Weekly Round-up: 05 Oct 2025
All the latest news, events, and results from NFCC Members from this week’s two-wheeled adventures…
Gravel ‘n’ GrogIt wouldn’t be an NFCC organised ride with the predictable flurry of Phil(l)s taking up 75% of the oxygen available to those keen enough to ride their gravel bikes through the woods on a Tuesday evening… Gathering in Lyndhurst for a thirty-something kilometre ride around the New Forest’s finest tracks and trails, Phill, Phil, Phill, and Phil were all present at some point, along with two other humans (Richard P and Barry W) whose parents clearly made a poor choice when naming their child. A clockwise loop from Lyndhurst this week, with Barry W joining along the way, and Phil J being collected from the midway-point in Brockenhurst. Phil J only made it 4km with the group before his second puncture of the ride meant the safety turnaround was required rather than ending up stranded far from home with a flat tyre – regretfully, the rest of the group left their end-of-ride beer on his tab, ready for next week, cheers. |
Saturday Club RideWith Storm Amy wreaking havoc further north, we were on the edges of the high winds but that was still too much for a regular peloton style road ride. That meant this week we changed our usual format to an off road ride around the forest trails. Not a great turnout so it was a remake of The Magnificent Seven Ride this week. We headed west along the old railway towards Wootton Bridge into the teeth of the gale. This also explained the early arrival of Matt K and Phil J who had enjoyed a tailwind getting to the start. It was winter bib-tights all round except for the hard men of the Wessex Cyclo Cross League (Phill B and Matt K) who were still bearing their legs as some kind of macho badge of honour. |
 The trails were a little muddier than usual but were well used on a bright sunny day with cyclists, walkers and horse riders all taking in scenes that were turning autumnal. The wind was challenging and no more so on a short road section on Pound Lane from Bransgore to Burley where the crosswind made staying upright a challenge. This also reinforced why we don’t do peloton rides on days like this. We passed club duathlon legend Paul C out for a run. He then passed us whilst Phill B fixed the only puncture of the day! We also passed James N on his road bike as we went through Brockenhurst. As he’s faster than the 45MPH winds, he was easily able to outrun them! |
 After a couple of hours, the route took us through Brockenhurst so it was time for coffee. This week taken at The Buttery. Normally a scene of genteel afternoon teas, this week we had the treachery of Jamgate! Neil S and Matt K both ordered buttered scones. Neil ordered his with a side order of jam. Matt’s scone arrived first, and he dived straight into a pot of tasty preserve that had been put on the table. When Neil’s scone arrived sans confiture he made representations to the café owner. They maintained that he had had his order and then it dawned on us the sequence of events that inevitably lead to a week in the barrel for Matt. |
 After coffee we said adios to Phil H and Phill B. Brown’s valid excuse was that he was racing the next day. Harris’s rationale was that he’d never ridden this far off-road before without covering everyone in his tyre sealant, so it was time to quit while ahead. There was the usual banter within the group, and the ride leader was enduring shouts about a big lump of **** on his bike. He assumed this was the usual vitriol about the unsightly 90Kg mass on the saddle, but no, it was actually referring to a claggy mass hanging onto his rear derailleur. |
 The remaining five riders headed out for a second loop around the east of the forest. On the way back Matt M made a suggestion for a route change along a bridleway between Pilley and The Filly. This reroute was accepted and appreciated by all as a better alternative. His motives were not entirely altruistic though as he was knackered and this took out a couple of hills and was the shortest way home for him!Thanks as ever to all for the camaraderie, and a curse on all those who stayed indoors on Zwift on such a beautiful day! – Barry |
Wessex Cyclocross Rd.5: Chilton ManorA brand new venue for Round 5 of the Wessex Cyclocross League this week saw riders making their way to Chilton Candover to ride around in a grassy field on the side of a hill. The race organisers did a fantastic job of making the most of the natural features available on the land, delivering a course that produced some excellent, close racing. Emma Shepherd was first up for NFCC in the Women’s Senior race, and after a steady start on the long, uphill drag, Emma battled her way through the pack in the abundance of tight and twisty corners of the course. Emma’s final 2 laps were 20 seconds a lap faster than her nearest competitor, and using this to her advantage, she made the pass and crossed the line for 4th place. |
 Later in the day, for the Open Senior race, the NFCC duo of Joe Shepherd and Phill Brown were, after a rather romantic warm-up, ready to take on the course. Starting line-astern, the pair battled their way up the long, draggy start hill before settling into their respective rhythms for the following hour. Joe’s lap times were consistent throughout, which helped him power on to take 15th place over the line. Phill latched on to the leading group for the first five laps, briefly up to third place on the course, but his inexperience in only his fifth cyclocross race meant he dropped back to 5th place by the time he crossed the finish line – still somehow just about managing to hold on to the overall series lead! |
London & South-East CX League Rd.4: Herne HillHeading off-radar for a cyclocross race, NFCC’s Jay T made the trip to Herne Hill Velodrome for round 4 of the London & South-East Cyclocross League. The course at the popular track-cycling venue includes new gravel rollers, long straights at the start to avoid any major bottlenecks and “Big Bob”. True to form, Jay had a tough start and once again missed his pedal when attempting to clip in, but fought hard on the first lap and made his way up to 8th place. The race continued with exciting, close, and aggressive racing which saw Jay quickly progress up to 3rd place and hunting down the two leaders. The duo in the lead were team mates so we’re working well together, but Jay took the lead with a lap to go and then pulled away on his own to seal the victory. |
Alta Via ZigZag Hill ClimbNFCC’s John Burridge (aka Budge) was asked to timekeep for the first-ever hill climb on Zig-zag Hill near Shaftesbury this weekend. A young member of Poole Wheelers had the idea to organise the event and managed to put on a very good show. Elliot Colyer managed to arrange £1000 worth of sponsorship and attracted 64 entries to the inaugural running of the course. Accordingly, Budge dragged himself on to the bike before 6am and faced a headwind all the way to Melbury and Cann village hall, located in the middle of single-track roads with few passing places. Despite this, an effective one-way system was operated, getting the cyclists safely to and from the course. The course was relatively long for a hill climb at 2.4 miles, with 400ft of climbing – not severe but a very good test for the riders. NFCC were represented by Barry Hards and Ben Schooling who acquitted themselves well. Top honours went to Adam Howell of Muc-off SRCT Storck (winner of the British Cycling Lloyds Open National Road Series!) who completed the course in 5 minutes 49.4 seconds, very closely followed by Gabe Dellar of Primera- Team Jobs in 5.49.6! At the other end of the table, several entrants took between 9 and 14 minutes to complete the course, so there was a good spread of results. |
Get Involved:If you find yourself out and about representing NFCC, don’t forget to jot down a few words, snap a few photos and send them over to press@newforestcc.co.uk. |
