SearchUltreia et Suseia: Day 1 (Reading to Portsmouth)
Monday 1 June 2026
Alex writes: So begins the pilgrimage proper, but after the journey to the start these pilgrims already feel they have endured plenty of mortification of the flash. We gingerly headed out of town and soon met up with Simon, an old friend of Bill's, for breakfast.
After lunch, however, we faced the much choppier terrain of the South Downs, and a sequence of testing climbs, some quite sharp. Eventually, we found ourselves on a cycle path parallel to the A3. At the famous chalk cutting enjoyed by the road at Butser Hill, the cyclepath heads up and over, but thereafter it seemed like we had a continual smooth descent to the unlovely outskirts of Portsmouth.
Boarding the ferry was straightforward except we found ourselves among many other cyclists and the MO for storing them seem to be to stack them all together and lash them with a rope. John was visibly twitchy about weather this was an appropriate way to treat his lovely new bike.
A word about the bikes
John's aforementioned lovely new bike is Fairlight Strael 4.0, gazelle-like British steel. I am on a Mason Exposure, rather more butch British (/Italian) steel. In contrast, Bill is riding a Trek Madone, a balls-out carbon racing bike. Tyre-wise, John is on Continental GP 5000 AS (clincher) 32mm, I am on Continental GP 5000 S (tubeless) 32mm, and Bill has different tubless Vittoria tyres on each wheel. For gearing, John has 1x 12-speed Shimano GRX (22-115 gear inches), I have a hybrid 1x setup (20.5-105 gear inches), Bill has a compact double with a 11-36 cassette (25-125 gear inches). For luggage, John has opted for traditional rear panniers while Bill and I have a front bag/rear bag combo. We all have mechanical gears and hydraulic disc brakes.