Three fast riders and five tempo riders. The fast guys dropped us on the A40, and with a puncture in Flaxley putting the Tempo ride even further behind it was no surprise that we didn’t cross paths at the cafe.
There was plenty of climbing: Flaxley valley through to Soudley, Blackpool Bridge to Parkend, and then the drag up to Sling. Along the way we lost two riders to fatigue and family commitments, but the remaining three had fun on the descent to Bigsweir Bridge, although the gunshots from the shooting club scared the hell out of me as usual.
The Old Station was excellent and not too busy. Suitably re-fuelled we tackled the Ironworks climb, which fortunately was pleasantly shady as the day was getting hot.
The bridge was fun as always, and with the tailwind picking up we flew along lanes back to Gloucester, pausing only briefly in Berkeley for an emergency choc-ice.
76,2 miles, 4058 ft, 15.8 mph for the Tempo ride, the Fast guys averaged a couple of miles an hour better than that, but I suspect they skipped one of the climbs!
SP