this year – 2012 will not be nearly as well planned out or active for that matter. I’m down to have surgery sometime on my shoulder (to tighten it all up – two dislocations this year), so that will curtail the biking & skiing a lot. That will just mean I have more free time to explore this part of the world. I’ve finally got an invite to a wedding (first since leaving), so I’ll be back in NZ for a couple of weeks near the start of September for what will be a flurry of visiting much-missed family & friends.

Best wishes for the new year.

around home, bikes, history, MTB, UK

South Downs Way & Winchester

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I parked just outside of Winchester this morning to get on the South Downs Way for a portion of it just to get out & enjoy the thinly clouded day. The route runs east from Winchester a hundred miles to Eastbourne on bridleways & some road – I imagine it’s very popular in the summer, but I only saw a couple of walkers & one other rider while I was out.

The first couple of miles were climbing on narrow roads, before getting to the east end of an MOD firing range & heading off the seal & starting to cross the fields on the top of the down. With all the hedgerows & green fields it was pleasantly English & the views improved as I climbed a little (there wasn’t really much climbing in the part I did). I was pleased to not get very muddy at all, I was expected the chalk soil would have different ideas – but it was mostly just damp & not wet, sloppy mud.

Back towards Winchester

It’s a little odd riding these sorts of trails in England – you never feel very far away from anywhere. That’s sort of nice when you’re by yourself. It was also very strange riding through some farmer’s fields & then suddenly being turfed in to the middle of a farm’s working buildings. There were dozens of pheasants scrambling out of the hedges & undergrowth, which was amusing.

I had a nice long descent down to the village of Exton, pity a lot of it had been rerouted a while ago (the signs said temporary, but they looked old) on to the road. Some nice big manor houses & deprecatingly named ‘cottages’ around here to look at while I snacked before turning around & heading back up the hill. Apart from the first part of the return, the riding was a lot easier than I expected – the GPS confirms I was very gradually climbing for a lot of the way out.

The River Meon flowing through backyards in Exton

I probably would have fitted, if my Sat Nav had have sent me down here

All in all a pleasant two & half hours & forty kilometres spent; nothing exciting as far as singletrack goes, but I imagine this will be a great route to bikepack during the summer. I must remember & come back & see if I can ride to Eastbourne.

Since I had parked at the Park & Ride lot, I could hardly not take the bus in to Winchester to see this historic town.  A cathedral town, it was once the capital of England & the seat of King Alfred the Great.  Lots of nice rambling streets & buildings doing their best to stay upright, it was pleasant strolling around.

Winchester Cathedral – Jane Austen is buried here

This 18ft diameter, 1 ton piece was originally a (round) table & depicts Arthur & his twenty-two knights