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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3069 |
15th June 2024 Mt. Biking: Alton Water circuit Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Sunny turning cloudy with some light rain Max Speed: 20.47 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 10.27 mile (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Monday 15th July - bike **** – Alton Water circuit – sunny start then cloudy with light rain. The day dawned sunny with light airs so I had a quick drive down to Felixstowe Ferry at 6 to get some weather pics before returning home, it looked a nice day to head over to Alton Water with our bikes but on checking the forecast it was going to cloud over with some light rain but we decided to go anyway so Mag put the eggs onto boil for sandwiches and after breakfast it my exercises in the warm sunshine as Mag did a little in the garden achually harvesting her three cauiflowers which she made into yummy cauliflower cheese for tea:) Then after packing a picnic we left Felixstowe with the sun now gone, parking up at the lovely Stutton church about a mile from the reservoir arriving at midday. There are some lovely houses here in Stutton from huge manor style places to thatched cottages as we cycled along a quiet lane leading to the main entrance for Alton Water turning left we make our first stop to see the highland cattle and there has been a new arrival with a tiny calf asleep as the mother feeds nearby:) It is fairly quiet as we continue around, we detour a little past the dipping pond with two more highland cows. We stop at the bird hides, a little disappointing really as the covered hide has gone to be replaced by a fence with viewing slots and they are not feeding the birds anymore so you will not see much now:( The track is surprisingly up and down and we are pleased with the help of our electric front wheels! We go wrong and instead of taking the path down to the water past Tattingstone Hall we end up in the village but never mind as we get to Lemons Hill Bridge before tackling the hardest part of the ride with some steep but short ups and downs as you wind in and out of the many fingers of Alton Water. We stop at the bird hide and speack to an old boy who was there the last time we cycled around, in fact we were there 30 minutes chatting, he certainly is not a fan of Anglian water and the lastest manager who he thinks has rather let things go! There is not much to be seen but do see our first Turns of the year, plus gulls, a grebe and several dragon flies! We continue to our usual sheltered little bay for our picnic and the cheerful noisy kids are having fun out on the water in dinghies including one winger but it is a bit light for that and requires lots of pumping to get going! Well rested we continue to the drawoff tower before crossing the dam where we find 100’s of geese including lots of Eygptians all over the field and road! Then its down to the sailing centre where we sit at a picnic bench for our cuppa and chocolate bar, then with some light rain its time to carry on, past the highlands again and down the long lane to Stutton and back to the van with rain all the way! So despite the afternoon weather not being great we had a lovely bike ride around Alton and it was time to head back to Felixstowe! There is heavy rain forecast tonight with possible flooding and some foiling breeze for tomorrow, might be offshore so not sure of the venue yet? Photo Album here |
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