Assisted by a flat parcours and the presence of a rider who normally rides with the fast group, we set a brisk pace along the green mile, through Treddington and over to Greet. The appalling road surface on the main road towards Broadway was quickly lost as we took a right through Didbrook. Sadly the Stanway fountain was not working, so we had to imagine the highest fountain in the UK spraying water 300′ in the air.
Soon after, the flat lands were left behind, and we climbed Snowshill, our first climb of the day. With our legs tired from the pace on the flat, we all suffered on the climb, but were rewarded with excellent coffee and cake at Broadway Tower.
The return was delightful along the tops, and the climb to the top of Salters Hill from Cutsdean was “tougher than expected”, which happens to be the name for the Strava segment. Finishing over Cleeve Hill took us into busy Cheltenham traffic, and completed a great morning out.
58 miles, 3,200′ ascent @ 15.8mph
IW