Few people were in the Square at the appointed hour, but those present were treated to an impromptu concert by a talented young jazz trio. After listening to Dave Brubeck’s Take Five the Tempo group did exactly that, leaving just two to enjoy the President’s varied route for the Intermediate ride. After a decent interval they followed, at a lower tempo, to Highnam and “enjoyed” the gated Whitehall Lane as a warmup for some of the surfaces yet to be encountered.
At Flaxley a left turn towards Pope’s Hill raised expectations of a climb. Half right – not Pope’s Hill but the slightly lower Slad bypass – the gradient and poor surface tested both our low gears and our bike handling. A brief stop in Litledean allowed us to admire the Nailmakers’ memorial (and gird our loins for the road ahead) before tackling the Ruffitt at walking pace. We had a good chat with a couple of pedestrians on the way up! After swooping down from the school an unwelcome drag up to the Dilke led us to the Colliers’ Trail and in due course Parkend. One more climb and we were in Coleford, well ahead of the famous five, or, rather, its three survivors.
Some busier roads and a bit more off road discovery (we think we crossed a ford in the process) led us to Drybrook. Stenders offered the novelty of a Closed Road with temporary lights in the middle of the closure before Mitcheldean and a revisit to Flaxley. Diverting to join Steady riders at The Red Hart we were disappointed by their absence so pressed on home, arriving at Westgate Causeway at the same time as the Tempo and Steady groups.
The ride’s pace of 22 kph was judged “just right”; like Goldilock’s porridge it was neither too hot nor too cold, but intermediate.
MT