It's that time of year again, probably one of the most popular 200km rides from Tewkesbury.
A Spring classic. Tackling the Malverns before breakfast. To & through the Forest of Dean for lunch. And an afternoon in the Severn Vale. Fine views throughout the ride.
The ride now takes a differing route through The Forest of Dean. This being a result of the demise of the lunch time control. The new route has been riding by a number cyclists, and met with their aproval. The Hopewell Colliery Cafe, is managed by Kay and her team (formerly at Dean Heritage). So a earm welcome and prompt service await you.
This early spring event is proving to be very popular with both riders that wish to keep their points tally ticking-over, and those that are AAA points chasing. The AAA bit comes early in the ride, so there's plenty of time to recover, and make good progress on easy roads/lanes for the finish of the ride. The ride is now worth 2AAA, up from previous years 1.75AAA.
Good quality controls used throughout, all have experience of handling AUK events, hot and cold food available at each control. A few km of off-road sections (either NCRs or SUSTRANS approved, and these can be avoided if wished). Only one major urban complex on the ride, and this is passed-through virtually traffic-free. The finish is at The Royal Hop Pole in Tewkesbury, there's plenty of room to park the bike, and again there's a good selection of food and re-hydration is possible until 11pm. GPS routes and comprehensive event details supplied to all riders on receipt of entry, reasonable all day parking at start, free parking at finish after 17:30 - should you want to move your car after you complete the ride and wait for any lift-sharers.
The event is already well subscribed (compared to previous years), as a consequence, event entry could close early.
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