To make up for the absence of a post last week (work got in the way / was still drying out / overcome with excitement re the steam engine / forgot/…) then a double header this week.
So last week saw a more ‘select’ (reduced anyway) group of riders head off to Cranmore and the Old Railway Station (apparently the home of the East Somerset Railway) – this was a new one for the Intermediates and Grupetto who normally opt for Shepton but decided to give it a go – In short a really good ride, bit damp on the way back, coffee and cake nothing to write home about and there wasn’t a lot of interest from the groups in the trains.
Moving on to today – with Double Gates in Godney the planned coffee stop, which regular readers will recognise as home of one of the best flapjacks in the area. Whilst the Fast group headed for Langport, the couple of Grupetto riders were absorbed into the Intermediates for a pacy spin across the levels – Leaving Congresbury a gentle bimble through Puxton to Banwell was disturbed by a short sharp climb past Banwell caves and an increase in pace as the group headed to Mark and across to Sweets before on to Godney – during this there were 100s of riders coming the opposite way (FlanRou participants?), although hard to tell given the effort needed at times to hold the wheel in front. Arriving at Godney we discovered how popular Double Gates had become with groups of riders from across the region arriving and leaving during our stop.
The trip home left the back lanes for the main road to Wedmore and then Cheddar, where spurred on by the flat profile so far the group decided to go over Shipham Hill (just for fun) before winding back through Wrington and onto home
