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Sun Jun 25th 2023

The Five Hill Challenge	3*

Leader: Jo Little	Start Time: 8:00 am	Start Location: The Beacon
Description: PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN START TIME TO 8AM Hopefully that will help with the heat a bit. Please pre-book for this ride by contacting the ride leader. This is a challenge I have wished to try for 2 years and have decided to offer it to the club in case anyone wants to join me. The idea is to climb and/or descend the 5 main hills around Wantage. We start with climbing Hackpen and then along to Seven Barrows before descending Blowingstone. Then up and down White Horse Hill before climbing Ashbury Hill. We'll descend into Lambourn and have a cafe stop before the drag back to Hackpen. Then down into Letcombe and climb Court Hill before descending down Manor Road and then climbing Chain Hill. We then go to Saddleback for another cafe stop and some justified self-congratulations before the final descent of Chain Hill. As everyone knows I'm not very fast up hills so this ride will be taken at a steady pace and we'll regroup at the top of each hill. It's 45 miles and 1000m of climbing so will be probably be closer to an all day ride than a half day.
Riders: Barry Stanton Eddie Little Jo Little Paul Smith Riders = 4 Weather: Report: This was a rather crazy idea of mine that I offered to the club as well - to climb 5 of the hills surrounding Wantage. 3 other people were brave (daft?) enough to join me. The forecast was for the hottest day of the year so far, so we brought the start time forward which really helped. Hackpen was no problem and we all enjoyed Seven Barrows before heading off to White Horse Hill. It was already quite warm by then but we managed it (slowly in my case) and then all found Ashbury Hill no problem. We had a very welcome cafe stop at Goodies cafe in Lambourn and then on to Court Hill. By then it was hot and I found it very slow going but then we could enjoy the descent into Wantage before the last challenge of Chain Hill. This was made harder with a strong headwind but we got there. We all felt tired at the top of the hill but were feeling rather proud of ourselves by the time we returned to Wantage. Not necessarily something we would try again, but definitely glad we did it. Thank you to Ed for taking the headwind for me from Ashbury to Lambourn and thanks to everyone for being such a great group to cycle with.
Distance: 64.37 km (40.00 mi)
Proposed Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42371283"
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Start Locations: WMP
Wantage Market Place; OMH
Old Mill Hall, Grove

Categories: 1* - Suitable for irregular, social, beginner or family riders, pace will match the slower riders. Not hilly or long. Expect rides up to 3 hours. Gentle exercise.; 2* - Suitable for regular riders who prefer to cover some distance but at a more relaxed pace. Likely to be half-day rides. Solid exercise.; 3* - Suitable for experienced riders, may be hilly, long, quick, or any combination! Likely to be half or full-day rides. Challenging exercise.; 4* - Suitable for athletic riders who can ride safely above the 3* standard. Quick rides for the fit.; More Information