This year my rides have been fairly flat, so I have been thinking of rides with more elevation. Where I live the nearest places with reasonable climbing mean riding west towards Herefordshire. A couple of weeks ago I included a climb up Malvern and the Wyche, and today I decided to try the climb up to Clifton upon Tame from the Martley side, which would also be an area I haven't visited before on the bike.
Out bright and early at 6:15, some clouds and slightly chilly, but I warmed up quickly through St Peters and town, taking the most direct route to Martley via Lower Broadheath and Wichenford. This is a fairly easy route, and I got to Martley quicker than expected. Out of Martley towards Clifton there's a short steep climb, followed by an equally steep descent down to the Teme. The road is twisty and narrow going down to the river, so I was quite cautious descending. The valley is quite narrow at the bottom, and only a couple of hundred metres after the bridge starts the climb to Clifton.
The slope starts gradually, but soon steepens, and Worcestershire CC have decided that the climb wasn't hard enough, so they've surface dressed the road. It didn't take very long before I was in my lowest gear, and by the time I was about half way through I was needing a rest. After a couple of minutes for a breather I was on my way again, but didn't take long before I needed another break. This time I decided to try pedalling out of the saddle, which took me all the way through the worst of the climb and into Clifton.I need to work on my climbing technique, I think I might have been able to climb the hill in one go if I had pedalled more out of the saddle. Nevermind, I'm pleased with my performance.
The plan now was to follow Hollybush Ln, but I took the wrong turn, and ended up near Whitbourne before I noticed. I thought about heading to Knightwick and the Malverns from here, but my legs were still game for some more punishment, and instead I headed towards Tedstone. The lanes were now mostly up, getting steeper, until it got too steep for me and I had to walk for about 200m until the slope eased a bit. Once I reached Tedstone, my next target was Edwyn Ralph, to then head for Bromyard. All these lanes were new to me, but some of the names sound familiar from @twentysix by twentyfive's reports.
The ride to Bromyard from Edwyn Ralph is quick, as it is downhill on a reasonably wide and well surfaced road, so can easily let rip. Now I had my dozy driver incident of the day. As I was gaining speed down a longish straight I could see a car moving slowly out of a drive on the left. I first thought that the driver had seen me and that was going to stop, but instead it joined the road in front of me at the same slow pace, maybe 10mph, and carried on driving. As I went to overtake (I had been doing close to 30 before I saw the car) the elderly driver noticed me, got startled, floored it and took off
.
I made it to Bromyard without further incident, and then joined the A44 back to Worcester. I was now back into familiar territory, starting the final climb of the day to Brockhampton, which is not too hard after Clifton, followed by a fast descent to Knightwick.
I stopped at Knightwick for a drink and a cereal bar, and then on towards home along the A44.
Fun ride, which I will definitely repeat, minus the detours.
The map
Out bright and early at 6:15, some clouds and slightly chilly, but I warmed up quickly through St Peters and town, taking the most direct route to Martley via Lower Broadheath and Wichenford. This is a fairly easy route, and I got to Martley quicker than expected. Out of Martley towards Clifton there's a short steep climb, followed by an equally steep descent down to the Teme. The road is twisty and narrow going down to the river, so I was quite cautious descending. The valley is quite narrow at the bottom, and only a couple of hundred metres after the bridge starts the climb to Clifton.
The slope starts gradually, but soon steepens, and Worcestershire CC have decided that the climb wasn't hard enough, so they've surface dressed the road. It didn't take very long before I was in my lowest gear, and by the time I was about half way through I was needing a rest. After a couple of minutes for a breather I was on my way again, but didn't take long before I needed another break. This time I decided to try pedalling out of the saddle, which took me all the way through the worst of the climb and into Clifton.I need to work on my climbing technique, I think I might have been able to climb the hill in one go if I had pedalled more out of the saddle. Nevermind, I'm pleased with my performance.
The plan now was to follow Hollybush Ln, but I took the wrong turn, and ended up near Whitbourne before I noticed. I thought about heading to Knightwick and the Malverns from here, but my legs were still game for some more punishment, and instead I headed towards Tedstone. The lanes were now mostly up, getting steeper, until it got too steep for me and I had to walk for about 200m until the slope eased a bit. Once I reached Tedstone, my next target was Edwyn Ralph, to then head for Bromyard. All these lanes were new to me, but some of the names sound familiar from @twentysix by twentyfive's reports.
The ride to Bromyard from Edwyn Ralph is quick, as it is downhill on a reasonably wide and well surfaced road, so can easily let rip. Now I had my dozy driver incident of the day. As I was gaining speed down a longish straight I could see a car moving slowly out of a drive on the left. I first thought that the driver had seen me and that was going to stop, but instead it joined the road in front of me at the same slow pace, maybe 10mph, and carried on driving. As I went to overtake (I had been doing close to 30 before I saw the car) the elderly driver noticed me, got startled, floored it and took off
.I made it to Bromyard without further incident, and then joined the A44 back to Worcester. I was now back into familiar territory, starting the final climb of the day to Brockhampton, which is not too hard after Clifton, followed by a fast descent to Knightwick.
I stopped at Knightwick for a drink and a cereal bar, and then on towards home along the A44.
Fun ride, which I will definitely repeat, minus the detours.
The map
.
