NFCC Weekly Round-up

Weekly Round-up: 11 Oct 2026

13th October 2026 Latest news

All the latest news, events, and results for NFCC Members from the previous week of two-wheeled adventures…

Gravel’n’Grogg

Happened …but apparently nobody who rides owns any form of writing implement. Let’s see who can dig out a pencil to write a report for next week and manages to send it to press@newforestcc.co.uk…

Saturday Club Ride

Saturday began with the sort of chill that makes even seasoned cyclists question their life choices — particularly those who had already completed a respectable schlep just to reach the start. Gabba and Perfetto jackets were very much the uniform of the day, at least for the lucky few who had been kitted out by Sean before the stock cupboard began to resemble a post-apocalyptic bike shop. Before the off, Bus Pass Graham finally revealed the secret behind his apparently limitless strength and endurance: entry to his exclusive pre-ride breakfast club. The performance-enhancing menu appears to consist of a ciabatta loaf and half a pig, consumed before clipping in. This was received with interest by the meat-eaters and with significantly less enthusiasm by the vegetarians.

It was good to welcome Reece D back to the forest, even if only for a guest appearance before he peeled off early. Phill B also departed ahead of schedule, claiming the entirely legitimate excuse of racing the following day. Sixteen riders rolled out in total, giving us two nicely balanced pelotons and, even more impressively, a ride leader who was almost cheerful after discovering that the recent Spond registration rant had actually worked. Café booking could therefore be attempted with something approaching confidence. The route took us east towards Hatchet Pond on a planned 120 km forest loop, before heading through Ashurst, Minstead, Emery Down and Moyles Court to our regular refuelling stop at The Potting Shed. Smithy produced perhaps the performance of the day by visiting the bathroom early and therefore not making everyone wait at departure time — a level of operational efficiency that may never be repeated. Coffee and cake were taken, and Neil the Buffet Slayer upheld his reputation by hoovering up half of Adrian’s cake on top of his usual jam scone. Such was his level of saturation that, when we later passed some grey squirrel roadkill, he showed no interest whatsoever.

The second half of the ride took us onto the south-western circuit around Winkton — the very section we had abandoned the previous week thanks to traffic so awkward it deserved its own risk assessment. At around the 100 km mark we encountered Matt K, who had been on a full-scale wild goose chase trying to intercept the group while slightly misjudging our pace. Without his handler, Eloise, he had unsurprisingly become separated from all known navigational certainty. He then shared the sorry tale of his car’s blown engine and the looming task of replacing it. A true cyclist, of course, follows Velominati Rule #25: the bike should cost more than the car. Matt has taken this principle to heroic extremes; indeed, some of his inner tubes were probably worth more than his old motor. Having now splurged more than £20K on a replacement car, he will clearly need to restore the natural order. Somewhere out there, a Bianchi salesman may already be smiling.

And so, to the weekly question: who was in the barrel? Astonishingly, nobody. Riders were well turned out, mechanical mishaps failed to materialise, and incompetence was in short supply — helped, no doubt, by Phil H being absent while deploying his Enforced Family Fun card. The Barrel Junta, denied an obvious victim and sitting on several months’ worth of bile and venom, was forced into a state of uneasy restraint. Normal service will surely resume soon. Kudos go to BPG, the only rider to round the day up to 100 miles. With Phill B away racing, Graham clearly knew there was no need to overdo things in order to top the leaderboard. Strategic minimalism at its finest. Thanks to everyone for the usual good company, good humour and bonhomie, and thanks once again to the weather gods for serving up another decent Saturday in October. Long may this suspicious run of competence continue.
– Barry.

Women’s ride

On Saturday Cat and Emma hosted another women’s ride to try encourage more women on group rides. A nice group of seven headed out from Brockenhurst for a leisurely loop around Burley and Bransgore. Some poor route planning from Emma meant there was a chunk of route between Crow and Bransgore with extra traffic due to a diversion but other than that, the group had an enjoyable ride. Eloise Knight made the sensible decision to peel off home as we passed through Bransgore, saving her legs for Sunday’s cyclocross. The rest of us had a lovely cafe stop at the Pig’s Pantry in Burley, narrowly avoiding a rogue rain shower, before heading off back to Brockenhurst. Overall a very enjoyable morning. This year we hope to keep some women’s rides running over the winter, with discussions already started for an offroad adventure in November. If anyone knows any women who might be interested in the rides, please get in touch with Emma Shepherd or Cat Brooker. The hope is that overtime, some of the women will be confident enough to come along to some of the club rides.

Sunday Club Ride

With a fair few regulars missing this weekend (some chasing the sun abroad, others braving the Gridiron, and one poor soul choosing to watch Saints play), 15 riders still turned up for a chilly but pleasant start this morning. While I was busy welcoming some new faces, the group sorted itself into two neatly matched groups without any help from me. Then a trickle of latecomers (none, of course, as late as Rory) took us to 18 and nudged us into a comfortable three groups. Even without their leader, the Goldilocks contingent stepped up admirably and looked in fine fettle: not too fast, not too slow, but just right.

A confession from your ride leader: Phil G dropped a few hints (subtle ones, admittedly) about joining group two, and I completely ignored them. Had I glanced at Strava before the ride, I’d have spotted his rather hefty Saturday outing and understood exactly why the Goldilocks group was calling to him. Sorry, Phil. Mind you, for someone with supposedly tired legs, he still did a sterling turn on the front of Group One with me, so I’m only feeling slightly guilty. Credit where it’s due to our usual ride leader, Phil H, whose choice of the lesser-spotted S4 route proved a masterstroke for dodging the bulk of the Gridiron traffic. With so many riders out on the roads for the event, it would have been easy to find ourselves caught up in the crowds, but we enjoyed quiet lanes and a clear run for the entire ride.

Not everyone escaped the Gridiron unscathed. Graham set off on the event but soon decided the cycling gods were not in his favour. A broken Garmin mount and a great deal of cyclist dodging proved too much in the end, so he wisely cut his losses and joined us for coffee instead. Good decision, Graham. The only reported incident of the day was a post-ride tumble, courtesy of some post-cafe wobbly legs. The rider in question shall remain nameless (their dignity has suffered enough), though it must be said the Setley Ridge café contingent found it thoroughly entertaining. No injuries reported, apart from a slightly bruised ego. A warm welcome to Dave and to Bridgid who slotted in beautifully to groups 2 and 3 respectively. It was great to have you with us and we hope to see you again. It’s a shame Rory didn’t quite make the start, but we look forward to meeting him on a future ride.
Thanks to everyone who came out, and see you next weekend.
– James A.

Wessex CX Rd. 5: Milestones Museum

A quick trip up the M3 to the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status for the cyclocross contingent this weekend for round 5 of the Wessex CX League at Milestones Museum in Basingstoke. First riders out on the relentlessly bumpy course for the club in the new format this year were those in the Junior/Under 23/Senior/Masters 40 race at 1140am consisting of Howard Jarrett (Sen), Matthew Knight (M40), and Phill Brown (Sen). With nearly 100 riders in the combined race, the gridding gave those at the front a huge advantage on the uphill drag, and Phill B capitalised on this from the second row. Escaping with the front group as soon as the whistle blew and avoiding the bottlenecks on the tight, twisty sections of the course, Phill managed to hang on for a few laps before settling into a rhythm in 7th place, and crossed the line in 4th for the u23/senior race. Howard had a strong race and spent the 50+ mins battling his way through the pack and up into 76th place overall as the 29th u23/sen rider. Matthew’s race was marred by “The old war wound“, as he likes to call it, with the bumpy course wreaking havoc with his back, but he still powered on to 68th place overall as the 36th-placed Masters 40 rider.

After a brief intermission for course practice, Elouise Knight (Jun), and Emma Shepherd (Sen) were primed and ready for the Women’s race a little later in the day at 1310. The course had been well worn in by this point and the duo made the most of the racing lines, pushing their way through the 24-rider field. Elouise seemed to get faster as the race went on and capitalised on the fatiguing riders around her, finishing in 16th place overall as the second junior, but missed the podium while too busy debriefing with dad! Emma’s race start was probably the best of her CX career – escaping with the group at the pointy end of the race and sticking there until the final few laps. The hills suddenly seemed harder, the corners felt slippier, and it wasn’t until she crossed the line she realised the fancy valve her husband fit to her rear wheel had rattled loose and let all the air out of her rear tyre! A solid 10th place for Emma in both the overall race and the U23/Senior category.

Last man standing in red and green this week for his second round of battling the cyclocross gods was Paul Hubbard in the Masters 50 Race. For only his second ever cyclocross race, Paul was an absolute natural, and used his new bike to great effect. The 41-rider race runs at the same time as the Masters 60 race, adding another 29 riders to the course, including current age-group world champions. Paul capitalised on the skills learnt at his first race last week, paced the 40 min race to perfection, but was unfortunately pipped by three seconds on the line to a newfound rival – crossing the line in 38th place. A trouble-free weekend (excluding Emma’s deflation) on a great fun course – big thanks to Pedalon and North Hampshire Road Club.

CTT National Closed Circuit Championships: Thruxton

When it feels like time trial season was a million weeks ago, NFCC’s time trial supremos managed to squeeze in another stellar series of performances, this time at the Cycling Time Trial National Closed Circuit TT Championships at Thruxon. The 11.4-mile course demanded five laps from riders on the flowing racetrack – but don’t let the smooth tarmac fool you; there are a few undulations to battle, and being the perimeter road of an airfield, there’s always a headwind somewhere! Sien vdP reported just “keeping the legs turning“, which just happened to be the 5th fastest Women’s Road Bike time on the day, in just 29m06s. Jack Donaldson pulled his TT bike out for one last big effort of the year and flew around the course in just 25m07s for joint 39th place in the Open Time Trial Bike category – that’s an average speed of over 27mph!

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.