Cheddar Wells and back with Jason

On the weekend before the Welsh Velothon event, I headed over to Taunton to meet up with one of my riding partners, Jason, for a pre-event training ride over to Cheddar Gorge. In the book of 100 climbs, Cheddar is number one, so also a good chance to tick another off the list. This route was also a good test for the Velothon, which similarly has long spin across the Levels and big climbs up The Tumble and Caerphilly Mountain.

The weather started cool but was forecast for the sun to shine so in my shorts and tee shirt jersey I felt a little frozen as we headed set off towards Bridgewater. We followed the course of the M5 north for 10 miles, repeatedly crossing the motorway until we skirted Bridgewater and entered the Somerset Levels and Moor for real. Once away from the traffic, the ride became a joy and to top it all, the sun started to stream through the thinning clouds.

We reached Cheddar after around 2 hours and 30 miles of pedalling. At the foot of the climb we stopped at a friendly cafe and watched the stream of cycling pilgrims pass left and right as they made their way up and then down the gorge. Filed up on caffeine and carrot cake we remounted and started our ascent.

We had agreed to stick to our preferred cadence and speed and so we parted company after a few hundred yards. The climb was spectacular, not in any way as long as Mont Ventoux but still quite spectacular with its switch back hairpins and steep rock walls. Near the top, someone had painted 1km and 200m marks and even a finishing line. I turned around at this point and dropped back down to check on Jason .. big mistake! The Strava segment must have finished a few metres beyond the road markings as I received no time for my climb, another KOM lost, because as you know, if it's not on Strava it didn't happen!

The Tarmac at Wells Cathedral

Having climbed so high, approximately 800ft, the descent into Wells was well worth the pain. Wells was buzzing. The sun was now turned up high and everyone seemed to be out to enjoy it. We dropped off the main through road to visit the Bishop's Palace and Wells Cathedral. Jason has been working over hear quite a bit recently so was able to show me the impressive tourist sights.

From Wells we passed through Glastonbury and then back out onto the Levels. The stretch of narrow roads passing between Middlezoy and High Ham were incredible. It was like riding on the Fens. Irrigation ditches lined either side of the raised road which themselves stretched out as straight as a plumb line before us. When we reached a turn in the road, it was either a 90 degree left or right with the same view of the road disappearing into the distance. Had we had more energy in our legs, we could have reached serious TT speeds along these 10 miles of track.

Riding the Levels!

Off the levels, it was a short hop back into Taunton where we passed evidence of the Taunton Flyer, the sportive ride taking place today on which our other Velothon parter, Ed, was getting in his last minute training miles.

It great to ride out with Jason again, although I think he suffered a bit through not having managed to get as much distance training into his legs as he would have hoped, particularly this close to next week's Velothon.