Heavy Metal Truants Virtual Charity Bike Ride - Day 2 31-5-22

 Oh Deer! A Day of Mixed Weather

I was fortunate to have little sister Sue cycling with me again today.

We had an errand to do in Lyndhurst so cycled up to Standing Hat to go to Lyndhurst via the trails. "Hat" apparently means 'a raised area with trees'.

Errand completed, we headed to Emery Down. 

A few drops of rain appeared, but we continued, heading towards Millyford Bridge. The drops became a downpour so we sheltered under a tree and put on our waterproof jackets. Although there wasn't the dark skies of yesterday, the rain continued, so we found a sheltered log to sit on by a stream and had our lunch.

The sun came out so off came our waterproof jackets and we headed onto the trails from Millyford Bridge. The trees looked stunning.

 The rain came down again and on went the waterproof jackets!

We continued on our route, cycling up the hill and coming out at Canadian War memorial. Find out the history of why the Canadians are remembered here.

With the rain showers, it would have been very tempting to head for home at this point, but if teenagers can face cancer treatment and children face many challenges, then I can put up with some rain showers!

We headed round the back of Bolderwood towards Burley, a route I hadn't cycled for a while and were rewards by several sightings of deer herds. With full zoom on my phone, this was the best picture I could get.

From the outskirts of Burley, we headed along the Lyndhurst Road, then back through the trails to join the road to Bolderwood and luckily saw more deer.

We stopped for a drink and a snack at the Knightwood Oak, thought to be one of the New Forest's oldest trees. Find out more here.

We then headed for home, via the trails to get maximum distance in today. With a small extra loop at the end, we clocked up 30.21 miles.

Today's deer count - lots!

Only 114.12 miles to go! Tomorrow will be a rest day with just a couple of local journeys to/from Pilates etc.

Thank you for reading this and supporting me. I am blown away that my sponsorship hip total has gone up to £390

Julie x

P.S. My sponsorship page can be seen at https://sportsgiving.co.uk/sponsorship/entry/622518

Heavy Metal Truants Virtual Charity Bike Ride - Day 1 30-5-22

Today I started my second year of doing the Heavy Metal Truants Ten virtual charity bike ride, but this year I am aiming to complete the 175 miles in the allotted 12 days.

My sister Sue is staying with me at present and so she is accompanying me for a couple of days. Thank you Sue.

We looked at 4 different weather forecasts before we left and although all the forecasts were different, it did look like we were going to get wet at some point.

From leaving home, we had only cycled for 3 minutes when we had to stop to admire (from a distance) 3 foals with their Mum's and Aunties.

We headed out of Brockenhurst towards Sway. We saw more foals so decided to keep a total.

We cycled through Boldre, Pilley, Norley Wood, East End and then took a detour down Tanners Lane to head to the beach for a quick break for a hot drink and a piece of flapjack.

We saw a Oystercatcher chasing a crow off from their nest area.

We then cycled through Sowley, St Leonards, Buckler Hard, East Boldre to Hatchet Pond.

We stopped at Hatchet Moor to have our lunch and was accompanied by a Black Headed Gull

We enjoyed some sunshine whilst looking over the pond.

But in the distance we could see dark clouds and rain. We decided to cycle back via the tracks hoping they would give us some shelter. We cycled through Roundhill campsite and across the road into the woods.

As we headed back to Brockenhurst, we decided to add some mileage by going via the Recycling Shed in Brockenhurst to empty the aluminium bin that I monitor.

We came back via Culverley and North Weirs, but saw that we were just short of 30 miles, so headed up to Puttles Bridge, before turning back for home.

Amazingly, we dodged the rain and stayed dry!

During the ride we saw/heard Blackbirds, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Buzzard, Black Headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Guinea Fowl, Thrush and Pheasants (amongst others that I now can't remember!)

The foal count was 18 New Forest foals and 3 foals in fields.

We cycled 30.67 miles.

Only 144.33 miles to go!

Thank you for reading this.

Julie x

Training Progress

Since entering the Heavy Metal Truants Virtual Bike Ride I have tried to up my cycling.

I have been using my bike for local journeys and errands.

Over the Easter weekend I cycled on four continuous days to try and get my legs and backside accustomed to daily cycling!

Over the first May bank holiday, I went for a 22 mile ride with Barry during a weekend away in the Dungeness area.

The following weekend, Barry took me on a bike ride around the New Forest and we did just over 34 miles.

As the charity bike rides draws closer, I will aim to do more cycling and update you on my progress.

Thank you for reading this

Julie x