Leadon vale cycle club ride 441 Sunday 26th February 2023.
A Quick check of the bird bath and with no ice on it we were on as the weather forecast said it would be cold, that they didn’t lie about, it was a bit chilly on the way to the club and I think that a combination of rugby and the cold and a pantomime in Ashleworth meant that numbers would be down and sure enough that was true. Bob and Andrew went on the Sporty leaving me, Ken, Maggie and Julie on the Advanced. There was a sneaky North Westerly wind which we would ride into for the first half of the ride so out to Gadfield Elm and Dobbs hill, luckily the sun was out or it would have been bitter but a few sneaky little climbs warmed us up and soon we were crossing the ford at Klenchers Mill, all of us using the bridge relating tales of people who didn’t and ended up falling, but not today passing Eastnor castle and up to the Malvern rd and climbing up the back side of the Malverns a long drag which doesn’t seem to get any easier the more you ride it but the rewards are worth it dropping to the Wellington Heath junction, the pace was really nice and the climb to the top was rewarded with the usual great views into the Herefordshire countryside, but no time to get get cold with Julie removing a layer we decended down through Coddington and the beautiful church and the peaceful setting of some stunning houses. Bosbury now and it was here that we lost Ken and Julie, last seen heading into a housing estate missing the turning we should have taken and we finally found them coming up the main rd who knows what happened, but we headed back to the Verticular Wilt rd I don’t know the name of the rd but it has this sign on the gate where Hops used to grow and Ken wondered what it was so I told him they solve it by dissolving a little blue pill in water, and he seemed happy to accept that. Staplow and around the lanes to Munsley, Julie is an encyclopaedia of all the local coffee stops good and bad even telling us about ones we didn’t know about, Falcon lane leading to a very muddy albeit dry muddy Lilly a Hall Lane eventually leading us to Leddington Kane through to Green way cross roads, then the climb up to Brooms Green leading us through to Bromsberrow with the 3 Bitches ahead of us but they were taken with great gusto and soon we were on the push for home, that wind was no warmer. Bob and Andrew and also Di and Adrian had also ridden the scenic and had already left. A well deserved brew was had and as we thawed out a little we chatted about all sorts.
Thanks to everyone who braved the weather today very cold but rewarding.
Yellow leader.