I DNS (did not start) the blacksheep audax from Tewksbury at the beginning of the month in favor of a last minute holiday to Spain with the Adventure Syndicate.This means another DIY audax. I plan a route to Lechlade in the Cotswolds via Pershore. The final control is at Stratford. The routes out of and back into Birmingham are tricky to plan without it being significantly over distance. My route to Pershore is the one suggested by google maps and follows a sustrans route through Redditch. Rather urban and with some off road sections I make a mental note to change this bit. I stop for coffee and cake at 'coffee and more' in Pershore. The toughest bit of the ride is Sudbury hill out of Winchcombe. It's a gruelling climb and I have to stop half way up. I pull over onto a driveway and notice the name of the house is 'St Kenelms' a steep hill near Birmingham. That can't be a coincidence!
Many of the villages near Lechlade are familiar to me as I visited the area frequently as a child. It's warm enough to sit outside in the cafe garden and I order a large slice of victoria sponge followed by bread pudding and clotted cream. My route back goes past Broadford tower which looks stunning in the late afternoon sun. My garmin appears to be indicating a right turn in to a field where I have inadvertently routed myself onto the cotswold way long distance walking trail. I take a slight diversion along the road. From this point on my motivation begins to lapse, I struggle on to Stratford. I arrive just in time to get a takeaway coffee and courgette and lime cake from the Pantry cafe.
Stratford feels like almost home but it is in fact another 35km back to Birmingham. My garmin leads me up a dead end road into an industrial estate. A security guard informs me that there is a bridle way on the other side but no road. I open google maps on my phone desperate to find an alternative route. I reroute via Ullenhall and soon find myself on familiar roads and continue home.
Glucose control was excellent, high overnight before the ride but managed to judge the correction perfectly. 4 units of levemir in the morning, 3 units of novorapid at pershore 2 units at Lechlade and 2 at Stratford. 6 units of levemir overnight after ride.
