A short ride for a short day

The 21st December is the shortest day, so it's probably appropriate to do a short ride. We'll cycle from Rowlands Castle over to Buriton, then west via East Meon to West Meon where we'll stop for coffee at Cuppacheeno's. We can take solace in the thought that the Sun will be starting its slow journey back to the Northern Hemisphere soon. We'll return over Old Winchester Hill and Clanfield, appropriately passing the Rising Sun.

This ride starts and finishes in Rowlands Castle.

Meet Bumblebee café, Rowlands: 09.45
Depart Rowlands: 10.00
Arrive W.Meon: 11.30
Depart W.Meon: 12.10
Arrive Rowlands: 13.40 (before the Sun sets on the shortest day)

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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.

This ride is currently full but we encourage you to ask to join the wait list. That will let the ride leader:

• Find out the demand for that type of ride
• Nominate you as a replacement if someone drops out
• Arrange to split the ride if there is sufficient demand

Bookings recorded for this ride (Log in to see rider names):

• A PCTC member
• A PCTC member
• A PCTC member
• A non-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'll often switch to a Cube Attain, which is more of a light weight sports bike, and if I'm going off-road I'll tend to use my 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. 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 Havant/Leigh Park when we have the beautiful South Downs on our doorstep, so I tend to start rides in places such as Rowlands Castle, Denmead, Westbourne or occaisionaly the Isle of Wight. Also, I'm not very good at leading large groups of cyclists, so I tend to keep numbers relatively low.

So if you like riding in small groups, somewhere in the South Downs or IoW, at a moderate speed, then you might like to try one of my rides.
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About Pop-up rides

We have certain days when we try to organise regular rides. However, individual ride leaders can create pop-up rides for any day and time.

The small size of some pop-up rides means we might be unable to split a ride if you get into difficulties. We will do all we can to escort you back to the start point, but please be prepared to navigate yourself home or to call for support from a partner, relative or friend.