Shropshire Highlands Challenge

Sometimes the best things happen unexpectedly and without planning.  For me, riding the Shropshire Highlands Cycling Challenge turned out to be one of my best rides this year, and yet I only found out I’d be riding it the afternoon previously. 

I hadn’t entered, but my husband had.  I’d planned to allow him a day of hard-riding fun with his friends, and he planned to ride to and from Ludlow (the start point) at either side of the event to make the ride even longer and harder.  But a chance phone call made him change his mind and he asked me to come along on the tandem.  I looked at the map, and decided that this was my chance to ride those pesky little roads which I dare not ride on my own.  Pesky little hilly roads, that is. 

So we drove to Ludlow, arriving in good time to meet up with his friends.  We set off at a cracking pace in a fast group, and we rode furiously to the first checkpoint at Knighton, with only the climb through the Mortimer Forest to slow us.  As we drank tea and ate cake in the Community Centre, the rain came down in buckets outside.  But as we stepped out to continue our ride, the rain stopped, and our waterproofs were off almost before we put them on. 

The climb between Knighton and Newcastle was one I had looked at on the map with a mixture of fear and excitement.  It was tough, but not as tough as I’d anticipated, and it led us to extensive views over lonely valleys and isolated farmsteads.  A well chosen turn took us around the head of a steep valley with long views down the valley, where the more direct road dipped and climbed.  We skirted the ridge before dropping into Newcastle for lunch, the rain once again starting the minute we stepped inside.

Mainstone Valley

Again we were lucky, with no need of our waterproofs as we set off on the third leg.  Very quickly we tackled the next savage climb which was quite a test so soon after eating.  It led to an undulating ridge road, through wild hills to the west of where we live in Bishops Castle.  Described in our route sheet as “The Top of the World”, it was easy to see why Two Crosses earned that name.  From there, the views were far, the clouds having passed, and Corndon and the Long Mynd were clear to see.

Dropping into Mainstone and its pretty valley, Paul and I eased off, letting the fast-boys ride away from us.  We both had twinges in our various battle-scars and the short sharp climb into Cefn Einion seemed to hurt just a little too much.  But this meant we were on our own as we descended Blakeridge Hill, and it was just as well, as we topped 70kph.  Tandems go quickly downhill and overtaking at speed on narrow lanes can be dangerous.

Boots for Sale!

Passing within a mile of our home felt strange but we pedalled on, overhauling one by one some of the tired cyclists spat out of the fast group.  We covered the relatively flat roads to the final checkpoint at Aston on Clun quickly once we turned to ride with a following wind.  Once again we regrouped with our friends, two of whom were delayed by an unexpected deviation, and once again we watched the rain peter out just before we ventured out. 

The last leg began with the kind of gentle descent which tandems handle superbly.  We rode in a tight bunch with another tandem and two solos and it was simply magical, all the more so for me as it was so far away from my usual style of rather slow riding.  

When we finished, there was a finishing medal for Paul but not for me, because I hadn’t entered. But Paul gave me his to me.  I felt I fully deserved it, but then so did he, for enabling me to have this experience.  To ride with other people is a treat for me, normally my skills only equip me to ride alone toward the back of the field.  

Nevertheless I felt like a criminal for not entering as the organisers had done a fabulous job and I had benefitted from this without paying.  So I shall make up for it in future years, possibly by entering and then bottling out and not riding!

The Kerry Ridgeway from Edenhope Hill