Yesterday I attended the first gravel ride hosted by a local bar, Bayleys of Bromsgrove. I have no idea about the background or how it came about, I was just alerted to it by a friend in the week and decided to give it a go.
I got up yesterday morning not feeliing the best. I’d had a late night hosting and playing in a darts tournament laden with plenty of beer and my stomach was playing up. I was 50/50 for going but decided to go to ride my bad head and dicky tummy off.
I left at 9.15am and rolled down to the bar where there were plenty of bikes leant up against the windows. We had a quick briefing from the owner and rolled together through town and headed out onto some familiar trails. There must have been 20+ in the group which was great to see.
On the outskirts of town we hit our first single track and climbs which began to split things up. On the outskirts we picked up a trail I’d never done before for whatever reason. All rideable except the end of one bridleway at Drayton was a locked gate which was a pain, particularly for the MTBs with us all having to lift our bikes over a very high gate.
Locking a gate on a bridleway can be a criminal offence under The Highways Act 1980 if its deliberate. I’ve reported locked gates on bridleways before Ironically on one of the trails we rode before we got to this gate and it’s never been locked since. They are public rights of way. It may seem pedantic but imagine if someone deliberately blocked a road!
The locked gate split the group and I was in a smaller group on the front now as we picked our way across a range of familiar bridleways. Some I use on my Wyre We Riding route.
We stopped a couple of times to allow some to catch up but just outside Blakedown I realised I needed to crack on because I needed to be back for an appointment. So I rolled away slowly to try and ‘encourage’ everyone to follow. A couple did but we got split up on one sector just before Harvington and then I was in the lanes on my own so I decided to open the taps a bit and head back as quickly as possible staying true to the route.
It was going well until I met a hunt and the associated vehicles who were actually a very polite and friendly bunch. I managed to pick my way through the melee then get back to Bromsgrove through Sanders Park.
I didn’t go directly back to the bar instead I just rode through town and straight home, arriving home about 20 mins later than I wanted to but still early enough to make our appointment to see a potential kitten we’re hopefully going to rehome.
Next up…The National Forest Explorer next weekend
One Response
Good to find a local gravel/trail riding group & based at a bar! 🍻 Always good to find trails you didn’t know about.