Past Ride
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Sat Jul 18th 2015
| Blazing Saddles - Wiltshire White Horses | 3* |
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Leader:David Smith |
Start Time:9:00 am |
Start Location:Marlborough - Hackpen Hill |
Description:Tour of all eight of the visible White Horses in Wiltshire and a flight of locks thrown in. Refreshment stops at the 40km and 90km mark - bring snacks if you are likely to feel hungry in-between. Note also a short bridle path section through Marlborough to see the Manton white horse.As Marlborough is hosting its annual Jazz Festival this weekend, we will meet at the Hackpen Hill car park (free) on the Ridgeway - that's Hackpen Hill, just north-west of Marlborough (NOT the Hackpen Hill we regularly ride from Wantage and the Letcombes). Here is the Google map for it. And yes, that means a hill-top finish! From Hackpen Hill, we will be taking the anti-clockwise route, descending to the north-west, to see the Hackpen horse followed by Broad Hinton and swinging south to Cherhill. Climbing up and over the Wessex ridgeway, we'll sneak a peek at the baby of the stable - the millenium Devizes horse - before descending to our first stop at the Rowdey Cow serving a variety of breakfasts, cakes and icecream. Then we will head out west to Westbury stopping to admire the Caen Hill flight of locks. Options at Westbury to simply take the route out to the viewpoint or, if time/inclination permit, a climb up to the white horse itself. After that a rolling section via Market Lavington and Urchfont takes us to the second refreshment stop at the Woodborough Garden Centre. Another sneaky peek view, this time at the Pewsey horse, brings us to one of our best climbs of the day, Alton Barnes with it's own steed. A swift route through the back streets of Marlborough to see the Manton white horse and we will arrive at the foot of Hackpen with just the polka dot jersey up for grabs. Please let me know if you intend to saddle up and ride! |
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Report:8 wicked Wiltshire white horses, 7 Rowdey goats, 6 hours of sunshine, 5 hearty breakfasts, 4 stunning ridgeway views, 3 classic climbs, 2 daring descents, 1 grand day out with 0 dramas..thanks to the guys for turning out. | ||
Distance:126.00 km (78.29 mi) | ||
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| Proposed Route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9293610" | ||
Comment on this ride | ||
1
Written by : Karen Townsin Posted on : July 19, 2015 at 8:32 PM |
Great ride, fantastic weather and a really challenging work out. All made possible by a supportive and responsive ride leader. Thanks Dave. |
2
Written by : Jon Townsin Posted on : July 21, 2015 at 9:38 AM |
A fantastic ride and very well led Dave. Just tough enough to make us work really hard but nicely paced so that no-one fell off the back. Thanks for that ! |
3
Written by : Chris Walters Posted on : July 22, 2015 at 10:59 PM |
Very enjoyable weather, and it was a big bonus that the llama didn't spit. |
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