Six Tempo riders gathered together in a shady corner of Kings Square. A single topic sustained the conversion; how hot was it going to be?
The warm-up leg along the A40 to Birdwood was ticked off in surprisingly benevolent conditions, the sun having not really got fired up.
The series of climbs through the forest were similarly negotiated without drama in the dense shade of the trees; Flaxley, Littledean, Soudley, then Parkend. We lost one rider on the way, a pre-planned return for an early lunch rather than heat related failure. After Parkend there was one last pre-coffee climb through Sling, before the long cooling descent to the bridge at Bigsweir. A short sprint along the main road got us to The Old Station dead on schedule at 11:00; coffee, Hummingbird Cake, and most importantly refilled bottles.
The final climb up through the old iron works could not be described as fun but we all got up okay, the shade of the trees was again very welcome.
A fast descent to Chepstow cooled us down, and the wind kept the temperature under control across the bridge and beyond. We took the usual route through Hill to Berkeley where we stopped to buy more water at the shop; it was only when we stood still in the full sun that we could appreciate how warm the day had become. A steady ride back, sharing the work and chatting, soon got us to Quedgeley from where we made separate ways home, except for one member who was considering setting off for a second loop – surely not?
76.2 miles, 3,930 ft, 16.0 mph, 6 bottles of water, factor 50+ sun block, no incidents. Well done everyone, thanks for your company.
SP