Five set off for Edge on a cloudy morning with a stiff Southerly breeze. Rain started on the descent of Whiteshill, but we held off with capes, knowing that a hill climb always follows a visit to Stroud. I don’t know what it is about Selsley Church, but it is often in sunshine when the weather is otherwise cloudy, and so it proved today, so we did not cape up at the top of the climb, but descended through Middleyard.
Some disgruntlement that we were not ascending Frocester was ignored, as we climbed through Coaley to Uley. The route was deliberately short in the expectation of wet weather, but the riders had no inclination to lengthen the route with a detour up Stoats Hill, and so we descended from Uley to Dursley for an early coffee.
However, by some local tradition, it was a bank holiday in Dursley, and the Old Bank was closed, so a detour was made to The Black Shed in Slimbridge for very welcome coffee and cake. A rider who has previously likened the square full of cyclists outside the Old Bank to Mallorca, likened the Black Shed to Holland with its canal-side seating.
The return on the A38 to Saul saw the benefit of the aforementioned Southerly wind.
46 miles, 2,500′ ascent @ 15.2mph