Rideout Report - Swindon

The team road.cc rideout tour bus landed in Swindon last weekend to take on the quiet lanes of Wiltshire and the Cotswolds. Thankfully the weather stayed fine, the company was great and Hargroves Cycles even laid on the hot chocolate.

Sunday was one of those mornings, damp, a bit windy and grey, very grey – not one of those mornings where you really want to drag yourself out of bed and get out on your bike. But come out you did and what a range of riders we had, really highlighting what a broad church cycling encapsulates. It was great to see.

The shorter route was delayed with a pre-departure puncture so the long group rolled out first winding our way out of the town crossing, yep, as you’d expect with it being Swindon, many, many roundabouts but we were soon in the lanes heading for Cirencester.

The pace was brisk and our group of twelve were certainly getting in the groove as we rattled through the ever so slightly pot-holed lanes. It was quiet mind, I bet we only saw a handful of cars in the next hour and a half.

There was plenty of banter going on and the way we were moving felt like it was a weekly club run rather than a group of people that met up an hour ago. We covered the twenty-eight miles to the café stop at a pace of 17.5mph although we still didn’t manage to beat the short group who’d bagged all the parking spaces and the seats.

Speaking of the short group, they took the more direct route to Cirencester through similar leafy lanes and with only a couple of hundred meters of climbing in the entire route the pace was kept high averaging around 14mph. An impressive figure for the eighteen or so miles considering the wind. 

Coffee and cake imbibed and off we rolled, all of us. Both groups were heading on the same sixteen mile route back to Hargroves’ Swindon store which means we were soon spread out all over the local lanes. Everyone had found their own pace and group though and some personal achievements were being settled.

Rolling up at the ride HQ were many mud-splattered but smiling faces with tales to tell of the mornings ride. Hargroves had laid a post ride spread on of sandwiches, Italian meats, cheeses and more importantly cakes to refuel some tired legs.

On the whole it was a great ride and we really thank you for coming out and joining us. To have such a diverse group of riders start, yet all arrive at the finish with the same emotion on your face was surely a sight to see.

A massive bundle of kudos goes out to one of the riders who was back on the bike after she had been recently hit by a car. I for one know that takes a massive amount of courage so congratulations and we’re so glad you came out.

Our next rideout is in Chichester on the 21st of February with the routes being devised by team road.cc member Ian Upham. Hargroves Cycles are hosting us again so you can expect plenty of food, coffee and technical support.

Full details will be up real soon.

Register here.