Jubilee fancy dress ride

We had a great time today, ending up in The Fox for lunch. Here are some photos .....

Steph

Felicity

Mercy

I like it that Mercy seemed to keep her corgi nose in place whilst eating!
Sophie, below

Steph

Alison and Mercy

Angela

Good to see everyone today..Angie, Alison, Steph, Mercy, Felicity, Sophie and Angela

Jubilee Saturday

Lovely ride this morning, from Tangmere to Chichester, Lavant over to Chilgrove, along back lanes to West Dean then up and down Charlton Hill 6 times and then back home via Sculpture Park Hill.

Sunny with a nice cooling breeze and for once the roads were quiet...everyone attending / watching various Jubilee celebrations I guess.

The BBs have their Jubilee fancy dress ride tomorrow - lets hope the rain stays away!

Crystal clear waters of the River Lavant

Hills Belles, last night

Two Maratona Belles training hard last night!!

Happy Birthday Mercy!

Maratona ride

Caroline, Steph, Elise and myself met at 9am at our usual meeting place, set off up Sculpture Park hill to the crossroads. This hill is so much easier these days! Then we went straight across, down East Dean hill then along towards the Fox and up our favourite hill - Charlton Hill.

Quite a busy morning as there was racing on at Goodwood and the temperature was 23 degrees at 9am! From the top of Charlton Hill we cycled down the Weald & Downland hill turning right at the bottom and looping back through Charlton and back up Charlton Hill.  Next week it was decided we would go UP the Weald & Downland hill!

From the top of CH we cycled down and past the racecourse, showed Steph where there's a good place to see the racing from the stone wall, turning right and down Sculpture Park Hill and ending up having coffee and danish pastries at Goodwood Hotel.

A good ending to a fun and hot ride and too hot to take any pics!!

Maratona ride - May 20

Despite a wet and windy start to the day I met Morag and Angie at Goodwood Hotel. We cycled the Petworth / Midhurst ride which is a good testing ride with long flat surfaces plus a few good hills along the way. However, quite a few lanes were being resurfaced which made cycling rather difficult.

We stopped in Petworth for a cuppa and set off towards Midhurst going via the quiet country lanes via Ambersham and Heyshott. The lanes were quite busy this afternoon as the polo season is well underway.

Up Cocking hill (which is getting much easier) and arriving in Singleton, Morag and Angie went up the Weald & Downland hill (well done to them!) and I carried past West Dean and turned right opposite the Selsey Arms and going up the hill via Chilgrove, then over to Lavant and back home to Tangmere.

My mileage was 59 miles - thoroughly enjoyed the day. There's another Maratona ride next Saturday.

Easy Belles ride, Sunday May 13

The ride today was a dummy run for our Charity Fundraising ride on June 16.

Welcome new Belles....Sue and Sophie. Also out today was Lynn, Sandra, Caroline, Tizzie and Steph.

Cycling along the Legionary cycle track we came across a pushchair, thinking there was a small child inside we were surprised to see a dog instead. Apparently this sweet chap is blind and has a little bit of difficulty in walking....what a great idea and he seemed to be very happy with this arrangement!

From the Roman Villa we made our way to the ferry, waved to our friend who loaded all our bikes on board. The cost of the ferry is £2.50 each way, including our bikes.

Sophie, Sue and Lynn above



Once in Itchenor we stopped off at The Ship for a coffee, rather than going back along the Salterns Way, due to it being very muddy, we got back on the ferry to Bosham.



A lovely sunny day at last!

Caroline and Sandra...note the BB spotty tablecloth!

A few of us stopped off at the cafe in Bosham for a cuppa and a sandwich.  Caroline and Sandra then went off towards Compton (for a slice of cake at our favourite cafe) and then back home via some hills.

We said goodbye to Lynn, Sue and Sophie - hope to see you again soon.

Steph went home to watch the Man City match and Tizzie and myself made our way home via Tangmere.

Randonnee - Sunday May 6

Thanks to Sandra for persuading us all to take on this challenge. We had a great turnout, considering the wet weather: Sandra, Steph, Angie, Claire, Felicity, Elise, Nikki, Caroline, Angela.

We caught the 8am ferry from Portsmouth Harbour to Fishbourne, it was such a shame it was raining, but we all made the best of it.

Caroline, Claire, Elise, Nikki and Angie (left to right)

From left to right...Felicity, Steph, Caroline and Elise...and I think that's Nikki on the right.

There were two options, 100k and 55k and as I was getting used to my lovely new bike ...below(thanks to Malc!) I chose the 55k (34 miles) clockwise route.

We started at Fishbourne, to Wootton, Bembridge, Alverstone and this is where a few of us continued along the 55k route, to Newport, East Cowes back to Wootton and Fishbourne.

The day was hugely supported, long queues for the ferry, but coming back there was hardly a bike to be seen. There was a great atmosphere and I think everone enjoyed the day.

For next year...have the ticket posted to you and not pre-pay online as you still have to queue up to collect the ticket along with the poeple who haven't bought their ticket!