Author: Jim Palmer
Date: 28th July 2024
Over the weekend of 27/28th July 2024 a group of four Wheelers completed the Kemble Round. This is a 160km / 3000m largely off-road route around the South & West Cotswolds. The route was designed by a Kemble local during lockdown, and published here: https://thekembleround.uk. It is free to use, but a donation to Great Western Air Ambulance is requested.
The route nominally starts and ends in Kemble, but we opted to start and finish in Winchcombe, being the nearest point to home, with an overnight stay at the Bear of Rodborough on Minchinhampton Common, roughly half way round (very roughly as it turned out).
The four of us, Chairman Adam Witchell, Kris Turner, John Allies and myself (Jim Palmer) set off from Wincombe, and started with a tough climb up onto Cleeve Common to join the route. We had a brief delay whilst waiting for a group of Morris Dancers to clear the lane, and stopped for coffee at Rencomb village stores, and lunch at a pub in Cirencester. We then continued through Kemble and on to our overnight stop. The first day had been relatively easy, with around 80km and 1100m of climbing.
The first half of day 2 in contrast was brutal. A succession of super-steep climbs, mostly tarmac, and long challenging off-road descents meant that the first 60km took us over 6 hours. We had a brief coffee stop at a bakery in Wotton-under-edge, and a luxury lunch (Co-Op meal deal!) in Stroud. The views over the Severn Valley to the Forest of Dean and later on to the Malverns were amazing as we worked our way up the western edge of the Cotswolds through a succession of beautiful woods. Viewpoints at Nibley Knoll and Birdlip were stunning. Fortunately the second 40km was easier going, after the long climb out of Stroud, eventually we were climbing back up onto Cleeve Common (familiar from a number of HONCs) for a final long descent into Winchcombe. Day 2 figures were 100km, 1970m, and moving time 6hr47m (elapsed 9hr). To put this into context, the ‘Fastest Known Time’ for the whole round (i.e. both days of our trip) is a scarcely believable 6hr 55m!
Overall, a fantastically well designed route, but my attempt at splitting into two roughly equal days needs some work! We were super lucky with the weather which was warm and sunny throughout, without being too hot, and the going was mostly excellent, with a few short muddy sections, and a some small stretches a bit overgrown.
Overall a very enjoyable weekend in great company, thanks for coming guys!
