As has become tradition these last few
years, Good Friday will be the annual Shaftsbury Century ride. Two reasons for
the Friday ride, one it gives riders doing the Easter Sunday two up an extra recovery
day and secondly where we stop for lunch in Shaftsbury the road is a lot
quieter on Good Friday so our bikes don’t cause so many problems when left
outside the café.
I’ve made a couple of change to the route
this year, firstly taking out the road through Hillstreet which is very rough
at the moment and secondly taking out the main road stretch between Downton and
Odsctock.
So the plan is:
Meet at the usual start point in the main
car park, Brookley Road, Brockenhurst at 0820 for an 0830 depart. Note the earlier
start. Ride out via Balmer Lawn, Hatchet Pond, Beaulieu, North Road, Ipley
Cross, Colbury and then to Ashurst Station Car Park. There will be a second
depart from the station car park at 0930 for anybody wishing to join there.
Then through Woodlands, Bartley, Newbridge,
Furzey and then to the Lamb at Nomansland at approx. 1000.
Then up Pipers Wait, Roger Penney Way and
Fordingbridge. If required, we will stop for coffee in Fordingbridge but if not
delay the stop to the halfway point at 80K at the community shop in Broad
Chalke that has been popular before.
From Fordingbridge we will head north
towards Brookheath, then Rockbourne and towards Coombe Bissett and pick up the
valley road we normally use.
Then its head west along the valley road,
possibly stopping at Broad Chalke and onwards to Shaftsbury for lunch at the café.
Remembers to bring a small lock for leaving the bike at the café. The café will
refill water bottles and is very bike friendly.
Then after lunch there’s 65K to go and we’ll
return via Zig Zag Hill, Tollard Royal and Sixpenny Handley where we’ll turn
off the main road. Cross country to Alderholt and last chance to top up
supplies at the supermarket there. From there back to Brock via familiar roads
through Harbridge, Red Shoot, Bolderwood.
That should make a round hundred miles /
160K.
Route for Garmin’s at: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/11869064
The ride will be slightly slower than usual
club rides due to the extra distance. Please check weather forecast and be prepared
for change in conditions, bring extra food, money for café stops and lock for the
stop in Shaftsbury.
Barry
