Forecast for yesterday was windy but dry. Up early, aiming to set off around six, there was a sudden heavy downpour as I was having breakfast. The wind was driving the rain hard against the window, and my resolve to go for a ride started to dwindle. After confirming with the weather apps that it was indeed supposed to be dry, I forced myself to get out the door.
As it turned out, by the time I got the bike out of the garage the rain had stopped, and the wind was pushing the clouds away leaving a clear sky.
It was about quarter past six that I was on the way, with quite a lot of daylight already. I decided that I would do my Tewkesbury loop backwards, to use the protection of Bredon Hill against the headwind on the way out, so first destination was Pershore. The wind was hard work in places, but I had good cover in others. Progress was slow, because my legs are still not back due to lack of miles in the last few months.
Sun was out in a glorious morning, and the view of Bredon Hill as I headed towards Elmley Castle was fantastic. After a quick stop in Elmley I continued my ascent to Kersoe, were I was greeted by the sounds of young lambs finding their voices.
Next is Ashton under Hill, and then a slight downhill to Beckford. There's lots of pheasants in this lane, which tend to fly off away from the noise of the bike. Yesterday, though, there was a rather large one that sat on the road looking at me, it was well out of my way, so it wouldn't have needed to move, but at the last moment it decided to lift off in my direction, and I had to duck to avoid an impact.
The wind was now mostly on my side, so I had to be careful when going past hedge gaps, but it rather helped in the short climb from Beckford Conderton.
It was a quick downhill from Conderton to Tewkesbury, so my average speed was improving a bit. I had the numpty of the day performing a close pass against incoming traffic just before the Shell petrol station. It wasn't until I reviewed the video that I noticed how close it was, and to top it off they had a dog in the back, with its head out of the window, which would have been very close to me as they went past. I've reported them, hopefully they'll get a letter.
Stopped for a snack at the Mythe Bridge, where the Severn is now fully back within its banks.
The final stretch is now a gentle climb to Long Green, and then a flattish ride through Longdon towards Upton. I had a good tail wind along here, and managed about 18mph most of the way, which is rather quick for me.
Helpful as the wind was on my back, it made things interesting on my side along the short descent into Upton, I had to lean into the wind just to ride straight.
Having survived the cross wind, the last bit was rather uneventful through Kinnersley and Pirton.
Lovely ride, with my legs slowly getting there.
The map
