Yesterday was The G60. The second event in my mini-gravel series of events I’ve put together this Summer. Just 60km this time after the 160k epic that was The Gravelton a month ago but with over 1000m of climbing, still a tester of anyone’s gravel mettle.
The 10am start was only 10 mins from my house but around 9am after sitting in the garden supping my coffee it started to rain. It picked up to the point I thought fuck but after about 30 mins it did back off and was only a dribble when I left the house which was actually quite refreshing on the ride to the start.
There were a few riders already there. One had his bike upside down in bits and his other ebike with a trailer. It didn’t compute initially but he ‘d ridden there on a bike with his gravel bike on the trailer on the back. He’d lost one of his QR skewer ends en-route and decided to ride the event on his trailer ebike but I still can’t work out why he didn’t ride his gravel bike to the start? But fair play to him for not giving up. I loved the spirit.
Bang on 10am the Gorilla’s arrived to boost the numbers and then another couple of riders turned up too, one with cleat issues. He’d lost a cleat bolt and couldn’t unclip. After some help and the donation of a bolt from trailer guy, he was good to go and we all rolled out about 10.15 am.
It was a steady start but as we began to climb upto the Lickeys to begin the offroad, the group stretched and fractured leaving six of us upfront.
The first climb up some steps set the tone of the ride for me. Testing.
We rode over to the other side of the Lickeys and took on the first descent and I was feeling a bit perky pushing it a bit using my local trail knowledge to my advantage picking the best lines.
Great views atop Waseley gave way to a welcome descent although it wasn’t long before the slog up Walton Hill which confirmed the real climbers amongst us.
A special mention to ‘Big’ Mat on his Surly singlespeed at this point. I haven’t seen Mat for years. He used to have a BigMat-Aubervilles 93 top he used to wear which coined the name which was perfect given he’s 6 foot something and called Mat 🙂
We dropped off Clent and then had quick run into the next section, a singletrack bridleway which reminded me of the peloton speeding up in Paris-Roubaix before they hit the Trouee d’Arenberg. It’s a long straight gravel track that just runs out and you hit the singletrack fast however the whole trail was freshly strimmed which meant we all picked up some foliage along the way which required removal from our derailleurs afterwards.
The next section was probably the roughest. Some hardpacked tractor tracks, a massive stagnant pool and the first nettles of the day meant we got our first tingle. It was only short and wasn’t long before the next section. Here we turned into someone’s farmyard to ride through it to pick up the bridleway on the other side. I always feel like I’m trespassing but the owner did direct us the correct way and was nice about it.
The steep climb at Barnet Hill was hard and after more nettly singletrack the sandy descent almost caught me out.
After the initial climbing we were now on the ‘plains’ of Hagley and Stourbridge on some of their best local bridleways all close together too so it feels like you’re constantly offroad.
Hagley done, we popped out from between the houses and had to ride a short section of busy A road before back to Clent for another dose of elevation.
We took on the Adams Hill road climb where a couple decided to stop and wait for the others which left four of us to tackle the outer trail and climb up towards Nimmings then back on ourselves upto the Four Stones for the view that never stops giving. And Mat was still with us! Sometimes pushing but still with us!
We dropped off the top and missed a turning and decided to just ride a bit further round but we lost one as he carried on and didn’t hear us. I was told later this was Bryan, Giro Stage Winner Ben Healy’s dad. Lovely guy and a shame we lost him. We stopped and waited at the bottom while I tightened my headset up but he never showed so we carried on to the last real climb of the day and quite a long section up and over Calcot Hill which burned my last but one match I think. And the gate was open at the top which was nice.
A super steep descent took us immediately into the shaded Munches Lane sector. Done we carefully crossed the A491 and rode back into Belbroughton before quickly back out and up the last dry but hard packed and bump bridleway. Just Pepper Wood to do and Mat was finally beginning to pop as was I but I wasn’t on a Surly. The three of us regrouped in Fairfield with all the climbing and offroad done and rode back to the pub together for a well-earned beer in the sun to meet the other guys as they rolled in.
Thanks to everyone that turned out. It was great to meet some new faces and catch up with some mates too. Big shout out to Chris who was clearly the fastest up the climbs on the day but ride of the day goes to Mat on his Surly. Don’t know how he did it.
…and I guess trailer guy dismantled his bike, put it on the back of the trailer and rode home. Legend!
