A well matched group of 8 assembled in King’s Square. Because of the Brookfield Bridge closure, we went via Brockworth to Leckhampton, and our first hill, which we made harder by turning into Hartley Lane. A bit of recovery on the flat, then Bubbs Hill, which never disappoints. Garmin reported this as “Hill 2 of 2”, although there were other significant rises, including one out of Elkstone. A few spots of rain made us wonder if the weather was going to break, but it soon blew over.
The gently downhill lane to Sapperton encouraged the peloton to work together, and push the pace up. However, at Chapman’s Cross, the main A419 was closed, which resulted in more traffic on the lane to Cherington. After Cherington, we decided to try the Wild Carrot at Chavenage for coffee, so avoided Tetbury and cut across. The carrot cake was excellent, and it felt like we made a good choice.
Traditional routing home via Kingscote, although Frocester Hill was made exciting with the addition of some gravel on the exit from a LH bend, which left a choice of two poor options: crossing the line to the RH side of the road, or trying to turn on the gravel. Luckily all riders managed to regain their side of the road before encountering oncoming traffic.
53 miles, 3,100’ ascent @16.0mph.