This was a longer day ride starting from the West Meon and cycling down to the coast and back with Clive, Carol. David, Keith, Mark, Vanessa, GrahamB, Mick and me. We met up at the MVT car park and immediately headed up the climb to the top of Old Winchester Hill where we took in the extensive views over to the Solent and Isle of Wight – the last time we came this way we were riding into a howling gale so we were concentrating on not being blown over so some missed the views. From the top it was downhill for the next 11 miles to Hoe Gate with the odd climb in between.

There was a short climb over the hill on the Fareham Road before crossing the River Wallington then onto the back road at Boarhunt and then the climb up Portsdown Hill to the monument to Nelson and Fort Nelson.  It was then downhill to the cycle path along the A27 to Fareham Quay where the tide was in. This time we took the cycle route through The Gillies to pick up the start of the busway to Gosport.
Nelson Memorial, Portsdown Hill

After leaving the busway at the Hutfield Link, we wended our way through the streets of Rowner and through Alverstoke Country Park to the beach at Lee on Solent where we stopped for our picnic and some went for a swim. It was a good spot with a choice of cafes, toilets and places to park the bikes.

After lunch we carried on along the seafront on the cycle route, past Hill Head and Titchfield Haven to Meon Shore where the route heads away from the coast. Once we crossed the A27, the road was much busier until we turned off onto River Lane and followed the quiet road all the way to Wickham where we stopped for afternoon tea at a café in The Square.

The Square, Wickham
After scoffing the cakes, we headed off and picked up the Meon Valley Trail for its full length back to the cars. About halfway along the trail, Graham picked up a puncture again [despite having Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres] This did not take long to fix and we all made it back safely – 41 miles and 472m ascent – a good day out and it would be worth repeating the route again.