Cotswolds Classic X - Glorious Gravel

 Cotswolds Classic X - Glorious Gravel

My first Gravel Sportive. I don't actually have a gravel bike, and thought 90k might be a bit far on the hardtail mountain bike, so I used Anna's cyclocross bike. It is too small for me, but I have ridden it many times before and it was fine, though it did have a few problems coping with the terrain in places.

Anna and I drove down in the morning, and I was ready to go with plenty of time. I spilled electrolyte drink all over my gloves, so didn't wear them - sticky hands all day would be a pain. It was a little chilly, but I knew it would be a warm day so also ditched arm warmers and gilet (which is actually my long sleeve light rain jacket - I don't actually have a gilet).

Robert and bike at the start of the ride

Most riders had already set off, and when my group reached the road, only two us us turned left for the long course. I did not see that many people on the road, and cycled by myself for the whole duration. At many points I could not see anyone for long distances ahead and behind me. Anna ought to have booked a place too and joined me instead of enjoying herself looking around the beautiful Cotswolds for the day. 

After some tarmac, I turned right into a field. This was when I realised it could be a hard day. The dirt was hard packed, and very uneven. The bike pushed every bump into my arms. After a few minutes I wanted that to stop.  There were a few sections like this, but happily not too many.

I was following the pink arrows setup by the organisers, and I also had the route on my Garmin. I did not have any idea really where I was as I have never been in this area. It does make the day quite exciting, not knowing what's around the next corner - especially with gravel, where it might be through a hedge, up a grassy hill, or down a busy A road.

There was a good mixture of terrain, and quite a lot of climbing. I realised I was faster on the road than others, as I generally caught people there. Off road I was quite slow - I do not have the skills, and also maybe a dedicated gravel bike would have made a difference.

I was worried about running out of energy, as my training has mostly been indoor rides of around one hour. So when I got to food stops ( there were two) I filled up on sandwiches, crisps, sweets and cakes. I ate far too much in fact :)

I just could not cycle up the steep hills though; the bumping and sliding on rough terrain, and also in one place wet mud, forced me to walk in a few places. Hills were generally where I saw other people and I was walking as fast as they were riding anyway. There were only two decent climbs and a nice view at the top of one - the countryside was interesting in the first half especially and we cycled through Badminton Estate and passed some kind of big horse show.

I was looking forward to Fosse Way - an almost 20km straight stretch. I had images of leafy groves of trees with smooth gravel, and just relaxing and enjoying it. But it wasn't really like that. There were some bits where I could sit back and look around me, but there were a lot of junctions, some main roads, and I had to keep my wits about me. There was a nice ford, where I stopped and took a photo.

Bike by a small river ford

At one point I saw a massive airplane through the trees. It looked like it was sitting just in a field. I didn't know of any airport, but later discovered there is one called Cotswold Airport. I wonder where they fly to? (Update: it is a Boeing 747 - ex-British Airways and available to book for parties - but only on the ground :(

I was a bit tired after 85k, not too bad. But maybe that's why I made a wrong turn. The arrows said go left, and my Garmin said straight on. I followed the pink arrows, but some other riders called over and persuaded me to follow them on the Garmin route. We ended up in a very muddy wet field, where I gingerly walked around the huge puddles as best as I could. I'd managed to stay dry until then. I asked later and the organisers had made a last minute change to the route to avoid this bit. Note to self : always follow the arrows.

At the end I got my medal, and free 0% alcohol beer and waited in the sun for Anna - who turned up with a nice picnic.

Ride finish

Times/placings are not that important on Sportives. I did 90.84 km in 4:23:23. Bib number 4304 and official time of 4:42:15 - so I spent nearly 20 minutes at food stops or taking photos. 

Links: Strava Results Photos

Gallery of Photos from above

Photos of Robert taken during the ride

[Official event links often expire after a few months years, but included here anyway]