Dorset Miles, A Character Reference!

2 hours in light rain + 2 hours in heavy rain = 1 tough ride! Character building they call it, there comes a time when dry feet are preferable to more character though and that time is now. "STOP MOANING, SUCK IT UP & GET ON WITH IT",says any coach worth his wages, so we do, all four of us. From Bear Cross heading west past Canford School, into Wimborne then the Cowgrove & Langton Long to Blandford, the town is busy but it is soon behind us. Climbing up by Bryanstone the weather worsens, a submerged pothole on the descent to Winterborne Stickland claims a rear wheel puncture and it is raining hard. Turn right to Hedge End then left to climb Bulbarrow Hill, it is three miles to the top but never steep and with the wind in the South-west we are protected a little. You can see the hills of Somerset from the summit of Bulbarrow but not today, we have climbed into a cloud and it’s not called number 9! Turning into the wind, rain stings the lips as we drop down to Ansty Cross. The road is fast above Bramblecoombe, a car driver, impatient to pass, sounds his horn continually. When he eventually comes by, despite the driving rain he winds his window down and shouts something, the words are lost in the wind but we suspect he was not enquiring after our welfare. On to Milborne St Andrew & Bere Regis, Lane End & Bloxworth, the now closed road that leads to the A35 still has white line markings but the defined edges are gone as nature gradually reclaims its land, like form & class, one is temporary, one is permanent. East & West Morden, Winterborne Zelston, the usual suspects of Lytchett & Pardys hill takes their toll as we retrace back to Wimborne, Parley Cross and home. The heavy rain has washed the greasy slick of the last few weeks from the roads allowing cornering with confidence, apart from that, there is little positive to say about a typical mid-December day.