Field already well subscribed, and entey will probably close early.
Kill two birds with one stone - keep both your RTTY and ATTY awards going with one ride
The ride's name is derived from places and landmarks it passes through. The 'Kings' refers to Kington, which in turn is derived from the town's old name of 'Kingstown'. the priests in a similar way refers to Presteigne - or Prieststown as it was once known. You will stop right outside a castle in Ludlow, and finally there will be countless churches passed during the day. Possibly the most striking being at Hoarwithy, an amazing site. Another church being the Abbey at Tewkesbury, which is an spectacular building. It survived the ravages of King Henry the eighth's reformations - in 1539 the town's folk of Tewkesbury paid the king £453 to retain their "Parish Church". The £453 was the value of the lead on the roof and the bells in the tower. The abbey features the largest Norman tower in the land.
The route (as with most BlackSheep CC events) follows minor roads, lanes, B-roads and a few unavoidable A-road sections. And generally in that order of preference.
The ride heads west then north from Tewkesbury through Ledbury and on to Bromyard for breakfast. Then to Ludlow via Tenbury Wells. Presteigne is the next town passed through before stopping at Kington. The late afternoon stop is at the A465 Lock's garage services shop at Winnal Common. The final leg is a west - east bee line back to Tewkesbury crossing both the Wye Valley and then the Severn vale back to Tewkesbury.
There's enough climbing on this event to qualify for AAA points, none of the climbs are particularly steep, but a few of them do go-on for a while.
The controls are all fairly evenly spaced, there will be places to stop in between controls should you so wish. The control at Bromyard has gained experience of AUK events over the past couple of years - they have a stamp to give proof of passage, and . The Ludlow control is a free control, just retain your receipt. There is a csfe just inside the csdtle entrance, there's also the castle lodge buttery just outside the castle entrance. The control at Kington there are various shops cafed etc along the high street. The final on the road control is Lock's garage services - Winnal, they have a stamp for you to stamp your brevet card. They are a regular supporter of cyclists on the LEJOG or JOGLE routes. And have a wide range of goodies.
The controls are aware of - and are looking forward to your visit, so please support them by buying something, because without their support - events would not happen.
At this time of year, the temperature a likely to be quite low - so please do not compromise yourself by not eating. The controls are fairly evenly spaced - and on some stages you're unlikely to find establishments to buy snacks between controls. This ride probably requires cyclists to snack at the controls, rather than eat huge amounts at the first - and then bounce every control aftrwards. Cyclists have tried this, and afterwards commented that they made a mistake in adopting this option. You have been made aware.
All car parks owned by TBC have recently waived all day charges for the day, further details available here http://tewkesbury.gov.uk/ .
The ride departs from The Royal Hop Pole at 07.30, free breakfast for all cyclists starting the ride.
We're now in GMT, you will probably need lights for the first half hour (or so) of the ride, and again for the latter part of the day.
As for B&Bs in the area, it is probably best that you use Google to search for your requirements, Or try Tewkesbury Tourist information centrehttp://www.outofthehat.org.uk/,
There's both Premier Inn www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/TEWBRE/tewkesburyandTravelodge www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/401/Tewkesbury-hotelboth about a mile from the start, (both on M5J9),
The JD Wetherspoon (also the arrivee) in the centre of Tewkesbury is also a hotel www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/hotels/the-royal-hop-pole
For the campers, there's a camp site 10 - 15 minutes from the start, quite a few cyclists have used it in the past - and have rated quite highly.www.croftfarmleisure.co.uk/ Please be aware that we're well into the winter season, so although they will be open, the site may look a little derelict.
Good weather has once again been ordered for the day, hopefully this will enable us all to take-in the marvelous views throughout the day,
Basic ride details the event page at www.aukweb.net/events/detail/19-395/ Route sheet and gps files will be forwarded to all entrants, if you still have last year's details, great - they're still valid.
