Alton CC Hill Climb 2025
On Saturday 11th October, 15 riders lined up to take part in the Alton CC annual club hill climb.
The event was held on the mile long Brockham Hill in Holybourne: the hill rises some 300 feet with an average gradient of over 6% but with some sections over 15%!
Of the 15 participants, 8 were from other clubs, or no club at all; we had three female participants, and ages ranged from 20 to 66.
Alton CC’s Lucy Elliot took 1st place in the lady’s competition with a great time of 5’ 36.7”, with Lucy Gray claiming second place and Sarah third. Lucy E becomes our 2025 women’s hill climb champion.
In the men’s contest, Michael Henderson of Oxford University stormed to 1st place in the open competition with a time of 3’ 45.2”, with Archie Wright of Southampton Uni not far behind and with 3’54.0”. Harry Johnson, VC St.Raphael, just missed […]
New partnership with Veloline!
We’re incredibly excited to announce our new partnership with Veloline! We launched on 20th September with celebrations at Veloline’s bike shop in Lower Farringdon. The team at Veloline gave us a very warm welcome, and with a great turn-out, we led 4 group rides, before coming back for celebratory coffees and cakes (and even balloons)! Great photos thanks to John at Veloline!
Alton Cycling club members will receive a range a benefits, we’ll aim to lead a monthly Saturday ride from their shop, and we’ll be adding their logo to our new order of club jerseys, alongside our fabulous sponsors, Hi-Tech Heating and Ventrus. Exciting times ahead!
North France Touring Trip, June 2025
Simon Potter organised a fantastic tour in north France, part Brittany and part Normandy – 6 riders, who had the luxury of our bags being transported in a support vehicle driven by Simon’s dad, Roland.
Day 1 To the ferry, 55km & 528m elevation gain
6 of us set off riding from Alton, heading to the ferry in Portsmouth for our overnight crossing to St Malo. It was a hot afternoon, so stopping for ice cream on the way definitely helped and got us into the holiday spirit.
Day 2 To St Brieuc, 102km & 1004m elevation gain
We started the day with amazing pastries and coffee in St Malo, which we had to queue out of the door for. A bit of rain then descended on us, but it was already 20 degrees, so the rain didn’t bother us. It got up to 34 degrees, and pretty exhausting with some headwind. Arrived at […]
2025 5 Mile Time Trial
On Sunday 13th July, twenty-six riders, including eight ladies, lined up to take part in our first ever ‘social’ TT on the 5 mile HCC286 course up the Candover Valley. For many this was their first ever time trial.
The TT was run under the auspices of Cycling Time Trials, the UK authority for this type of event, and following their regulations.
Along with twenty-two riders from Alton CC, we were joined by Alison and Michael from North Hampshire RC, having a second attempt at the course, and James and Dan from Alton Santo Smashers having a go at a time trial.
This was the second time we had run a TT on this course and again the riders were faced with a testing headwind (where’s that prevailing wind?); nevertheless, all riders from our trial run in May managed to set new PBs. Meanwhile, […]
Jim Woods Memorial Audax 2025
Alton Cycling club had a great turnout for the 4th edition of the Jim Woods Memorial Audax. More than 80 riders set off from Beech village Hall on a circular 102Km route through some of Hampshire’s most scenic countryside taking in parts of the Itchen, Test and Dever Valleys.
The annual ride is in memory of Jim Woods who tragically died in 2020 from a brain tumour. All proceeds from the event are donated to Brainstrust, a wonderful UK charity who support people affected by this devastating condition.
The ride is organised each year by Alton Cycling Club’s John Heath who says:
“Jim Woods was a good friend and a much loved and respected Alton Cycling Club member. I take pride and comfort from having been able to organise the Jim Woods Memorial Rides for the last 4 years.
This year’s event was another success with more than 80 entrants who enjoyed the ride […]
King Alfred Way Tour 2025
Blood, Sweat and Beers, an off road adventure …
A group of seven Alton Cycling Club members undertook the iconic King Alfred Way, which is an off-road loop around historic Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Alfred the Great. Five riders completed the whole loop, with two others joining for sections of the ride.
The group had varying degrees of off-road experience and rode a range of bikes from full suspension and hard tail mountain to gravel and adventure bikes.
Day 1 took 5 riders from Alton to Frensham via Alice Holt where we joined the KAW. The first major climb took us over the Devil’s Punchbowl after which we headed towards Liss, then the Hartings and eventually Queen Elizabeth Country Park where we braced ourselves for the final climb of the day up Butser Hill.
Day 2 started with a technical descent towards East Meon from where we made our way over Winchester Hill […]
