Midweek Tour of the Cotswolds 104 km plus ECE

Wednesday 19 June saw my second participation in this event, starting from the village of Stonesfield a few kilometres west of Woodstock with the historic Blenheim Park. As my goal for 2024 is to achieve the Randonneur 10000 award again, I decided to use the Extended Calendar Event facility to convert this to a 200 km event by riding an additional 100 km.

The organisation, hospitality and refreshments at the start and the finish all proved excellent, as in 2023. I highly recommend this event for anyone who is free to ride midweek; it takes in beautiful countryside and some of the idyllic Cotswold towns and villages. Many thanks and congratulations to the organiser, Jacky. I heard her telling another rider at the finish that she was considering a new route for 2025; I look forward to it.

Woodstock to Stonesfield - ECE Part 1

With my loyal soigneur in the passenger seat, I drove from home to Woodstock. We left home early with the memory of last year’s lengthy diversion along the M40 followed by several miles of country roads and a traffic jam on the approach to Woodstock. This year it was an easy journey, giving me time to unload the bike, refit the front wheel and secure my bidons. Last year in my haste I had set off with my cycling glasses over my normal glasses, necessitating a speedy return to the car; determined not to repeat the same mistake, I still managed to set off wearing my normal glasses and had to return to the car before my soigneur drove back home. Note to self: try to cultivate a calmer approach!

At 19 km in length my route to the start at Stonesfield was a slight refinement of last year’s route which included a very minor road (little more than a farm track) that I missed, requiring a U turn which upset my Garmin and caused it to reboot mid ride; fortunately, it did not lose the data. On the basis that what can go wrong probably will, I almost always use my Garmin Fenix watch as a backup recording device.

At about 9 km towards the top of a small climb I saw two parked vehicles; one of the drivers told me to take care as they were driving sheep to the farm. A short distance further, “Get off the road!” shouted a farmer as he used his quad bike to drive the sheep on. I rapidly got off onto the verge!

Sheep ahead - "Get off the road!" — “Get off the road!”

Such a Variety of Riders and Bikes

I never cease to admire the variety of bikes whether at an event or parked in a railway station. Many of the participants were retired, with some having bikes that dated back a few years. In contrast, I spoke to a woman with a very smart Cube e-bike which she said she loved because she could go anywhere with it. When I asked about the range, she said that she had returned once from a ride of about 65 miles with 1% battery remaining. She added that her riding partner on his Cube e-bike was an expert at spare batteries: no range anxiety for them.

I introduced myself to a rider with one leg, who in turn introduced himself to me as Kevin. I admired the technology on his bike which had a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub and a cassette. Kevin explained that this setup enabled him to change gear while stationary if he stopped in too high a gear. Kevin had ridden from home near Bicester. Rides requiring an early start to travel by train were out for him because the person who switched on the lift at his local station arrived on the first train; this meant that the earliest train he could catch was the second train of the day. He told me that his next event was to be the Hundred of Kingston on Saturday 22 June; we would meet again on that event.

Riding Companions

Jackie set us off promptly at 10 am — Jacky set us off at 10 am promptly

As we set off I found myself cycling alongside Judith who had travelled from Bristol for this event. She could not ride events on Saturdays because she worked for an organisation selling used items that were too good to go to landfill. Judith added that she had never actually completed an Audax road event; this was to be her first although she was an experienced cyclist.

At about 8 km we reached the first info control: “type of vehicles this road is not suitable for” (or some such phrase). Answer: “motor vehicles” as a sharp left turn, which some riders missed initially, took us up hill on a narrow road that became little more than a track but perfectly rideable on a road bike.

A few km later we were joined by Sebastian who was riding a bike with SRAM Force equipped with a large rear cassette, ideal for hills. He said he thought that Judith and I were together: Judith assured him that we were not and they struck up a conversation while I dropped off the back for a while. Sebastian, originally from Poland, was a strong rider.

After the second info control we reached Chadlington where some riders had stopped at the renowned Cafe de la Post. Tempting, but I knew I had the second leg of my ECE after the Midweek Tour, so I pressed on. I met Judith again at the village of Lower Slaughter where I told her that I had to stop briefly to take a photo for my blog: “Go for it!” she replied.

I rode the next 7 km on my own to the lunch stop at the Cotswold Farm Park. Here cycle parking was on a “rack your bike” horizontal bar which makes securing cycles quite difficult. Although it’s a very low risk area, I got my brevet card stamped and passed by the cakes and coffee to eat my sandwiches where I could see my bike. It was a brief stop and briefer still for Kevin who was making steady progress as he rode strongly with his one leg.

A Ford

About 2 km after the lunch stop the road surface deteriorated to mud as I approached a ford. Some riders had gone through the mud, others had taken the bank. My choice was the bank, tip toeing as I half rode, half walked, taking care not to clog my cleats with mud. It was a bit of a challenge, more to avoid mud in my road cleats than for any other reason. The image below was taken looking back at the ford.

One of the many joys of cycling is that this is the sort of road/ track that very few motorists will see.

And so to Northleach and Burford and Stonesfield

The route joined the A429 for a very short distance before turning left into Northleach where we were asked to find the time from which parking is prohibited on market days - 7.15 am on Wednesdays, if you wish to know.

We continued on minor roads paralleling the busy A40, to reach Burford where we soon turned off the busy High Street. I stopped on Witney Street for a short break to eat my remaining sandwich and a gel before pressing on to the picturesque village of Minster Lovell with its common. A short climb on a narrow road took us out of the village for the last 10 or 11 km to Stonesfield.

Arrivee and ECE Part 2

Card stamped and ride validated, I feasted on the excellent malt loaf and cakes, thanked the volunteers (“We didn’t do much, just waited around,” one said modestly). As I set off at around 4.15 pm I saw riders completing the ride. I called out “Well done, you’ve completed your first Audax” to Judith but for some reason her name did not appear on the list of finishers. There were 25 who finished, not sure how many started but I am sure it was quite a few more.

For me, the hardest part of my ECE part 2 was to be the ascent of Nuffield Hill at about 60 km. Two years ago I would have found myself stopping for a break part way up this hill; it’s quite steep, then it flattens and finally is steep again. As I have grown older but ridden more, I can now ride up it even towards the end of a long day. Strength declines with age but exercise slows the process!

I reached Twyford Station just in time for the 20.35 Elizabeth Line train - but it was cancelled. The next train was showing as due until it wasn’t. I made a quick call home, to be urged to get the next GWR train to Paddington as the TfL trains were being cancelled one after another. I had decided to swap out my dynamo front wheel for the lighter wheel matching the rear and had not brought a front light with me; by the time I had lost hope of an Elizabeth Line train it was too late to cycle home even if I had been able to summon the energy.

It was a very long journey home from Paddington and not the best ending to an otherwise brilliant day. I look forward to Jacky’s new route for 2025.