The temperature was probably a bit too hot at around 80 degrees but we went anyway. There were three of us this time, Grahame, Jason and myself.
This ride is about a 8 mile loop starting from the pub in Upton Cheyney (Cheyney Inn) and has been rated as CLASSIC by the national mountain bike magazine MBR
I started off from my house and spent 25 minutes trying to get to Gray's without riding up any big hill's! Still I got there in the end and we were off. The next pick-up was in Bitton to meet Jay under the bridge. Quick stop there for me to tighten my saddle and Gray to pump up his tyre (as normal!) The first part of this ride (to get to the start point) is along the main roads and then up a pretty mammoth hill in to Upton Cheyney - this has high bush bank's on either side and if you weren't aware of the superbness of the ride would be enough to put you off! Still we carried on up the hill past the pub and on to the start of the bridleway. We climbed all the way to the golf course then stopped to catch our breath and admire the view - Oh and Gray pumped up his tyre again! The next section took up through some lovely double track past the woods, across the main road and on to a superb but overgrown downhill. We completed the downhill quite quickly considering all the thorns and stinging nettles that we mounting some sort of suicide attack against us all! When at the bottom and comparing battle wounds it was off uphill again! Through some lovely Hamlets and on to the next killer climb. This ascent took us up to another section of excellent single track that ends in a quick downhill and a ford! Luckily the ford still had water in it so we all received a refreshing below the knee shower. I did think about stopping and having a paddle to cool down but on the exit of the ford there's a short but steep uphill, so a quick exit was on the order for me. This short climb levelled out for a couple of hundred yards and then on to the long ascent with the dog to watch out for! A few more miles through country lanes to refresh the legs and then the final bit of single track - this is a fairly technical downhill which ends up going through and following a brook, we have to be very careful here as the bed is covered in slime and will ditch you at any opportunity! Much to our disappointment the brook had dried up! So we struggled on and out the ditch. That's pretty much it for the loop, except for the long uphill up to Upton Cheyney and then over the top of the hill and back out on the main road again.
I left Gray at the top of Willsbridge Hill and began my slog home - which I decided to do through the woods to try and keep in the shade and out the sun. When home I had an extreme case of the munchies and relaxed in a cool bath with a nice big bowl of chilled Maltesers! What a day.
This ride never fails us and we rate it very highly. The fact it's local enough to ride to is just an added bonus.
NOTE: Just in case you're interested: Grahame got to the bottom of his never-ending deflating, it was his valve cap - when you tightened it up - it undid the valve (presta).