Preparing to leave the Wickwar Coffee Shop (Click on pictures once to enlarge)
This morning we welcomed Colin from Corston for his first
ride with us. We’re always pleased to
see new faces, particularly when they come back a second time, as was the case
with Mark (from Malmesbury). Eight other
riders completed our peloton.
With a couple of routes on offer, just three people opted to
tackle the longer one to the Wickwar Coffee Shop, which went via Wotton under
Edge. The trio wasted no time in
creating some distance from the rest of us, but seizing an opportunity to
bridge the gap, Howard led the attack and by the time we’d reached Shipton
Moyne, we were all back together. However, a natural order was soon restored.
The road through Tresham had recently been resurfaced. The
surplus grit had gathered in piles in some places and care was required,
especially on the bends.
We arrived unscathed at the café and just a few minutes
ahead of the other group. A raiding party was quickly formed and we assembled a
collection of chairs taken from inside, around two tables on the pavement.
Breakfast for me had consisted of a banana and a gel. With
some climbing ahead on the return journey, I ordered scrambled egg on toast.
The staff member serving said that I was just in time. Given that scrambled egg
on toast can be eaten at pretty much any time of the day, I hadn’t considered
the possibility of there being a cut-off time, after which, it would no longer
be available.
Final preparations are made before leaving Wickwar
Fortified, we headed for home, with just the small matter of
a couple of hills demanding our attention. The first wasn’t as painful as it
could have been, as we took a left turn about half-way up Horton Hill. The scenery along this quiet lane past the Church of St
James the Elder is very pleasant.
Tim H walking around the tractor and trailer
Further on, we found the road blocked by a
tractor and its trailer loaded with wood. Riders had to dismount and walk
around one side. Struggling for material, I decided to stop and take a picture
of the obstruction. Farmer Giles arrived from nowhere and wanted to know why I
was taking the photograph. I tried to explain my purpose to him, but it came
over as sounding faintly ridiculous and I wished that I’d just said that I was
going to report him for what looked like an over-loaded trailer, instead.
The second one, from Hawkesbury to Hawkesbury Upton, was
already well signed for Sunday’s Sodbury Sportive. Amusingly, they’d named this
section the ‘Hawkesbury Howler.’
Having reached the top, we regrouped and headed for the
Badminton Estate. At the junction with the A46, we realised that we’d lost Ted.
Andy Poolman set off to investigate and said that he’d report back. When he
didn’t, Tim H went off on the same mission. I volunteered to be the next person to go if Tim H failed to reappear. Fortunately Tim H returned with news of Ted’s
puncture and said that Andy was helping him. I don’t know if this was intended
to reassure us, but after Andy’s previous heavy-handed pumping, I couldn’t help
wondering if Ted had enough spare inner tubes to complete the job.
To fill in the time whilst we waited, Tim H showed us one of
his gas canisters, which to my horror, I initially mistook as a crack pipe. The
fact that he’d again chosen (and who can blame him) not to give a practical demonstration with one of
them, didn’t go unnoticed by some.
Ted and Andy soon re-joined us and our peloton was complete
once again when we met Howard in Sherston. I forgot to mention that Howard,
assuming that we’d catch him up later anyway, had left us whilst enquiries into
Ted’s disappearance were still at an early stage.
A fast paced ride along the Foxley Road, when all of the
conditions were in our favour, rounded off an enjoyable and entertaining outing.
No comments:
Post a Comment