After another dry week. Unfortunately the change in the weather was due to occur on Sunday, blustery winds with plenty of rain were forecast from 10 am onwards. So not many (fool) hardy souls arrived at the Square – actually there were nine of us, five opting for the slower club ride. It was decided to cut short the planned excursions to Northleach and Chedworth, and to head to Stroud instead. A very strong headwind was encountered along Painswick Road but our group of five made steady progress until the bottom of Nut Hill where AG had a front wheel puncture. This gave JW the chance to use his newly purchased electric pump – the same model that had been loaned by another member last week to fix a similar puncture to the same wheel and tyre! This was fixed expediently and on we climbed up to the main road and around Fiddler’s Elbow to the Cranham Junction, where we regrouped. By this time there was some moisture in the air and the city below had largely disappeared in the murk. By the time we reached the Birdlip-Slad road the rain proper had arrived, bang on time. Now we headed into a bit of a head/crosswind past Foston’s Ash to descend the Slad Valley – not too bad, except very difficult to see properly through the rain gathering on your eyewear. One rider removed his and squinted all the way down. At the bottom we encountered the Tempo ride coming up the other way, having descended further to the east. The five of us then decided that as we weren’t totally soaked we would stop for elevenses and earn a point each towards the Dancey trophy. This was a pleasant interlude, after which we emerged into the worsening rain and turned tail for home – generally assisted by the wind this time.
A short ride, but good to get out anyway; approximately 29 miles from the Square.
TB