Hatch Warren Beggarwood Cycling Club
“Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Bournemouth, a beautiful day we had lunch on the way”……the opening part of the chorus to the well known Fiddler’s Dram song, Daytrip to Bangor, could have been written just for us! Alright, a bit of poetic licence with the destination, but the sentiments are spot on – we had a great time, and some of the nicest weather so far this year.
Who would have known that a casual conversation between a couple of members would have turned into an amazing 82 mile adventure for twelve HWBCC members. Well we should have….the fusion of Ed’s ideas and experience with Dave’s finely tuned organisation and “Admin” skills was always likely to deliver something special – a cycling “Tour de Force” ending with a sea side fish and chip supper.
So it was that, following weeks of intense preparation (thank goodness for modern technology and social media), we set off for the coast, for what would be the longest ride that most of us had undertaken. Actually, for a few of our number this was their second trip to the coast, having had an extremely early start to drop off vans and cars for the return journey…now that only 2 bikes are allowed on each train, logistics had become critical.
Boyed by the prospect of lunch at 42 miles, we made good early progress through Overton, Whitchurch, Stockbridge and Romsey, following and criss-crossing the River Test for some truly wonderful scenery, arriving at The Honest Kitchen in Marchwood at the allotted time. Quite a crowd to descend on a small café all at once, but the wait was helped by being able to sit in the sun, and the quality of the fish finger sandwiches and coffee.
It’s always difficult to get going again after a stop (particularly a long one like this), but knowing that we were over half way helped, as did the promise of cake….for those of you who know HWBCC, this will come as no surprise, and the conversation quickly turned to where we would stop for this next refuelling. Great planning by Ed had given us a range of options….options for cake, what more could we ask for?
The eastern edges of the New Forest including Beaulieu and its lovely river, provided the post lunch back drop to get our legs spinning again, as we headed onwards towards Lymington and the start of our run along the coast. In the end, Highcliffe and its Cliffhanger Café provided a welcome break for coffee and cake, and some tremendous views of the Isle of Wight and the Needles – what a great spot!
Our adventure was nearing its end, with the sun going down, as we wound our way through Christchurch and approached Southbourne, our final destination. With bikes loaded and clothes changed, tired but very happy we made our way to Ashley’s Fish & Chips for the long awaited rendez vous with our motivation – and boy was it good!
Our new membership year clicked over last month and as always we welcome new members, so if you are interested in joining, please go to the membership section on the British Cycling website. Simply type “British Cycling Hatch Warren” into Google. If you are not ready to commit just yet, why not come along for a trial ride. For more information on our scheduled rides, please see our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/HWBcc/. We’re a very sociable and friendly club – we just want to see people out on their bikes!
Come ride with us!
