I've got a couple of rides to report on:
Yesterday I headed down to Ludlow to meet up with
@gavgav and ride the Velo Salopia sportive. Meeting up at ride HQ at Ludow Brewery everything was nicely organised and relaxed at registration then we set off with the second wave of riders (15 or 20 going at a time so as not to crowd the roads too much) and very quickly caught up with the first wave who had been held up by a set of traffic lights.
Leaving town we were straight into the biggest climb of the day (over 600 feet in around a couple of miles) up through the Mortimer Forest on the road to Wigmore. Gav had decided to risk using his carbon bike for this as he didn't want to be held back but with it having a standard double and a 39-25 granny gear it was always going to be quite an effort getting up this one. Despite that he did really well and made it up the climb without stops and we even overtook one of the other riders before reaching the summit.
The descent was fast and exciting with over 36 mph recorded. An added frission was that the road surface is quite dodgy so you have to keep your wits about you. As the road leveled out at the bottom the faster riders got on ahead and we settled down into a pace that was comfortable for us.
From Wigmore we were onto the A4110 which isn't busy as A roads go but had some fast traffic and the road surface has been kept down to Herefordshire Council's standards so needed quite a bit of care. It was however mostly downhill as far as our next turning so we got some good cruising speeds going along here. A few faster riders went past and there was a moment when a red German saloon came skimming close past us then the driver leaned on the horn because he couldn't get past the group ahead of us. Lovely chap.
After turning off this road onto the B4362 we had a couple more close passes and caught a couple of ladies (also on the sportive) who commented that they'd had the same and that they were expanding their vocabulary.
Fortunately, after those first few close passes things settled down and the ride to our next turning was fine. We had a quick drink stop near the karting circuit at Kinsham where the two riders we'd overtaken passed us again, then we tackled the deceptively steep climb to Upper Kinsham which was quite a pull, especially as the day was warming up now. This road is a bit undulating which allowed us to catch and overtake the ladies again but it eventually flattens out nicely on the approach to Leintwardine where we found some spectators on the bridge clapping and cheering on the riders which was nice and helped take our minds off the climb out of town.
The road to Clungunford is quite lumpy and the enjoyment of a 30 mph descent on the way was spoiled a bit by an overtaking motorist cutting across in front of Gav.
The feed station in the village was quite welcome with a nice mix of nibbles on offer as well as gels for the guys taking it seriously. I got asked how I managed to ride on a Brooks saddle
. The ladies caught us again and took a shorter break so were on the road ahead of us again - we would swap places on the road with them a couple more times before getting back to Ludlow.
Setting off after our stop it was more of a pull than I'd expected on the way to Hopton Heath but I knew there was a more testing one. This is a nasty little climb, not entirely because of the steepness but more because you can see how high you have to climb before you even get to it. Gav managed it fine by standing on the pedals and we enjoyed the descent most of the way to Purslow.
We weren't doing badly but this is one of Gav's biggest rides of the year so far so I could see he was getting tired. The climb at Purslow wasn't particularly welcome but with that out of the way it's mostly easy going through Aston-on-Clun to Craven Arms where another quick drink stop was taken.
From Craven Arms to Pedlars Rest is a steady climb so our pace slowed again and wasn't helped by temporary traffic lights on the way (we elected to let the cars behind us pass before heading through the single lane ourselves).
Turning off this road we were onto the home stretch. The gradient would be in our favour almost the whole way back to the brewery and we had the wind behind us as well so despite tired legs we set a good pace matching that of a couple of riders ahead. One last drink stop was taken by the racecourse then we braved the short section along the A49 which wasn't too bad really despite plenty of traffic.
The finish line was a very welcome sight and more so was the free pint included with our entry (along with a souvenir glass).
49.6 miles for the day at 13.5 mph moving average (dropping to around 11.5 with stops included). At the start we'd looked round at all the expensive bikes and said we'd be happy with just not finishing last. As it turns out we did a bit better than that coming in almost in the middle of the field and over an hour ahead of some of the later finishers.
Although were were passing through some very picturesque areas very few photos were taken this time.
At the start and practically ready to go.
Gav taking a break near Kinsham.
View from the drink stop near Kinsham.
Success. Back where we started and Gav enjoys his well earned pint.