All the info arrived on the Thursday before, and the only doubt was with the weather which was unsettled - it was unclear if it would just about stay dry or rain heavily. On the morning I erred on the side of caution and wore longs, a base layer, short sleeve top and a long sleeve top - it was showery and very windy. Turning up at the event base (Worcester Rugby Stadium at Six Ways) suggested an increased risk of rain so I also put my overshoes and waterproof top. I set off in the first group at about 10.30. It started showering a bit more and I was glad of my waterproof. I managed to hang on the back of the first group for about 5-6 miles but could not hold the pace and dropped back knowing I needed to pace myself for the whole ride (about 48 miles).
The route was "interesting"- there was a stretch of what looked like it used to be dual carriageway but has now been painted to make it a single lane - the traffic kept its distance but it was fats moving. Fortunately this was only about 2 miles. Along this stretch I was following another ride who looked like he lost concentration for a few moments and he rode into the kerb, did a forward role and landed in the nettles and grass. I stopped but he was OK. I rode on for some more and got caught by a 2nd ad then 3rd group over the next 5-10 miles or so. For this stretch the weather was showery and sufficiently wet to keep my waterproof on but progressively dried out and I started to get too warm. In the end I stopped and stuffed my jacked into my jersey. This was after the first climb. Obviously having then got pretty warm on the ascent I then got quite cool as the route was more level and down hill. However I definitely needed to have the jacket off for the biggest climb (which Strava rated as a Cat 3). After this bigger climb I was pretty well Billy No Mates for the next hour or so seeing hardly anyone nor getting passed.
Buy about 20 miles to go it started to shower again- given that those 20 miles might take another hour or so I put my jacket back on again. I got caught and passed by a few riders (from St Johns Cycling Club Worcester I think) whilst putting the jacket back on but I managed over a few miles to drag myself back to them and cling on to get a bit of tow. This made a big difference and my speed for the last hour or so was a bit better. There was a small climb after a bridge and that group split slightly - myself and quite a big rider got dropped. The rider I was with was not a climber but he could motor on the flat. A few miles later there was a small ascent and I passed him as I needed to go a little faster for my natural cadence. We then rode onto the A38 - not the best choice of road for cycling although it was fortunately quite quiet. The roundabout to get onto it felt slippery and I was cautious - correctly because on the slip road there was a rider on the side of the road - upright but looking winded - with a car stopped next to him so first thought was he'd been knocked off - I stopped but he had slipped on some oil or something and was relatively OK - winded and some road rash. So I moved on again and rode the last few miles back to the rugby stadium.
Total ride time was 2:39:15, 46.1 miles, 2733 feet of climbing and an average speed of 17.5mph:
I was pretty tired but happy with the time - I'd have liked to have made 18mph but the mucking about with the rain jacket didn't help and I was never quite the right temperature and felt tired - especially in the middle hour.
Its clear Autumn is here - longs and a base layer is the first time for months.
The route could have used less busy roads but once off those it was petty good - I have never cycled around there so it made a good new area on my cycling map zoomed in around South Birmingham:
The highlighted (blue) ride is to Mucklow Hill and the ride on its own to the right is the Ride Like a Pro route
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