Well, that wasn't so bad in the end.
No start-line problems this weekend, so I was away in the bunch. However a few 10s of km in as I dropped onto the little ring the chain came off and I had to stop. A guy (Tim) I'd been riding alongside stopped to wait and we chased the bunch down (knackering) and then I overheated at the top so removed jacket and winter gloves. No more bunch for me. I assumed I was now last, and joined a small group of about 5, then tried to drop them, but failed to pull away so let them catch me and rode with 'm til Stow. I was surprised here to find that we weren't last at all - a lot of people had fallen off the back of the main bunch without me realising. Said hello to Mal V who I didn't recognise. Other familiar faces were around.
From Stow to Newent was good. Used the public toilets at Winchcombe, which saved some weight for the climb Grin - which was far easier than advertised and not at all "inhumane"! Reeled in a few people on the climb and then sort-of rode with them after the descent. I was on the front, for the entire flat section. I eventually stopped for a comfort break, and was overtaken by Mal V who I caught up with and rode with as far as Newent, which was pleasant. He let me know the next section would be the hardest.
The Newent to Chepstow section I rode entirely on my own, I passed a guy with a rear blowout on his 'bent, and asked if I had a spare tyre and it turned out someone else had already given him one. Pressed on, the section wasn't too hard apart from Brean being fairly tiring and I paused briefly in the village for a break. I saw a bike coming up the hill, and it turned out later it was MV, who actually got within a couple of bike lengths near the top (I didn't notice at the time since I was busy with being knackered) but when it levelled off I got away. He caught me at the Chepstow control and then left before I did, so I never saw him again.
In Chepstow, after the control, I managed to have an altercation with a driver, because I said "Don't cut the corner, mate!" as he did exactly so when I was approaching a T to make a right turn. So he turned round, chased me down and swerved in front of me to block me off, at which point a small argument ensued. "My mum's ill, and I'm in a hurry". So much of a hurry he had time to do all of that. Ho hum. I went my on way.
The next bit was a little tiring, riding on my own again but I found the climb to the Somerset Monument hard but not impossible. I stopped halfway because the sheep across the valley seemed to be going mad, though I couldn't see any cause. That's my excuse anyway. Once over the top it was easy to Malmesbury and my only proper cafe stop of the day at the summer cafe - pea and ham soup and bread, and a Cappucino. Two guys caught me here and we left together so ended up forming a small group and sharing the load. We did the two white horses climbs and stayed together til Membury services where my stomach started to rebel and I had to give it a while to settle. I could've used the toilets there but they were not very pleasant. I probably stayed there about half an hour.
The last climb was a long drag rather than being difficult, and I was able to descend very fast in the dark due to the Solidlights. Unfortunately my stomach started playing up again which slowed me down alot. I finished about 10.50 in the end, put the bike in the hotel room and then went to the garage to get a receipt.
It was beautiful weather yesterday and I was glad I took along a lighter jersey as I needed it from the Newent-Chepstow section on. Fantastic route too.
