DIY trip to see the Cerne Abbas Giant (again)

Ride Details

• Date Ridden - Saturday 22 June 2024
• Event Type - DIY (Mandatory)
• Points Distance - 200

Ride Stats

• Distance - 202.4 km
• Time - 9h19m5s
• Elapsed time - 11h16m43s
• Avg Speed - 21.7 km/h
• Elevation - 2071 metres
• Bike - Sabbath September AR-1

Ride Notes

As I hadn’t got my arse in gear to ride a CE this month, I decided to do a DIY based on a (tweaked) route I’d done before…. and resolved to get up early to make the most of the long day. This proved a good strategy as the sun was out when I set off from home, even though it was a little chilly. I therefore donned arm warmers and a gilet… a great decision because after about half an hour the sun legged it behind the clouds and the temperature dropped quite markedly.

The initial ride was flat(ish) to coffee at a new stop for me… Hamish’s Farm Shop & Café just off the A37 near Ryme Intrinseca (great names, eh?). The breakfast roll and coffee went down a treat!

The climb from Yetminster up to the main road to Cerne Abbas was actually lovely and the sweeping descent was great fun. Obviously the main man was on form (how does he manage that, I wonder) so I stopped to take a photo. The climb out of CA is a bit of a brute but was, unusually, traffic free and went quite well.

From there all was going swimmingly and the sun came out as I headed into Gillingham. The Costa in the high street was pretty empty so I decided to stop and get a coffee, treated myself to a tiffin and the nice Barista boy refilled my bottles.

From there I headed up to Kilmington Common and the Mendips on back roads and it was going okay until the little track that avoids the main road from Trudoxhill to Nunney. Its a bit ‘overgrown’ and I picked up a rear wheel puncture that wouldn’t seal - the tyre had a cut and, idiot that I am, I haven’t cheacked the sealant for a while. After a bit of faffing I put in a tube and was back up and running.

From Nunney across the Mendips was, frankly, horrible… the headwind was quite strong and the traffic seemed to be busier than usual. I was glad to get to Wells via the East Horrington descent. From Wells it was basically a ‘roll’ home apart from the small matter of the climb up Snake Lane.

June done and now 8/12 of RRTY 4 completed!