Winchester, via West Meon & Cheriton

Meeting point is Rowlands Castle green @9.15. We leave there and head to West Meon (Cuppacheeno’s) for coffee (24km), via Buriton and East Meon.

Suitably refreshed the main part of the ride goes via Cheriton, Tichborne and Ovington quite a pleasant section before reaching Winchester. After a short ride through the town we’ll stop for lunch at the Handlebar Cafe (28km) adjacent to St Catherine’s Hill.

The return section is an undulating route via Twyford to Bishops Waltham (18km) where we’ll stop for a cup of tea after all the up’s and down’s. Finishing off, we’ll go via Swanmore and Soberton Heath before reaching Denmead where I’m sure we’ll head our different ways home or return to Rowlands Castle as appropriate.

The route is approx 100km, plus your journey to Rowlands Castle. I’ve graded this ride as B as it is quite hilly on route, extremely undulating after leaving Winchester. The plan is to set a moderate pace, adjusting to riders requirements.

I’m restricting the ride to a maximum of eight, to keep things manageable. This is my first ride as a leader, so Bob Prynn has kindly offered to take nominal responsibility for the ride! Thanks Bob.

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 PCTC member
• 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

Riding a lightweight road bike (during better months) the faster day rides I lead are typically 100-130km (60-80m) and occasionally 160km (100m).

Routes are at best undulating, usually “lumpy” (hilly), sometimes with severe hills!

- Average GOOD speed on “Faster” rides: 23kph (14mph)
- Average TYPICAL speed on “Faster” rides: 21kph (13mph)

Morning only rides are scaled back versions of day rides, usually at the same pace.

I also lead moderate rides as well, where the terrain difficulty is reduced (not so lumpy!) and the speed is adjusted to those attending the ride.

When I lead Waterlooville Community Cycle Club (WCCC) rides, which are generally easy relaxed rides, the pace is that of the slowest attending rider in the group.

About Wednesday rides

Wednesday rides usually start from Havant with stops for elevenses, lunch and sometimes tea. If you're unable to keep up or have a mechanical problem, someone will be available to help you - although we obviously cannot guarantee to solve all problems.

Wednesday rides usually provide a range of options to riders as we'll try to arrange multiple rides with different paces, distance and degree of hilliness.

On Wednesdays it is likely that there will be several riders coming back to the Havant area after an elevenses stop - although they might not include a PCTC ride leader. If that is what you'd like to do, please consult the ride organiser before the day of the ride to ensure someone knows and is able to bring you back.

This article describes what you should consider bringing with you on one of these rides.