Martin Malins writes…
I completed RRTY x 2 yesterday with an excellent ride thanks to El Supremo (and the weather gods). In the end DIY + Cals, DIY 300s, riding from a station that was open and other heroics were abandoned and I met Billy Weir and Chris Tracey at Pulboroughy Tescos for receipts; without further ado we were on the road; the sun doing it’s best to lift the temperature above -5oC but my lid seems to direct the freezing air onto phrenological points not conducive to thinking straight far less riding a bike. I got sort of warm by Guildford where we enjoyed the transport cafe outside. The next bit was mostly horrible and we made full use of the cycle path across 2 level crossings to avoid the traffic and general melee in the Blackwater Valley.
From here to 3 Mile Cross near Reading was very nice passing lots of woods and flat bits. The control was a petrol station suffice to say nothing appetising but grabbed whatever they had and a receipt and headed West away from people in cars. Billy suffered a fairy visitation soon after and also a catastrophic mudguard failure. Eventually we reached Sutton Scotney services by the A303 beloved of Hailsham 600 vets and they were selling off their appetising hot pastries for 40p (very nice if you eat meat)
We were now in Denmead territory and repeatedly crossed or rode along Pam’s local haunts through Alresford and the A32 until Liss, reached via El S’s choice lanes (gravel but no rain and also daylight; a slight bonus)
The bit to Midhurst was awful; give me the A272 anyday; massive potholes filthy lanes and another fairy visitation just before the instruction “Yes it is a road” on the route sheet where I discovered that my bargain inner tubes have too short valves to fit through the rim; in the spirit of self support the others left me there to walk back….
Eventually we reached a road that wasn’t covered in gravel hedge trimmings and mud (I believe it’s called the A272) and found the much nicer return route used by the Well Fed of 2007 to finally arrive at our frosty cars at a little under 12 hrs.
