Fourteen riders (yes, fourteen) appeared on a post storm Amy windy morning. The weather forecast being fine, but with a strong westerly, I thought it would be “a Billy no mates ride” but not so.
The Captain offered to manage a respectable break in the group, and with no “genuine” novices in the group off we went out of the town on the published route to Highnam taking the route past the Farm shop through the wood. Taking the shortened route through the village, we eventually came back to the Newent Road briefly catching view of one of the group who was making his own way (any guesses) to Newent. It turned out he was not feeling 100% so did not want to slow us down. We followed him up to Rudford where he disappeared up Whitehall Lane, while we carried on our published route (which seemed to take forever) to the right turn at Park Road at Highleadon and eventually left into Blackwell End and then second left at Oridge Street taking us into Hethelpit Cross. Heading straight across the Ledbury Road up Mill Lane we became a little detached and regrouped at the sharp left had turning before the B4208. But we were all soon back in unison and continued along the Mill Lane briefly stopping along the way because of a minor mechanical issue, which could have been addressed if only our trusty mechanic had remembered to bring his “rivet gun or plastic welder” (how inconsiderate of him). No worries though, the dependable rider soldiered on without any further problems. It was at this time we discovered that the pace may have been a little high so we backed it off a little as requested. At the end of Mill Lane, we turned right up Chartist Lane until the A417 taking a left and first right along Playley Green and right up Bromsberrow Road. Some riders “went rogue” and took their own route up Drury Lane. I am not sure if disciplinary action needs to be taken over this, but I am mentioning it just to ensure it is noted. Did I fail to mention that we encountered a small climb to get to the top of hill Opps, turning left at the Causeway we met up with the…..let’s say group who have local knowledge of the area, and continued along the lane encountering a few small climbs and eventually made our way (by ignoring the Sat Nav) to the B4215, turning left and rolling down the hill to our coffee stop Roses, where we met up with our solo rider.
Note arriving at the coffee stop just before the 11:00am deadline meant some riders could get a heartier snack than usual, so the climbing was probably worth it…wasn’t it?
As normal some riders went for a more liquid lunch after coffee and the remainder took a more sedate route back to Gloucester maintain the “no drop policy”