41 miles on the Purbeck hills

OK - so 41 miles doesn't sound all that long compared with previous rides. But what matters is more about how high it was. For the first time in 2 years, I ventured across the chain ferry to Studland and headed for the Purbeck hills. The driving factor in this is that I now have the route for next week’s 90 mile ride in the Chilterns and it has a LOT of hill. So I decided that I had better at least try some out before then.

On top of that, I did set out to go over this same route last year and turned back. So I needed to overcome the niggles I had about it and prove to myself that I could still make it. So 9:45 found me having conquered the Studland hill and riding along the front at Swanage. With certain amout of trepidation, I headed inland on the Wareham road and arrived all too soon at Langton Matravers.

So far so good. But this is where the hard work starts. There were signs for the route of the Wiggle sportive which happens tomorrow – reminded me that I have signed up for the IOW one in July. So low gear, keep the pedals turning and keep going. It helped that I saw someone some way in front of me – a target is always a challenge. And then I was at the top. And I caught the chap in front as well.

I don’t like the road from Corfe Castle back to Studland – there is a lot of traffic on it. So at Kingston, I made the decision to turn round and go back the same way. That gave me another chance to conquer the Studland hill the other way round.

A short stop in Swanage where it turned out there was Kayak fishing competition (why would anyone want to fish for Kayaks?) and then back over the hill to the chain ferry and back home.

So it was shorter than the previous ride, but exactly the length I wanted. Confidence is restored and I can look forward to next weekend knowing that I have done hills that are about as bad as the ones in store.

This has to be a regular route now. The Jura mountains don’t stop at 500 feet. So please sponsor me!.