My riding buddy, Gaz and I did the Cheddar Gorge 300 perm on Sunday, starting in Marlborough. We agreed to meet at 0500 to start and in a rush of blood to the head, I decided to extend it slightly by riding over from Lacock, leaving the house at 0345 in thick fog, which played havoc with my vision as my specs were covered in droplets.
Our first control was Bradford on Avon, where the papershop had just opened in time for a yoghurt and choccie bars, then onwards to Wells. This section was quite tough with loads of short, steep climbs on nadgery lanes in the Avon valley. Descents were cautious affairs with blind bends and gravel aplenty!
Arrived at Wells shortly before 9am and grabbed one of the sofas in Costa for breakfast rolls and coffee/hot choc with all the trimmings. Just as we headed out for the next leg, the heavens properly opened (rain was forecast from 1300 for a few hours, so this was a bit gutting!) and we donned jackets for a soggy schlep to Cheddar.
Not wanting to stay static and get cold, we controlled at a pound shop just off the bottom of the Gorge road. Unfortunately the receipt didn't give full location details, so we took a quick snap outside the showcave as backup evidence. One of my other passions is caving. Seeing the amount of water running down the gorge made me think of some of my favorite subterranean haunts which would be very much off limits to all except those with gills! (There are however, many caves where the extra water would've just upped the fun factor!)
The rain cleared as we crested the Gorge and as we began our descent off the Mendips towards Chew lake, we cheekily stopped in a driveway for a quick snap of the epic view. The resident turned out to be a lovely bloke called Nigel who is also an AUK member, so we ended up chatting about all things Audax for a while before heading off to the next control at Wick. This was another quite challenging section, negotiating flooded roads and lots of hills. We enjoyed a wonderful bit of cycle track alongside the Avon Valley Steam Railway and were fortunate to see a running engine near Bitton.
We controlled at a garage on the A420 at Wick, devouring a veritable feast of sarnies, crisps, yoghurts and milkshakes. We even found an outside tap round the back of the building for a freebie bottle refill. Sadly, within minutes of setting off, a single clap of thunder signalled the start of a biblical downpour that lasted a good 20 minutes and soaked us to the skin. Still, we pushed on towards Cirencester, enjoying some faster miles on the flat alongside the M4. Shortly after Malmesbury, Gaz ground almost to a halt with a pretty severe case of the knock. With teeth firmly gritted, we got to Cirencester at about 5pm, finding to our surprise a brilliant cafe still serving cake which we gorged upon!
Next stop, Witney, and we dialled back the pace a bit and made steady progress on the now flat route. A bit of a walk down memory lane for me, as we rode past the gates of RAF Brize Norton (Gaz is still serving, I left in 2015), then controlled at the busiest garage in the world, queuing for about 15 minutes for another calorie fest.
Witney to Lambourn was the turn for home and into a slight headwind. This was my favourite section of the whole day. To my great surprise, I felt really strong on the climbs up onto the downs near Uffington and the views were spectacular in the now glorious evening weather. My only issue was a sore arse, but to be fair I was on a new saddle (Brooks C15 carved), I'd neglected to bring chamois cream and I'd been in wet clothes for the best part of 15 hours. We controlled at a cashpoint in Lambourn, eating the last of the rations we had on us rather than buying anything else.
Lambourn to Marlborough took us straight past my (future) in-laws house in Mildenhall, which gave me the idea of asking for a lift back to Lacock, rather than riding as I'd originally planned. Yeah yeah, I know I'm a wimp, but I had a caving trip planned the following day and wanted the extra hour's kip! Dave (father-in-law in waiting), kindly agreed and met us in Marlborough high street after collecting the final cash point slip of the day.
This is a brilliant ride, with the bonus of 1.75 AAA points. The terrain is really varied, with some really poorly surfaced, technical lanes, cycle paths and everything in between. it goes without saying that the views on the Mendips and Lambourn downs are worth the effort and there are tons of really interesting control options; we chose some pretty dull ones in fairness and I'd plan this better if I did the ride again.