Saturday looks a warm and dry day with fairly light winds and sun, a chance to get your arms and legs back out – be sure to put on the sunscreen!
This week all routes head in a westerly direction. The Pink and Blue routes get most of their climbing out of the way early on, firstly with the climb up to Shaftesbury via Motcombe, then followed by the fabled #102 greatest climb – Zig-Zag Hill! A tough start, but thankfully there is ample chance to rest afterwards on the descent and the relatively flat remainder of the ride. Pink and Blue both descend to Sixpenny Handley, where they part ways. The Pinks carry on to Cranborne, Rockbourne & Coombe Bisset while the Blues cut across to rejoin the Pinks at Broad Chalke. Both then return via the Chalke Valley and Semley.
The White route heads in a different direction, North towards Mere before cutting across to West Knoyle, Hindon and on to Dinton. Returning via Tisbury, Semley and Motcombe.
Pink Route: 95 km, 964 m elevation – est speed 28 kmh / 17.5 mph +
Blue Route: 70.5 km, 752 m elevation – est speed 23-26kph / 14.5-16 mph
White Route: 59 km, 631 m elevation – est speed 20 kmh / 12-13.5 mph
Meet at 9.00 am at Wheels car park, Station Road, Gillingham. Please download your route to your GPS device, and bring your ride essentials. All rides are no drop, but please select a group suited to your ability! There is nothing stopping a faster group doing a shorter route or a slower group doing a longer route if they wish!
For those who have issues downloading their routes, here’s the guide for a Garmin device and here’s the guide for a Wahoo device.
