A beautiful spring-like morning saw a group of seven form for the B ride to Coleford. The strong southerly wind made for hard going on the descent, usually a fast one, from Highleadon to Tibberton.
They spotted a damsel in distress (a Club member on the A ride to Cinderford inflating a tyre), so stopped briefly, losing one chivalrous rider, but the rest were focused on the upcoming climb of May Hill and considered the other members riding with her were already providing sufficient support so pressed on. The ascent from the Glasshouse to May Hill village has what must be the best tarmac in the county, in stark contrast to the road from Walford to Kerne Bridge that we were to encounter later.
The climb from Lower Lydbrook is deceptively easy as far as Upper Lydbrook, then steepens significantly for the long section up to the main road. We were all pleased when that was over and were rather envious of the MTB riders in an uplift van, that was dropping them off at Edge End, in preparation for an exciting descent to Cannop Cycle Centre.
Some early lambs were spotted frolicking on the verge just outside Coleford, but otherwise the return, via Parkend and Flaxley was unremarkable. In view of the strong southerly wind, the A48 was selected, rather than the usual A40, for the final approach to Gloucester. Another sighting of the Cinderford group at the Dog suggests that they also had a good ride.
The A ride group set off in cool conditions with a most helpful easterly wind. Their route took in the recently surfaced cycle path to Highnam and then the usual lanes to Taynton. As noted in the B ride report, a low tyre issue was fixed and the group, now expanded to thirteen took a zig-zag route to Glasshouse, then to Cliffords Mesne. The poor surface on the descent to Aston Ingham demanded caution– but those on 32mm tyres were able to ‘let it go’ a bit. Only one minor incident, one rider shedding his water bottle, which was safely retrieved. There followed the unrelenting climb to the Penny Farthing pub, followed by a delightful descent to Lea. More climbs, all relatively gentle, followed to Drybrook and then the final slog up to Cinderford town centre and our selected stop at Mezos. This was gained at 11.30am, with 22 milesunder our wheels.
Service was swift and, fully refreshed, most riders headed for home and the headwind. Five opted for lunch at a new venue for the Sunday crew at Westbury-on-Severn. Exiting town we basically headed south, avoiding the worst of the breeze, to Ruspridge, Soudley and the fabulous road to Blakeney: people would pay good money to come and enjoy this. Then on to Awre via flat lanes – the first flat of the day, really. A quick four miles on the A48 through Newnham and on to our selected pub of the day, The Lyon Arms. A bit of a Sunday lunch place, but we grabbed the last available seating area and chanced upon one of our high ranking racers. We apologised to his good lady wife for intruding on their Sunday lunch!.
Batteries re-charged we set off for home in two groups: two on the A48; three on the lanes to Northwood Green, Birdwood, Bully Lane and Highnam. Guess what – the wind had died down and turned to a southerly! How convenient.
A quite wonderful day: cool but thoroughly sunny, and with the early spring flowers out it was a pure delight. No wet feet or bikes to clean, for a change. 52 miles all told.