On the 6th July a group of ten Wheelers met in the New Forest for a day of gravel riding on a mix of gravel and mountain bikes. The trip was brilliantly organised by Jim who’s kindly provided this super account of our day….
The omens looked grim. “Double blobs too much for me” – but a few hardy souls braved the conditions and descended on the hamlet of Fritham nestled in the New Forest for CDW’s first Gravel bike adventure away from home.
The headwind picked up as we rode the first few miles of parcour but turning left we were greeted by the sun, a downhill section and that wonderful gritty noise as your tyres bite into pristine gravel.
Hang on and let gravity steady the ship – you could spot the experienced mountain bikers in our group. By now we had all got used to the different surface so it was a surprise to find the trail end and tarmac point to a nasty little hill. Yes, that’s right, the New Forest has many such blighters.
I won’t bore you with the rest of the journey in detail but suffice to say JC had a nasty puncture on his tubeless steed where Brian and the gang learnt on the job how to mend it using a plug – which worked! We all went through the water at the ford in Brockenhurst before stopping for coffee (many choices here) then, back into the forest and Lyndhurst and Woods Cycle cafe for lunch and cycle porn.
After lunch and the hilly bit (after another ford, Sheni and Brian the bravest) we found ourselves in Hide where baby donkeys and families proved a nice alternative distraction to potholes. There’s only so much cuteness I can take so Brian and I left the photographers in the group to rip up the last section rising to a plateau overlooking a beautiful valley where WW2 bombers practiced their targeting once a long time before… and then… back to Fritham, the Royal Oak and beers!
