Two Gloucester City riders did brilliantly in last Sunday’s 12 hour, so it was an honour to have one of them ride out with us on this morning’s Sport ride. A succession of steep hills, and careful descents, due to debris washed across the roads, took us to the top of Withington Woods. It was at this point, that one rider, famed for his dislike of hills, turned back, which was a shame as it was the end of the hills and marked the start of the long gentle descent down the White Way to Cirencester. He claimed that the new road surface at Whithington was so good it deserved a second look, but he went on to suffer a nasty front blowout, making for a scary descent to Dowdeswell and a late entry into the competition for Bruce’s Bonus. His longer route home made the most of the high hedges on the lanes.
The Club riders, on the other hand, took a more leisurely route, one suited to having the Club’s oldest and youngest active members in their party. Led by the Treasurer, and including Presidents past and present, this group of seven riders proceeded up Painswick Road to tackle the ascent of the escarpment by way of Nut Hill, Fiddlers Elbow, and Sanatorium Road. Views to the west were blighted by low cloud with May Hill well hidden. The wet roads created some interesting descents, particularly at Brimpsfield. The villages of Elkstone and Winstone soon fell to the progressing pack. Here, the clearly signed road to “Cirencester 6 miles”, was ignored and we proceeded in the opposite direction. Passing a pair of horses and riders slowly was not enough for one that was particularly spooked, enough that one of our group felt it best to dismount and walk past. So onwards to Duntisbourne Abbots, where another sign to “Cirencester 6 miles” was encountered and ignored. The route down the valley was taken with care, being damp, poorly surfaced and with loose gravel a-plenty. All made it without incident. Cirencester was reached at 11.10am, refreshments being taken at Coffee #1, where the Sports riders were already well established. 26 miles.
Post-coffee, four set of for lunch, taking in the trading estate where rain caused caping-up for 4four miles, after which it was dry. The other three headed for home, keen to catch up on the final cycling events of the Tokyo Olympics – the Women’s Omnium and the Men’s Keirin. Spoiler Alert – another Gold medal was achieved by the Kenny family! The strong south-westerly wind made the going tough, combined with the gently upwards sloping lanes towards the west: the Cotswolds is after all an inclined plain. Ewen, Kemble and views over to the 747 park at the airfield, Tarlton and Rodmarton were taken in. The steady climb to the golf course near Minchinhampton took us back to the top and the breeze. At Tom Long’s Post we veered to the left and located The Amberly Inn: not our pub. Enquiring of locals, no-one professed to have heard of The King’s Head at Kingscourt. I knew it was somewhere, overlooking the Woodchester valley. However, taking a wonderful and very narrow lane (photo) that corniched (is that a word? Well, if not then it is now!) around the precipitous edge, we popped out just above The Prince Albert. This would have to suffice, another excursion to the elusive King’s Head will need to be booked. Fine beers were available and enjoyed.
The route home was in sunshine, via Dudbridge, Stonehouse and at last a helpful wind to Haresfield and home. A jolly enjoyable 57 miles. The Sport riders also experience difficulty with the wind, and their return leg was more about the wind than the hills. With a variety of sizes of riders, there was more competition for some wheels rather than others! A detour from the advertised route for some descent coaching on Fiddler’s Elbow completed another enjoyable ride.