- Starts: Saturday 1 January 2022 10:00 am
- Ride leader/Event organiser: Martyn Roberts
- Category: Saturday rides
- Route grade: B - Hilly route
- A - Demanding route. Riders should already have experience of, and be prepared for distance, hills and, probably, both. E.g. Liss or Arundel via Houghton.
- B - Hilly route. Involves major hills. E.g. Sustainability Centre or Alresford.
- C - Moderate route. Not especially long or hilly (but will involve climbs and descents). E.g. Bishop's Waltham
- D - Flattish route. Might involve some hills, but not major ones. E.g. Chichester or West Wittering.
- E - Short, flat route. Easy route often designed for people new to group riding.
Our grading scheme
When grading routes we use the following scheme:
Start and stops
| Ride start/event venue | Rowlands Castle Rowlands Castle More details and map |
| Coffee stop | Beechwood café, QECP Queen Elizabeth Country Park (QECP) PO8 0QE More details and map |
All rides return to the start unless stated otherwise. Use the 'Map' link below to see a map of all locations
Contact us about this event
Send an email to ride leader/event organiser: Martyn Roberts.
Map
A great way to start the New Year is with a short dash around the South Downs. Starting from Rowlands we'll do a relativity short but hilly loop round to QECP where we'll celebrate the New Year with coffee and cake. We might go NE via South Harting, or NW through Clanfield and East Meon - we'll decide on the day.
This ride starts and finishes in Rowlands Castle.
Meet Bumblebee Café, RC: 09.45
Depart Rowlands: 10.00
Arrive QECP: 11.30
Depart QECP: 12.15
Arrive Rowlands: 13.00
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Bookings for this ride/event
Booking is required for this ride. Please let the ride leader know if you want to join. Please do not turn up for the ride unless you've had your booking confirmed or your name appears below.
There are 6 spaces available for the leader and riders. Of these, 2 are left.
Bookings recorded for this ride (Log in to see rider names):
- A PCTC member
- A PCTC member
- A PCTC member
To ask to join this ride, please use the 'Contact us about this ride' link above to send an email to the ride leader.
Ride leader notes
I've had a bike of one description or another, probably since the age of five. I've cycled lots of different routes all around Britain and some parts of France. For many years I cycled to work using the Hayling Ferry.
Since retiring, I try to get on the bike at least twice a week; usually Wednesdays and Saturdays. Most of the rides I lead are in the region of 20 to 40 miles, somewhere between 3-5hours.
I have three bikes I tend to use: most of the year I'll ride a Spa Elan, which is a general purpose touring bike; in the summer I tend to switch to a Cube Attain, which is more of a light weight sports bike and if there's any off-road I'll tend to use by Dawes mountain bike.
It's always difficult to assess cycling speed. I'm certainly no Bradley Wiggins and cycling to me is not about doing a route in the minimum possible time. However, neither am I someone who likes to amble along and watch the daisies grow! So I tend to class my rides as medium-fast. On a scale 1-10 (1 being very slow, 10 being very fast), I would say 6or7, a notch above medium (5).
I'm not a great fan of cycling in and around Leigh Park: the traffic is bad, there's lots of dangerous road junctions and the views are hardly breath taking. We have the beautiful South Downs on our doorstep, so I tend to make the most of it by starting rides in places such as Rowlands Castle, Denmead, or Westbourne.
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About Saturday rides
Saturday rides tend to be small ones. Typically we offer fewer options for rides than Wednesdays, but more flexibility for routes and destinations.
Most rides are morning only, riding out to a stop for elevenses and back again.
Some will be full day with stops for elevenses, lunch and, possibly, tea. If you want to join a full day ride but only to elevenses and need someone to help you with the route back, please let us know in advance of the ride in case someone else that knows the route wants to do the same.
This article describes what you should consider bringing with you on one of these rides.