The day dawned with blue sky and a promise of warm conditions and so it was to be. The Sport and B rides were initially combined, heading for Yate. After some half wheeling at the front an inevitable split was agreed at the top end of Naas Lane. The B took the more leisurely pace and route to Stonehouse, Frocester, and Cam. An abandoned road, still with tarmac that surpasses many of our roads, was selected to afford shade on the climb to Stinchcombe, as well as having the benefit of being traffic free. We kept to the main road towards Wootton, descending and taking a right-hand turn onto a lane that led, eventually, Damery and the short sharp ascent to the Tortworth chestnut tree, a notable local point of interest. Southbound past the Open Prison and onto the B4058. Some miles later we turned left and jigged about on very minor roads to enter Yate. This new town is terribly confusing, and it took some interesting navigation to secure our arrival at the Antique Bird Cage Café. Credit to our leader, Colin.
The Sport ride arrived some 15 minutes later, having formed and reformed in various combinations along the way. A misunderstanding in Nailsworth led to some extra miles being covered to Nympsfield before running across the tops to Newark Park and down to Ozleworth Bottom. Gently rolling roads followed, though a short sharp climb at Alderley claimed two casualties – the President’s efforts to stay sur le plat took him too far into the red and a companion’s efforts to get out of the big ring unshipped his chain and stopped him completely! After recovering by the church (illustrated) they continued until another unplanned dismount gave a whole new meaning to a hedge stop, as Clive extricated himself from one at the expense of a skinned elbow. Luckily, the First Aid kit was on hand.
Thanks to online maps and satellite navigation the café was reached without difficulty, despite not being on any known road, where tea and cake were consumed with relish.
A split group departed for lunch: one took to the hills (Captain), the rest, sensibly, kept to the vale. The Captain was hindered by navigational issues in Yate. After a mile of heading in the entirely wrong direction (ed: it’s not unusual for one of Toby’s route to be counter intuitive), he corrected and stumbled across Carl P, and they joined forces for the adventure. They located and navigated through Chipping Sodbury, then the common with cattle and a gated road to then climb the Cotswold escarpment to Little Sodbury, followed by a brilliant road to Hawkesbury Upton where the monument and the poppy field looking west to the forest hills were admired. A badly surfaced descent was overcome, to Hillesley, then Kingswood, Charfield, Damery and Stone for a final run to Ham and the Salutation Inn. Here we joined the other group for refreshments before a hot run to home. Could this have been the hottest day of the year? At 31˚C it almost certainly was.