So....... are the Cotswolds quite hilly? Again, the short answer, for me at least, is YES!
Yesterday we set off at about 9.15am. The weather was pretty gloomy, dark clouds skidding across the sky and a very chill wind assisting them on their way but we didn't feel too bad considering the previous days exploits. "Don't worry lads, it's pretty flat today." shouted Steve as we headed off, greatly reassured. The day before we'd climbed out of a little village called Weston Subedge up Dover's Hill. That had been a tough climb of about 230 metres almost straight up. As we sailed by the turning we'd taken yesterday I smiled, "not going up that one today" I thought! A few miles later though we did turn left and we started to climb, same hill, just a bit further along and not quite so steep. The height was certainly the same though! We then continued to climb, descend, climb, descend, climb ad nauseum! Still we weren't feeling the cold anymore!
We climbed on and got to the top..... actually, a top, there were plenty more to come. Definitely enjoyed the downhill from this one though. Maximum speed recorded on the CatsEye, 38.6mph, we were flying!
We carried on from there to Chipping Norton, where, after about 27 miles and who knows how many feet climbed we stopped for a well earned break. A steaming hot chocolate and a banana for me before we headed off again. We didn't take a map again but we'd written down the route and looked at a large map before we set out. Things were going pretty well & even Steves' Garmin seemed to be happy with our progress. The weather had warmed up and a few more hills were encountered before a pub lunch in Burford. I have to say the Cotswolds are beautiful, we passed thatchers up in the roofs and stone masons building the dry stone walls that abound. Some of the houses are just fantastic, must be a lovely place to live. Out of Burford we were again assured it must be downhill from there. Unfortunately that was just wishful thinking. We started off following a very minor road along the delightful banks of the River Windrush, we were lulled into thinking there were no more hills but soon we started to climb again. Steve was calling out our height above our starting position, the Garmin was good at that! 230 metres, 240 metres....... 290 metres and we only had about 10 miles to go. As he shouted out 300, we could see why, we came to the edge of an escarpment, the downhill should have been fun but ended up being a bit dodgy. We set off quickly as you might imagine, rounded a couple of corners & fortunately braked a bit because around the next corner, about 20 metres away, the road was gated. No signs, no warnings, just a 5 bar gate..... we all simultaneously braked hard and started sliding towards the battered gate. Luckily we came to a stop just short of the gate but others before obviously hadn't, there were dents all over it! After opening up the gate we continued down, as we were nearing the foot of the hill we had to quickly apply the brakes again...... a herd of cows had decided to congregate around and in front of the cattle grid that marked the end of the downhill. Not sure who were more concerned, us or the cows! Throughout the day we also had a running commentary of our pain, posteriors were beginning to feel the worse for wear! Literally....... Of course, its not your bum that hurts its the area between........ perhaps that's a blog too far! So, you have your answer to questions 2 & 3. All questions to date, most certainly in the affirmative!
Stats for the day, 5hrs 44mins in the saddle, 72.6 miles at an average speed of only 12.6mph. 5500ft climbed, fastest speed 38.6mph.
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