If I’m awake at 5.30am on a Sunday, I’m either getting ready for a bike ride, or I’m already on one. Of course, the house could also be on fire, but let’s ignore that possibility…
On this particular Sunday it was the Somer Valley CC Mendip Sportive that I was riding, along with Gill (my wife) and Fran. It’s run by the club in a similar fashion to a sportive, with a well signed route, but it’s not typical – no timing chips, expensive sports food or gaggles of chaps comparing Strava segments, for example. Oh and no silly marketing boasting about the epicness of the ride either. The start was almost two hours from home, hence the pre-dawn alarm, but we like having an opportunity to ride on unfamiliar roads. As is our habit we let the rest of the bunch get a decent head start while we loafed about at HQ eating biscuits and chatting to Drew Buck (audax legend and ride organiser).
The morning was damp, with a muted autumnal beauty. On the horizon we could see Alfred’s Tower floating on a sea of mist. That may seem very poetic, but the multi-chevronned climb up to the Tower tends to inspire language of a more Anglo-Saxon persuasion, which seems rather fitting. There was homemade flapjack at the top, thanks to Jan Buck, which we enjoyed after stuffing our lungs back in.
I won’t bore you with the full value ‘we rode here, we looked at sheep, we saw a nice house’ ride description. All I’ll say is that it’s a cracking ride, the villages are ridiculously picturesque, the cakes were fantastic and I now know what a breakfast pie is (try the cafe at Nunney, in the shadow of the castle if you want to find out for yourself). Thanks to Drew and the rest of the crew at Somer Valley CC for a splendid day out. 🙂
Well Chuffed Comms 