My first afternoon ride luckily coincided with the Prudential Ride London in Surrey and it was so exciting seeing the pros whizz past on their way through Dorking and up Box Hill. I wound my way out of the grasp of London, through Sutton, over the Epsom downs...
...and stayed at the base of Leith hill in the lovely campsite run by Etherley Farm. After a chilly night I was on my way to Cranleigh and then followed the Down's Link up to Guildford. Gorgeous views from high over Guildford and then a pretty damp ride on to New Alresford where I stayed at the lovely Bell Inn.
The next morning I enjoyed my stop off in Winchester...
and once I'd made it to the correct ferry terminal in Southampton, made the trip over to Hayes. Big headwinds across the New Forest, but I enjoyed a loo stop in pretty Beaulieu,
a drink in Brokenhurst and the endurance test of the ride against the wind (and sand) along the sea front from Christchurch, through Bournemouth and Poole and onto the Ferry at Sandbanks. I stayed in Studland for the night and was so glad to be beside the sea despite the ongoing drizzle.
The next day, things started to get really good.
Big climbs, lovely views, fast descents and glorious sunshine.
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| From Hardy's monument |
Little roads all the way around Dorchester and into Charmouth where I camped for the night.
An early rise meant that I got the best of Lyme Regis before the tourists...
...had conquered the rolling hills of East Devon and was back at my brother's by mid day for a cup of tea. Hurrah.
An estimation of my route (created on Strava after the ride) is here and here.
Hi Emily, I've really enjoyed reading your blog of your adventure through Europe. I hope that you have many more that are just as exciting and inspiring. I envy you for being able to take some much time off to go touring as my tours are limited to a week at a time.
ReplyDeleteI think you meant you took the ferry from Southampton to Hythe rather than Hays. I use to live in Southampton and in the evening after work it was nice to be able to take the long way home with a detour through the New Forest on my bike. The wind at time could make it hard work as you found out.