Red Nose Day Ride Leader

As I mentioned last week, this Sunday was my turn to lead out the Pedallers on the monthly Sunday ride. I had been agonising over a route, as the objective of these rides is to be inclusive of all abilities and Mother Nature has not taken this into account when laying out Devon's landscape! Having published the route, I did hear of a few murmurings that the three climbs I had planned, the last one out of Stockland in particular, may be a little ambitious. It was with no surprise therefore, that when I arrived at our meeting point, 10 minutes before the off, I was the only rider.

Following a solitary five minute wait, a few Pedallers from further afield rolled up to join me and over the next 10 minutes a steady stream or arrivals brought our number to a far from expected total of 19! After the depart, I had heard that we'd reached the princely total of 22 riders, so must have picked up some late arrivals along the way.

The first climb up to Kilmington was a pleasing warm up, both in temperature, because the weather was looking decidedly bleak and in getting the legs spinning, being that the next two climbs would be  increasingly challenging.

Once out of Kilmington, we had the first of our A35 crossings to negotiate. This, on a Thursday night with 5-10 riders is no big deal, but on a Sunday with 22 riders was a different prospect all together. It reminded me of those natural history films where you see turtles or frogs perilously crossing a road on their return to the sea or a pond! Fortunately we all survived the crossing to enjoy a gentle and picturesque cycle along the River Yarty, stopping for a breather and a photo at the old Beckford Bridge. This is a regular spot for the Pedallers to take a group picture and is thus known more to us as The AVP Bridge.

The next destination was Stockland, a small village at the base of our 2nd big climb, the one which would test even the fittest. We paused here for a quick energy snack and to bit farewell to two riders who decided against making the ascent, but would meet us back at the finish.

Once at the top it was a smooth run to the Colour Wheel cafe above Honiton where we enjoyed coffee and cake out of the rain which had started to fall during our ascent. Once back on the road, the rain had lifted and it was a clear run down into Colyton for the Comic Relief: Red Nose event at the local garden centre where the ride was concluded over a glass of cider and hog roast accompanied by a Dolly Parton tribute act!