Twelve riders at Bear Cross on a dull February morning. The strong, cold wind that had made Saturdays ride hard had eased but it was still nagging as we headed over to Wimborne and up Rowlands hill. Down to Deans Grove, Furzehill, Holt and across to Witchampton and up to Hogstock. The descent is fast and a car was trying to overtake but we talked him out of it! Tarrant Rushton, Tarrant Keynston , Tarrant Crawford and a rear wheel puncture at Langton Long. It was mended so quick it should be on YouTube. Through Blandford, up Bryanstone, then down to Winterborne Stickland. The lane to Winterborne Houghton goes nowhere else but a right turn offers a seldom used climb of Bulbarrow, steep at the bottom, muddy and narrow, it’s a bit of heartbreaker but mercilessly free of traffic. It eases up as it joins the road up from Hedge End, there is still a mile or so to the top but it is big ringable from here. Another puncture descending to Ansty, not so impressively sorted this time, then Hilton, Milton Abbas and Milborne St Andrew, the road here has been flooded since November and is full of potholes. As was the lane to Bere Regis, queues of 4x4s waited to pay £25 to park in a field for a point to point race, there was no empathy from either group. There were strong legs on the front, functional threshold power, anaerobic threshold, sweetspot? Call it what you want but it was time to concentrate. The wheel in front, potholes, flood water, gravel all had to be watched as heart rates rose through Lane End, Hyde and Worgret. Briefly on the main road through Sandford before a parting of the ways at Holton Heath, who came our way? The strongest & the fittest, Oh well! Organford and up to Lytchett, a puncture on Pardys took the sting out of the climb and another one a few miles further on suggested the flint was still in the tyre. 4hrs 04 52
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