Weekly Round-up: 08 Dec 2024

All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…

Gravel ‘n’ Grog Tuesday

We are keeping the gravel n grog rides going, for now at least and another mild evening drew out a good group riders into the darkness this week. As usual some libations were taken at the Vibrant tap and some completed their rides home whilst the really lucky few got a barely deserved lift home.

Saturday Club Ride

Club Ride 7th December
With Storm Darragh forecasting high winds, the usual plan for a peloton-based road ride was changed to an off-road ride on the forest trails.
Only five brave foolish riders made the start. Four of them having arrived at the start commented on how easy it was riding over with the wind at their back. This phenomenon was soon reversed as we made or way west along the Old Railway towards Wootton Bridge. There we got into the shelter provided by the woods and it was a lot easier. After riding through a couple of sections that were exposed to the elements, we decided to change the route and not ride the Hampton Ridge section of the route as that’s the highest part of the forest and was likely to be too windy. So, a decision was taken to cut short and head via Red Shoot to the coffee stop at The Potting Shed. At this point Barry punctured his rear tyre and after one unsuccessful attempt at re-inflation decided to limp home rather than attempt more repairs with freezing cold hands.

Over coffee, the remaining four decided that more route re-planning was in order and opted to take the shortcut home as they all live in the southwest of the area. Here they came across a second fallen tree, this one blocking the road at North Ripley. A spot of limbo riding under the tree was performed and all made it home OK. So, who’s in the barrel this week? Certainly none of the brave souls ventured out on Saturday morning. We did pass a gentleman near Shobley who was out with an inside-out umbrella as he walked across the moor. Although not one of the riders he definitely meets the threshold required! Hopefully back to a “normal” ride next week.
– Barry

Sunday Club Ride

4 people braved the weather for a ride today, all started out well even spotting Jane Hardy out walking, but the ride did not end without problems. I was informed that I was leaking sealant not that far into the ride by Andrew Donaldson, thankfully it sealed itself and with a bit of extra air I was good to go. Unfortunately, Andrew made the cardinal sin of talking about how good tubeless tyres are and how this has made him enjoy gravel riding. Unfortunately a couple of miles later after hitting a hole Andrew ‘burped’ his back tyre and even with 2 CO2 canisters and an electric pump we could not get it to seal. Thankfully John Burridge came to the rescue and offered to cycle home and come and collect Andrew to take Gina back to Brock. The hero award today definitely goes to John.

That was not all the drama, the route set by Phil Harris (NFCC) had more u-turns and random circles that we got a bit dizzy, not to mention routing us through the famous river that Phil enjoyed so much last year. Me and Stuart Woodward braved the water and cycled through to show the mountain bike rides where were stopped and too scared to go through how it was done. We then made the decision not to try a cafe stop with wet feet but to head home. Despite all this it was an enjoyable ride, we even had a bit of sun!!
– Richard B.

Wessex CX 24-25 Rd.10: Southampton

Another wet week meant another muddy cyclocross round for the Wessex League. Luckily this week it was a little closer to home on a familiar course at Southampton Sports Centre Find out how Team NFCC got on by CLICKING HERE

Get Involved:

If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk.

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