Sunday Series Club Ride 6th April 2014

As the bell in the church tower chimed for the ninth and final time, George W and I arrived outside of the Jackdaw Café where four other Clarions were waiting. With no one else in sight or expected we wasted no time in setting off.

Before too long a light drizzle quickly turned into full blown rain. With all but one rider having no mudguards, we had to suffer mud-splattered jackets and wet backsides.

Reliability proved to be very much at the heart of our ride. Tim H was under the weather, but said that he’d give it a go and see how he felt when we reached Wootton under Edge. Andy Parker developed a mechanical problem with his cassette near Hawkesbury Upton, but not that you’d have noticed, as he carried on regardless, his pace and power undiminished.

With three decent climbs to tackle we steadied ourselves for the first; the ascent out of Wootton under Edge.  Having reached the summit and with no sign of Tim H, I began to think that he might  have fallen on his sword and turned for home, but with dogged determination, he soon came into view.

High drama was to follow. Dropping down the steep descent towards Dursley, John over-cooked a tight right hand bend and ran up the embankment. Having traveled some distance his wheels eventually ground to a halt submerged in the forest mulch, but not before he’d been thrown from his bike narrowly missing a large tree stump and a road sign. Apart from being stung by some stinging nettles, John was otherwise uninjured. Unfortunately his bike didn't fare quiet so well and he was left without the use of his top set of gears.

With the aptly named, seemingly never ending, Crawley Hill at Uley, under our belts, Andy Poolman, who had to be elsewhere, peeled off back to Malmesbury.

The suggestion of coffee in Nailsworth got the seal of approval from the remaining riders and we forged on. At the cafe I enjoyed a strong cup of tea and a slice of chocolate and beetroot cake.  A new one on me, but at £3 for a thin slice it was likely to be my last too.

Back on our bikes there was just the small matter of attacking the hill up onto Minchinhampton Common.  A kite-filled sky greeted us at the top; the blustery weather ideally suited to kite flying, but with barely a second glance we pressed on to Avening.

Opinions are divided as to whether Star Lane out of Avening actually constitutes a hill, but the sharp turn after a quick descent, poor road surface and short, stiff incline, all combine to make it a bit of a tricky so and so either way.

With Malmesbury now just a short hop away, it was time to rinse what energy we had left from our legs to produce as strong a finish as possible. 

We now look forward to Howard’s next course for the fourth Sunday ride in May and hope that we are equal to the challenge. If you can, please come along. Given that we travel that much further than on a normal Saturday ride, we all help each other and would never leave anyone stranded.