Mr. Pickwick's March Madness

Ride Details

• Date Ridden - Saturday 1 March 2025
• Event Type - Calendar Event
• Points Distance - 200

Ride Stats

• Distance - 210.49 km
• Time - 9h39m11s
• Elapsed time - 10h39m57s
• Avg Speed - 21.8 km/h
• Elevation - 2388 metres
• Bike - Sabbath September AR-1

Ride Notes

My third 200 in as many weekends!

Got up early for the drive to Tewkesbury - glad I did so I could bag a parking space in the car park next to the depart. Mark, as usual, organised food at the pub….. so I had a bacon and egg bap and a coffee. Food of champs and a great second breakfast.

There was a big field and we set off en masse into the frosty, misty and very cold morning. Lucky - as last year I was told it was snowing. The section towards the first big climb was a bit sketchy in places but the view once up top was lovely back across towards Tewkesbury. The first cafe control at 46km was a little early and very busy so I got a stamp and carried on. From there the climbing really started - up and down with each one getting a lttle more challenging. Having missed a control I was forced into and unscheduled climb before heading into the Forest of Dean towards cafe control #2. The weather was really nice and the ride matched it - lots of swoopy decents, climbing… obviously, and lovely views.

Afer a bite to eat, I headed out and before long was rolling up the hill to a village called Bream on the edge of the Forest - I noted a nice cafe there at the top which could be of use in future.

The decent into Cheptsow, passing Offas Dyke, meant a brief excursion over the border into Wales, before negotiating the traffic for the Severn Bridge crossing.

Once back in England the route followed familiar roads northwards through the Severn Vale to cafe control #3 on the Sharpness canal near Slimbridge. It was busy, so after a quick drink, a water bottle fill, and a Nakd bar I teamed up with a small group to negotiate the canal towpath and Gloucester Docks (where the smell of weed was very evident - apparantly). Once on the A38 the others thought it’d be a good idea to TT to the arrivee - I hung on for as long as possible before sitting up with about 5km to go.

All in all a great day out in the sun.