Martin Sat Apr 05, 2014 5:00 pm
Two new riders - Shawn and Paul made up about twenty riders. We set off for the Quantocks with the final destination to be decided later. It was the first early start of the year (8:15am) and there was a wake up call on the Toll road when the usual suspects pushed the speed up. Luckily Ivan took control later and we rolled southwards at a nice steady pace. Dropping down from Woolavington we entered the outskirts of Bridgwater and took a route around the back streets to avoid the worst of the traffic. We climbed up towards Enmore and near Spaxton it was decision time. Most riders choose the Cannington option and eight continued on to Hawkridge reservoir where we turned right and headed for Over Stowey and then we took on Dead Womans Ditch climb. The moors at the top where shrouded in cloud. I was then treated to the Crowcombe hill decent. Despite warnings I was keen to see what it was like and hit 54mph. I cant wait to try it again when its fully dry. It all kicked off on the A358 to Williton and the group was split in to ones and twos with Ivan making a big breakaway. We managed to catch him after a few miles on a hill and then Mr Burns took the reins and Aidrian and me tried to chase him down but on entering Williton we had to do an emergency stop to avoid hitting a car in front. After regrouping we twiddled to Doniford and enjoyed the food and views. Ivan and Paul ordered the afternoon tea which looked very posh with sandwiches, scone and cake all for one!
On leaving the cafe we had to endure a steep climb out of Doniford back to the A39. We set a fair pace along the A39 to just past Kilve where we turned off and twiddled via Stogursey to Cannington. On leaving Bridgwater we had the wind behind us so the speed crept up as usual. Near Brent Knoll it started raining and didn't really stop till we got home but it wasn't cold. We enjoyed the usual sprints on the way back which kept the average speed up to 17mph.
See the Events section of this forum for news on a club meal and Petes birthday meal.
OJC - 3?
TTC - 8/10 - nice brown bread. I was jealous of Richs' backed beans on toast as it was enough to feed a family.
Knacker factor - 8.5/10
Stats -
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2434803