The mood of the peloton was very much like the Tour de France on a transition day, where everyone just wanted to ride tempo without pushing it. The presence of Alfredo Sabbadin and Fabian Cancellara, or at least their jerseys, helped us to feel like the Tour riders. Aided by a flat parcours, a perfect temperature and minimal wind, we achieved our goal.
With no pressure, we enjoyed the views over the Avon valley before the picturesque village of Great Comberton, and descending to excellent refreshments at Clive’s of Cropthorne. Return via Elmley Castle and Kemerton was also uneventful, although road closure signs on the lane to Northway resulted in a snap decision to divert via Aston Cross and the busy A46. It’s a shame that you can never tell what “road closed” really means.
One of our riders is training for Land’s End to John O’Groats, and was told that she has to do some hilly rides for training. I pointed out that what counts as “hilly” depends on where you live, and in some parts of Cambridgeshire, three motorway bridges would count as hilly. Just as well we came back on the three bridge route via Stoke Orchard.
Even Garmin agreed it was a tempo ride, reporting zero hours recovery time!
58 miles, 1,800′ ascent @17.3mph.