By kazimladimeji 
What a contrast from last week’s Wednesday social ride: just two riders, down from 5 last week, and superb night riding conditions versus the 3-hour barrage from Storm Aurore which the quintet weathered last week. This week was unseasonably mild with relaxed temperatures of 14 degrees celsius under a waning half-moon providing a canopy of gentle illumination.
The half-term effect had sent our usual Wednesday warriors far and wide to the likes of Spain, the Wye Valley, and an inconspicuous field in Oxfordshire, as revealed by a slightly cryptic apologia posted to our WhatsApp group. This meant we were down to just two riders, meaning there were fewer timetabling constraints and so we took the opportunity to change it up a bit by introducing more distance, exploration, and uncertainty than we normally would on a Wednesday evening sprint-ride.
After a quick chat, a review of a rubbing back brake we agreed to head east from Stroud to Cirencester with the intention of routing through quiet lanes and old droving roads that snake alongside the direct London road/A419 to Cirencester. This was an ambitious round-trip distance for a Wednesday night sprint-ride but worth a shot.
We headed out of Stroud on the London road, rising up to Rodborough Common via Butterow Hill, a steady, 2 km,135 metre climb, and after some routing errors joined a quiet byway and national cycle route just east of Cherrington, which ran parallel to the London road. The route wasn’t purely about quaint country lanes and we did find ourselves on the unforgiving London Road for a short stretch within which time we encountered a high-rev, sketchy, and ultimately precarious overtake from a stalking car at a hair-pin T-Junction we were turning into. You get the picture! A mental note was made about that junction.
We got as far as Coates near Skew Bridge on the outskirts of Cirencester, but couldn’t guarantee to hit Cirencester and make last orders, so we aborted and searched for a local pub and were surprised to find that the Tunnel House Pub and a well-located cycling stop was permanently closed. The only other alternative was the Thames Head Inn on the Tetbury Road which due to a sequence of wrong turns, darkness, and a lack of familiarity turned into a disorientating, (but successful) race for last orders and salty snacks, even with the assistance of Google Maps.
Spitting rain on the return journey thankfully came to nothing and we divined a more direct, idyllic route home confined to lanes, via Rodmarton, Cherrington and back up to Minchinhampton Common to the outskirts of Stroud.
This was an enjoyable Wednesday ride that runs against the usual format and general stylistic preference which is to do all the riding first and end up at a pub within a few KMs of home with no climbs required to reach your door. Zone 4 heart exertion is just not what the doctor ordered after a wind down, few ales and snacks. Last night’s ride format plotted the pub at half-distance with a 20Km+ journey home with over 500 feet total elevation, including a pressing 50 metre climb out of Cherrington. This did not represent the archetypal well-earned, post-ride, post-pub glide home that majestically completes the Wednesday social ride.
So, is this new, extended 60km route for the Wednesday social ride a bridge too far? Time will be the ultimate judge. However, this could still make an enjoyable and achievable Wednesday social-ride occasionally,if done in fair conditions and with a respectful bi-passing of the Cherrington Valley Climb on the way home.