I rocked up at The Deli in Belbroughton a bit early yesterday morning and had the place to myself (except a Robin) for a bit while I scoffed an underwhelming sausage sandwich. That prompted a 2nd breakfast of some lovely doorstop toast dripping in butter and a pot of tea, much better!
I was unsure how many would turn up as normally the school holidays depress the numbers usually but we had another good turnout with some more newbs along for their first Gravelton Event. Always great to see!
After a quick chat, where I forgot to do the obligatory group photo, we all rolled just after 10am for the first couple of miles of tarmac to the first bridleway. As we all turned into the Sion House farmyard I think the chap in the yard was a bit taken aback watching us all filter through his tiny gate. Good to see the far corner gate gone now though. Here I jumped ahead to get onto the steep climb across the road so I could capture some rider pics. All was going well until my phone froze on a black screen. So I missed a few. Done, I jumped back on and caught everyone up just before the sandy skills test descent. No offs here, everyone seem to negotiate the sand fine, just a few foot dabs.
Find my unedited rider pics album here
We all regrouped and tackled the next bridleway shortly after popping out on the A456. It was the next sector that stopped us in our tracks though. Having ridden the trail last Monday, all clear, it was completely blocked by a fallen tree which cued a scramble up a bank onto the edge of the adjacent golf course to get round it. I hung back just to make sure the next batch of riders knew where to go. I even removed some nettles by hand so the gap at the top of the bank was a bit more obvious if anyone else came through.
This left me off the back of the front group so I pushed on through the next sector and enjoyed a solo ride down the canal to Kidderminster where a group had gathered where the route crossed the canal and dipped under the main road. The towpath was dry and in great condition and felt a bit quieter than normal.
At Stourport a couple of us exited the towpath together and rode up to Burlish Top. I really enjoyed this descent to the outskirts of Bewdley. It’s always a skill to follow the correct path around the trees as it splits in a couple of places and you can find yourself off the main trail if you’re not careful.
In Bewdley we had to negotiate the flood alleviation work by using the pavement briefly before crossing the temporary one-way bridge into town.
I was on my own now so I settled into a steady rhythm and climbed out of town and over the top to drop into the forest and pick up NCN Route 45. Initially it’s a nice, wide disused railway line before cutting left and climbing upto the Visitors Centre. Here I saw a couple of riders having a break. I decided to carry on and followed the wide forest road out past the Go-Ape centre. However, at some point I missed the right hand turn which should have too me back down to the railway line. All forest roads look the same I think. Instead I kind of the cut the corner off this bit of the route and got to Dowles Brook a lot quicker than I expected which confused me somewhat. I checked my phone but I had no signal either so I just carried on. The moral of this story is use a map, not your nose lol.
It’s the long, draggy climb from Dowles Brook which usually begins to undo me on this ride but I just knocked it back a touch and found it pretty straightforward to be honest. The legs were feeling good.
From Button Oak I found myself chasing a roadie down to Arley. He bottled the first steep descent so I went past him just to psyche him out a bit but I was then on the brakes at Arley Station hoping The Flying Scotsman may be there. Unfortunately not but I know other riders got to see it.
I walked across the bridge at Arley. I was going to stop at the tearoom there but it looked busy and I was feeling fine so I carried on, climbing away from the River then up into Eymore Wood to Trimpley Reservoir.
The road climb from here is another long one which I just settled into. It was the highest point of the ride bar the summit finish so it was good to get it out of the way. Next up was Hollies Lane byway which had deteriorated quite a bit on the first section. It was pretty rough and knarly but gave way to much better gravel which I think was the best I’d seen on the latter sections of it.
As I approached the canal for the return leg I spotted a couple of riders in the car park. I wondered if anyone had done the short course. Some had it turns out, maybe it was them? The towpath was still quiet enough to ride almost uninterrupted. I did catch three leisure cyclists at the tunnel who were dismounting to walk it. I jokingly said it’s more fun to ride it and they let me through. It does take a bit of confidence to ride it. A pretty low ceiling, narrow towpath and you can’t see the floor and riding in sunglasses is a no-no too. You literally can’t see.
Canal done, I climbed my way to the Whittington Lane byway still feeling great. Not suffering just made me enjoy this ride so much more. I’d forgotten how good the next few km were. A string of byways and bridleways almost all interlinked and no gates (or walkers) either, which is rare.
At Blakedown it was a short climb over Knoll Hill and one more bridleway to tackle before the summit finish. The trail was fine despite trying to garrote myself with an overhanging bramble. I think I was more pissed it had ripped my jersey by the collar.
I popped out at Clent village so the only way now was up. Initially it was a gentle gradient up Church Avenue then a left and the start of the climb of Odnall Lane, a right onto Mount Lane to Adams Hill then the gradient pitched up sharply and the final climb began proper. From here there were only a few yards of tarmac left before the steepest section offroad around the bends. The trail was very dry and loose so you had to pick your line a bit but once the steepest section was over, I went through a couple of gears and found the mid-section fine before the last pull to the top.
I hung around for about 20 mins at the top hoping I’d catch others finishing but no joy. I was getting cold so I donned my gilet and arm warmers and began my ride home. I don’t think the legs liked the 20 min break at the top though.
With 60 miles in the bag, it was nice not to finish absolutely smashed for once and I think knocking the overall distance and climbing back a notch for the event was the right thing to do. It’ll be back on the calendar for next year but no doubt I’ll tweak the route again
Thanks to everyone who rode over the weekend and supported the ride. Gravelton Events takes an official break in August, no event, but I am off to the Forest of Dean to recce some new routes for 2026. It’s The Brampton Valley Bash up next in September which dials the climbing right down compared to the last few rides. See you there
Adios
