Today was the final and hilliest day of the Tour de France Femmes. It was also the first road stage of the mostr brutally hilly of the grand tours, the Vuelta a Espana. To honour these two events, the ride leader picked a particularly brutal way onto the Cotswolds. Not only did the eight riders have to contend with Upton Hill, but this was quickly followed by Stepping Stone Lane, and Yokehouse Lane, which after the lung-busting steep sections, offered fine views over Painswick. After this, the top of the Slad Road from Bulls Cross felt pretty flat.
There was no mutiny, and the riders settled down across the tops, joining a group from Swindon RC at Chapman’s Cross, and a larger group from Stroud Valleys in Cherington. As we avoided Tetbury to the east, riders were starting to question how much further to coffee, and after two longish sections on main roads, the coffee stop was eventually reached.
The late arrival meant that there was limited cake available, but both the cakes and the cooked offerings were excellent. Nobody sampled the ales, cognisant of the fact that it was a long ride home. The return was more direct, Sherston, Westonbirt and Frocester, but tired legs started to show on the long false flat from Westonbirt to Kingscote.
65 miles, 3,900′ ascent @14.9mph
