Lovely weather in Gloucestershire today, and I got up early (for me anyway) and out for a mystery ride. No idea where I was going to go, just made it up as I went along. It turns out I did a 34 mile loop out to the Cotswold Edge via Frocester, Coaley and Cam, then across to the Black Shed at Slimbridge before riding the canal path back to my 10 miles from home mark at Splatt Bridge in Frampton on Severn and my usual route home from there. I stopped a few times, where there were well placed benches, at Cam, Slimbridge and the obligatory cider stop at the Anchor Inn in Epney.
Lovely view of Frocester Hill from near Coaley:
You can see the line of the road that climbs up to Coaley Peak. This used to be my favourite climb locally, but at about 1.5 miles long and between 7 and 10 percent it is beyond me since I caught covid. It used to be one of my training hills when I was preparing for the Alps.
After a drinks break by the war memorial in Cam, I set off again and stopped for this pic across the fields towards Dursley:
I stopped again at the canal bridge near the Black Shed cafe in Slimbridge, but the cafe was closed. I stayed a while watching the comings and goings on the canal. The guy on the right had the right idea, cruising along entirely under daughter power:
The canal path from Slimbridge to Frampton is a bit lumpy and rutted, but with my bomb-proof Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres and Slime inner tubes, it was an easy decision to ditch the A38 on the way home and follow the canal path as far as Frampton instead:
Back on my usual lanes from Frampton onwards, I made for the banks of the Severn at Epney, where I stopped for a leisurely pint of Stowfords cider. I find myself going back to Epney with regularity, as my dad retired to a riverside house three doors down from here in 1979 and I have many fond memories of life on this stretch of the Severn:
I mentioned in a previous post the extraordinary collection of original Jack Russell cricket art on the walls at the Anchor. Here is just one small part of the collection:
There is another painting that I particularly like, being a front on shot of legendary umpire "Dickie" Bird raising the finger. In the end, I ended up doing a 34 miler today. One of my longest post-covid rides. An hour and a half after getting home, my heart rate is still 90bpm, having fallen from 132bpm when I arrived home from what should have been a leisurely pootle. My resting rate is normally in the 70s, but covid seems to have reduced my lung capacity and made cycling a bit more of a cardio vascular effort for me. Although I fear my club riding and audaxing days may be over, I'm determined to make the most of things and be the strongest cyclist I can be. Closing in on the 500 mile mark for the year now .... about a thousand miles behind my usual target for the end of June.
p.s. After my recent post from the finish line of Stage 3 of the Women's Tour, here is an aerial shot showing me and my buddy Simon (in the yellow rain jackets) in our perfect vantage point (as see on ITV4):
