The Lover, Nomansland and Mockbeggar Loop 10/10/2024

Thursday

It was cold and damp when Helen led the 10 of us out on our last ride. It was fantastic to ride through the New Forest and experience the rise in temperature, breathe the clean air and watch the wildlife come to life as the sun rose higher in the sky.

We pedalled up and down quite a few hills, and on one particularly sharp hill, Julie had our second mechanical. Her gears were not changing well so we pedalled over the crest and stopped for our resident mechanic, Steve, to investigate. He discovered there was a faulty gear cable, with about half the threads worn away. This meant Julie could continue the ride, but to prevent further wear on the cable, to prevent it snapping she had to ride without changing gear! Julie turned out to be an incredibly strong rider as she rode most of the way up nearly all the hills in one gear!

I came across various unfamiliar terms while riding in the New Forest. Ten Verderers administer the rules of the New Forest, via a magistrate-style court, and ensure the well-being of the animals. Animals are owned by commoners of the forest, and the well-being of the animals is managed by the five Agisters. Agisters are paid an annual fee by commoners for an annual collection of the animals (called a drift), worming and health check. After this each Agister clips the mares’ tails in a set pattern to identify fees have been paid, and checks completed. The ponies are semi-feral but only the mares are allowed out year-round to roam. The stallions are kept on private land, and are DNA checked for a hereditary disease, and only clear horses are allowed out to roam with the mares during the short mating season in May/June. After that they are returned to their owners. Watching the ponies led to a discussion about why some of them wore a collar. Chris thought it indicated those mares that were in foal, possibly identified during the annual health check, but looking it up online, another possibility is that they are given a reflective collar to make them more visible on the roads at night. I don’t know which is correct.

It was a lovely few days away. Helen will be moving away from Braintree to live near her daughter in the Poole area. It was great to have a good time together and all the Easy Riders wish her well in the future.