LEADON VALE CYCLE LINC CHARITY RIDE SUNDAY 17th JULY 2022
Well the forecast was for hot and hot it was the only thing was it was hot with a beautiful breeze which made for almost perfect cycling conditions, so Wayne and myself were ready at 8.0 Am to leave and we were joined by Daryl who was going to Rudd to Twinning for a dip in the river. The ride to Tewkesbury was great the breeze making for a very pleasant trip into town and leaving Daryl at the bottom of the Mythe and we headed through town to the rugby club.
The car park was awash with vale jerseys and a polka dot King of the mountain shirt worn by Bob , which was nice to see, as I had been thinking no one would turn up due to the heat, but there they were, Bob, Ken , David , and Alan and no sign of Dave so a failed phone call to see where he was, at 8.55 we were off with temperatures rising it was nice to get on the bike, through town where we met Dave who promptly turn and joined us as we crossed the Mythe bridge on to Forthampton but when we got there there was no sign of Dave so another failed phone call we pushed on in the belief he had done the shorter ride, but in reality he had turned back to register before starting again and doing the whole long ride. We pushed on Wayne Bob and Alan setting a good pace which was good to get a few miles in before it got too hot so it was sooner rather than later that the first climb was upon us up to Hasfield easily knocked off and soon the reward down to the Tirley road at great speed, the passing the gas reduction station which you would hardly know was there we headed down lime street passing Eldersfield Church and on over Gadfield elm to Dobbs hill still the going was brisk but very fair while the going was good. It want long before Bromsberrow school was before us and a coffee and flapjack were taken on board, water bottles filled and thoughts were now focuses on Holybush but before that the lovely lanes through Klenchers mill and the ford where marshals did there best to advise you to walk over the bridge only to be ignored by Wayne and Alan and even Bob for the first time in his life carried his bike over the bridge, the shady lane that followed set us up for the accent of Holybush, Bob and Polka dot shirt led Ken David and myself to the lower slopes like any good domestic should but the shot off leaving the three of us to climb at our own pace, it in all honesty wasn’t as bad as I thought a lot of shade so over the top we went and along the side of the hill to the common where Bob was lurking in the shadows ready to rejoin us on the downhill stretch to Welland and beyond to Upper Hook Lane to Clive’s fruit farm where the diversion took us out onto the Hanley road as the roads were closed in Upton for the blues festival and by the look at the amount of campers and caravans on the fields along the river it was a sell out. Rhyall and for the first time the temperature seemed to rise sharply so the climb up to Strensham took its toll but now we were back into a head wind which cooled us slightly and the last couple of climbs through to Twinning were behind us and through the cool church lane roads took us out to the Mythe road and the last drag before dropping down to the town and back to the Ruby club.
Unknown to us at the time Dave was still out there but he completed the whole ride.
A burger to two for some and bottles refilled it was time to ride home via the Farmers arms Apperley where a cold shandy was consumed purely for hydration purposes you understand before Wayne and Bob dragged me home via Ashleworth .
Thanks to everyone who supported us it was nice to ride with people we don’t always get the chance to ride with so thanks to them for looking after us.
In total I clocked 62 miles which was a bit of an achievement in those conditions.
Yellow leader.
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4Wayne Organ, Mat Fuller and 2 others