There are still a few places available for those wanting to get their RTTY ride for February out of the way as early as possible. The route traces through pretty lanes and roads through Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, the Wye Valley, South Gloucestershire, the cotswolds and an easy finish through the Severn Vale. Controls at Allensmore, Chepstow, Malmesbury.The controls are aware of - and are looking forward to cyclists visiting.
At this time of year, the temperature could 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 ammounts 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.
The route follows countryside on public roads roads/lanes that may contain steep ascents and/or descents, along with any other features that public thoroughfares may have, please familiarise yourself with the route, as per AUK handbook notes. You have been made aware.
Ride departure & arrivee from the Royal hop Pole PH in Tewkesbury.
BlackSheep CC is keen to ensure that as many of the rides hosted are recognised not only by AUK but also ACP. To this end BlackSheep CC are only able to provisionally validate this ride.
Brevets cards will be retained at the end of the event to enable this particular validation process at the end of the event, Your brevet card will be returned to you once they have been formally validated.
Up to date route sheets and GPS files are available to download at
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/16-180/ The controls are all fairly evenly spaced, although there will be places to stop in between should you so wish.
Please also refer to the event page on the AUK website for further, weather, travel and facilities info.
Please note the GPS files have been generated with maximum definition for profiling purposes. And as such probably has too many track points for most GPS units, it is a relatively simple task to reduce this to a number suitable for your unit. First of all, save the file attached to your hard drive. You then need to go to the Bikehike website (other sites may also offer this service). And once on the create route page, upload the file. Once uploaded, click on the options box, and enter the number of points you wish to reduce to. Then click reduce, you can then down load this file to your hard drive and then to your GPS, I don't think it's possible to download direct to your GPS from the web site.
If you're going to utilise them, please use the files that best suit your machine, and I leave you to make that decision. I'm not an expert in the workings of individual GPS units. And will not be able to answer individual queries concerning the files' suitability. If you have specific download issues, I suggest you contact the relevent official within AUK, the files are proven as fit for use.
There are also numerous car parks in town you can use, none are more than five minutes cycle from the ride departure. Further information can be found at
http://Tewkesbury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1801 please be aware some car parks have height restrictions, so if your bike travels on the roof - be aware there may be a degree of interference between bike and barriers. If this causes you an issue, and the resultant effect likewise are your responsibility.
The popularity of the events from both Tewkesbury and Bushley continues to rise, more and more cyclists are travelling to the events from further away. This inevitably means they are either departing their homes extremely early, or camping/sleeping in cars somewhere en-route.
In and effort to ensure everyone has the opportunity to eat something before they venture-forth "sur le velo", a light breakfast will be offered free of charge to all. Energy-wise it should certainly be enough to get you to the first control where you can have another breakfast in true "Hobbit" fashion.
The Royal Hop Pole, is shown as S/F on the "Start Map" jpg. I would suggest parking your bike at the rear, access is via St. Mary's Lane. - there's plenty of space, just don't block the fire escapes or tables in the smoking area.
The Royal Hop Pole opens at 07:00, so if you wish to have a light breakfast (included in entry fee), please arrive earlier rather than later
Those going for max VFM, you may need lights 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 centre
http://www.outofthehat.org.uk/,
The JD Wetherspoon (also the ride departure & arrivee) in the centre of Tewkesbury is a hotel
http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/hotels/the-royal-hop-pole.
There's both Premier Inn
http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/TEWBRE/tewkesbury and Travelodge
http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/401/Tewkesbury-hotel both about a mile from the start, (both on M5J9),
There are campsites at the locations below, but it may be worth checking if they're open in winter.
Lower Lode, it's about a 20 minute cycle ride from the start/arrivee, further details at
http://www.lowerlodeinn.co.uk/ Haw Bridge, roughly 25 - 30 mins away by bike.
http://www.hawbridgeinn.co.uk/ Croft Farm camp site 5 - 10 minutes from the start, quite a few cyclists have used it in the past - and have rated quite highly.
http://www.croftfarmleisure.co.uk/ As the ride starts at 7:30 a.m. to maximise the use of daylight, you will need lights for the earlier part of the ride - please make sure you have them and they're fit for purpose.
