Club Ride to West Stoke

Club Ride to West Stoke

Andy Henderson, supported by Martine Hebblethwaite and her husband Phil led a well supported ride to West Stoke in July.

As there were twelve riders in all, we split into two groups to reduce the size of our footprint on the road and limit any possible obstruction to motorists, one led  by Andy and the other by Martine.

Andy's planned route had to take into account road closures whether pre-planned or emergency excavations so instead of taking the direct route up Southleigh Road we crossed the railway at New Lane level crossing and then crossed again by the shared footbridge in Eastern Road to emerge in Fourth Avenue.

Club Ride to West StokeCarefully crossing Southleigh Road to get on to the shared footpath we then crossed the busy Horndean Road before turning on to Hollybank Lane and into Long Copse Lane through the woods  providing a pleasant bypass to Westbourne traffic, and on to Aldsworth. After a short section on Common Road, climbing a short rise to Aldsworth Manor the route turned North  passing fields of sweetcorn waving in the breeze, towards Racton where were delighted to see Alpacas grazing in the fields at Adsdean. At Funtingdon the route turned quickly off the B2178 on to a country road with passing places, ignoring the pig and poultry farms on the way and going through the shady trees at Woodend with the parking place for walkers and ramblers for Kingley Vale.

Andy called out advice to be in a low gear or the rise to the major road and we turned left into West Stoke.

Our planned coffee stop gave us more time to chat with old friends and some newcomers who were not yet members of the CTC. There is a policy of three trial runs with the club to allow new people to ride without committing to joining but for insurance purposes, I think, newcomers have to complete a simple form of contact details etc.

So, a chance to get to know new people and take photos  over a tea or coffee before taking a different route  for the return journey.

After the break, Andy led us on to Lavant where we joined the Centurion Way  formed from the disused railway line, down into the outskirts of Chichester where we again crossed the real railway over another iron bridge to ride past the old Roman Palace at Fishbourne and turn North to pick up Clay Lane which circuits Fishbourne village and meanders through countryside roughly parallel to the A27, but much more pleasant, passing various farms and Woodmancote , then on to Westbourne after which we dropped down under the A27 (again) to ride quiet rural roads to the underpass at Warblington and Havant.

For those who count numbers, the ride registered twenty-five miles on my bike computer at an average riding speed of eleven miles per hour.

Twenty-five miles is nothing to a car driver and not huge by regular cyclists' standards, but to a newcomer it may represent quite an achievement, so, Well Done.

By
Mike Skiffins
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