Bike miles = Beer points

Earning those beer points is how I’d describe the route up to Clent Hills. This is a lovely ride with the majority being off road for us via national cycle route 5 and then looping back home through Woodgate Valley Country Park but the hills on the build up to Clent certainly put us through our paces.

Reaching the top and the four stone circle in good time was a huge accomplishment for us and the breath taking panoramic views of the Cotswolds and Shropshire Hills definitely a suitable reward. After taking a bit of a break to catch our breath and enjoy the view it was time to have some fun on the cross country bike trails on offer. We explored the bridleways looking out for the gaps in the trees which took us into the woods revealing some great technical single track and natural trails. An amazing place for a spot of mountain biking on the edge of the city which we enjoyed for as long as our legs would allow and then took on the lovely decent to take us to the long anticipated drinks that awaited us at The Vine Inn at the bottom. We sat outside the pub having earned those beer points to chill out with a beer. It was a great day riding the Clent Hills and topped off with some cracking beers to lighten the mood for the dreaded ride home (thankfully downhill)

 

This was our first time up Clent, we made lots of wrong turns trying to keep on track but had lots of fun following the tyre marks of the local riders in the dirt. I’m sure there’s so much we have missed out on and at only 11 miles from home we will definitely need to come back and try this again now with a better idea of the area. If we are to take on the little lung buster climbs again I think some improvement on our fitness is needed. The tired ride home was a tough one but we met this charming, charismatic character who put a smile on my face. Until next time…