A large group were tempted out either by the promise of Ham Hill, or the excellent weather forecast. I will leave it to the reader to guess which factor was more appealing. Edspresso suffered an early deflation on his tubeless system in Churchdown, so we left him to return home. The rest zig-zaged out way to Charlton Kings and the start of said Ham Hill.
S dropped his chain between cassette and spokes at the bottom of the hill, and we all passed him, thinking he would soon remount and be past us again. After a lengthy wait at the top, and an unsuccessful search of phones for his number, three of us reluctantly set off back down the hill, leaving the remainder to proceed to coffee. It transpired that the chain was well-and-truly stuck, so “international rescue” was required. For the three of us, it meant a second ascent of Ham Hill.
Coming into Brockhampton, a few riders off the front missed the turn, and had to be chased down. Apparently they stopped at a herd of elephants (well statues) – I thought that lane went to Winchcombe, not the Serengeti! However, they were caught (the riders, not the elephants), and all enjoyed the lovely lane from Hawling to Guiting Power, before the plunge down Salter’s Lane to coffee, where we were rather late.
On the return through Gretton, we encountered roadworks, and had to walk a short section. Emerging from this section, I observed the Tandem’s stoker running down the road, in pursuit of her saddle, as her pilot had set off without her. I hate to think how many bunches of flowers will be required for that mistake.
Still shocked that I was riding in shorts in mid-November. 54 miles, 3,500′ ascent @13.8mph
