Hatch Warren Beggarwood Cycling Club
It’s been another busy summer for the club. We’ve continued our regular schedule of rides on a Tuesday evening and every weekend. We currently have over 140 paid up members and we continue to welcome new and guest riders to see what the club is all about. We’ve also been out and about in the community, having stands at St Mark’s School Summer Fayre and at the Communty Fun Day. We also had a significant number of members riding The Big Wheel. Our gazebo was a hive of activity….which had nothing to do with the mounds of cake on offer, of course! There’ll be write ups in future editions of the Rabbiter. We also have a great bunch of members who, when they fancy a ride or doing something in addition to club-organised events get others from the HWBCC cycling family to join them. This month, Tracy and Richard write about two such events.
The HWBCC away day to the Surrey Hills took place on Friday 30 June, it was first posted as a training ride and introduction to the Surrey Hills for those partaking in the London 46 and 100 this year in July. This started out as an invite from Lorraine Munt, which was then posted on Facebook to see if she could find some company. It then turned into a club away day when 16 people said they wanted to join in, of which 14 were club members. With the assistance of Paul Allen a route including Box Hill, Ranmore Hill and Whitedowns Hill were included. He kindly offered up his residence as a meeting and parking point in Guildford, explaining how much he loved the club atmosphere and that’s why he had renewed his membership this year. Simon Coster managed to find the local cafe prior to starting, allegedly carb building for the hills!
A fantastic day was had by all, with in excess of 3000 feet of climbing and around 45 miles in length completed. John Embleton was, as ever, amazing, encouraging the riders, and riding back down hills, to encourage those still climbing upwards. He and Simon also assisted when Paul suffered, thankfully, the only puncture of the day. The group remained together and worked well, helping each other throughout the day, encouraging each other and showing the true HWBCC spirit. There was only one slight accident when Claire Allen had an almost stationary fall whilst negotiating a barrier, however, thankfully, she only sustained a flesh wound, and she smiled through the rest of the ride. A well deserved stop was had at Box Hill where everybody partook of refreshments, ready for the return ride up Bagden Hill, a mere 20% gradient. Then the final leg back to Paul Allen’s residence, before everyone’s final journey back home via 4 wheels rather than 2.
And Richard very kindly organised a trip away to the Dorset Hills.
And so the seven club members set off for Dorset, anxious and full of trepidation of what three days of cycling would have in store for them. We were camping, the weather looked good but questions remained. Would we survive each other’s company? Would the catering stand the test? And most importantly, would our legs manage the climbs?
After a hearty lunch, Friday afternoon’s 40 mile ride took us around a breezy Poole bay, across the Sandbanks chain Ferry, and on to the stunning Isle of Purbeck. At Swanage we enjoyed our first cake stop of the weekend, and after refuelling, the route headed up hill to Worth Matravers, and then followed a jaw dropping downhill section to the beautiful Corfe Castle. Well done Jane for braving it down a very steep and tricky descent. And then came the last tough test of the day, the climb over Alpe Dorset. The evening saw us enjoy some great banter and chat over a curry back at base, before we headed into town for live music and much needed fluid!?! There was even a bit of tambourine playing by Victor and I think I caught Dolly tapping her foot, but most of the other riders were conserving their energy for the next day’s ride.
Saturday’s 70mile ride took us through some beautiful Dorset countryside, made famous by Thomas Hardy. Following a brisk ride to Dorchester, we were confronted by the epic and very tough 2 mile 16% gradient up to Hardy’s Monument – Dorset’s Mont Ventoux. A lunch on Weymouth seafront was much needed ahead of our next challenge, the climb over the Sutton Poyntz before coffee and Dorset apple cake at Rubys Tea Rooms in Wool. It was at this stop that club cake monster, Dave, left some of his cake! Yes, he left his cake!!! On our return Wareham a few riders tested themselves along the causeway Strava segment! They failed….another hearty carb loaded meal put everyone in great spirits ahead of Sunday’s ride.
With over 100miles already in our legs, we set off for a gentle leg loosener; but it turned out to be anything but. An early visit to Monkey World was followed by metres and metres of tough climbing, at times exceeding 20%, to the charming Lulworth Cove. More cake & coffee at sea level was followed by the testing climb out of Lulworth and then the even tougher climb over the tank ranges to the cycling Mecca of Whiteways. And following another ridiculously quick decent we arrived backed in Wareham. And that was it, our weekend Dorset cycling adventure was nearing an end. All we had to do was compare our rides and times on Strava, devour the remnants of the camping larder before patting each other on the back. Our legs ached with so much tough climbing. The scenery at times was truly amazing. For most riders 160miles in three days was quite an achievement, for some it was the most mileage and metres they’d ever done. So our seven intrepid Dorset explorers returned to Basingstoke, sun tanned and with some great stories to tell about our cycling adventures. And of course, we had lots of laughs and new friendships were formed. Let’s do it again sometime someone said….I’m not sure my legs would agree!?!
We’ve some great events coming up for members, their friends and families; a film and pizza night on Saturday 2nd September, we celebrate our second birthday with a ride and cream tea on Sunday 10th September, and looking forward to our club Christmas Party in December with double the number of members joining in the celebrations.
Full details of our new ride calendar can be found on our website or in the events area of our Facebook page. Come ride with us!
