The 23rd of November has had many notable happenings on the day. In 1499, seven days after being convicted of treason, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the throne of England, was hanged for attempting to escape from the Tower of London; his supporter John Atwater was executed with him.
In 1991, the Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury announced in a statement that he is HIV-positive. He dies the following day. I had a great treat to see that show man at Knebworth in 1986; his final live shown with Queen. Tickets were £14.50!
The following year, the first smartphone, the IBM Simon, was introduced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now, where would we be without that device? Group chats covering all sorts of cycling topics, e.g. the merits, or not, of tubeless tyres are now so easily possible, perhaps too much some might say! And how would we cope with finding out where lost cycling mates are in local expanse without such a device? Do I enter into the realm of pre ride route sharing…
Another event was that elevcen keen riders left King’s Square northwards on the Tempo ride (the route is as published on your smartphone, so no detail here). We set off at a brisk pace set by some “faster” boys with the help of the tailwind and good open roads. Also in the group was a longstanding member and his son. The leader does remember the younger (and quicker) man looking after him when first joining the “sports riders” on a Falcon Oxford tourer back in the early 1990’s around the Sainsbury’s loop; I didn’t really have the pace to keep up although a complete lack of geographical local knowledge meant I had to!
The new cycle route was made use of in part, hopefully adding to data evidencing that the numbers using it are increasing year by year, which is good to hear. We lost three riders at Ashchurch. There was a rumour about a hill being on the way home, but the leader was not fussed and paid no attention; some might want to get home sooner and then have coffee (a good 57 quick miles was covered by one leaver).
To the east of Tewkesbury, with some good sun on our back, we disturbed a Red Kite picking off some roadkill. Back in Shakespeare’s day, Red Kites were really common, even in cities, where they acted as clean-up crews, catching rodents and scavenging on the scraps of meat that littered the streets. But attitudes changed, and Red Kites became the victims of intense persecution. By the end of the 19th century, they were extinct in Scotland, England and Ireland, and just a few pairs were clinging on in Wales. Thanks to reintroduction projects led by the RSPB and other organisations, Red Kites have made a big comeback, with numbers increasing by over 2,000% between 1995 and 2023. The UK is now home to about 17% of the world’s population. Apparently, our breeding programme of Red Kites is so good that chicks are being sent to Spain to revitalise their stock.
After Grafton, we cycled up a short stretch of the A46 to Sam’s Cotswold Kitchen for some well-earned drinks and “nosebag” (C.B.Sunday steady radio talk for food, yes, I had one in the day before mobile phones). Another of the crew headed off for home without stopping for sustenance.
The homeward leg was a bit more challenging. Firstly, the headwind, but it was still sunny! Secondly, the climb over Cleeve Hill and this is where something exceptional happened. We all take our own time and pace to climb such hills but today everyone was left behind by a very much younger KOM who had not even entered his teenage years; so, “chapeau” to TS!! To add to the feat, I was told he had covered a fair few miles on Saturday at Newport velodrome.
Once we hit the Shurdington road the group started splintering for homeward finishes with Barnwood Road seeing the final flourish. All in all, a grand day out in good company and respectable weather for November. Plenty of time to rest before watching England vs Argentina.
My stats – 50 miles & 2,000 ft elevation gain