Checkpoint Numbers & Names
Gloucestershire 2 – Birdlip
So, the day had finally arrived in 2018 where there was a chance to get a little questing and Day 22 was another of those days where I was able to combine something else I was doing along with visiting another BCQ checkpoint as I was staying in a hotel in Cirencester which gave me an opportunity to visit the checkpoint in Birdlip the following morning, although strangely the checkpoint at Sapperton was closer I had a plan to do that another time.
So having risen and taken full advantage of the buffet breakfast to fuel up it was on to the hybrid and the busyish road through Cirencester in preparation for heading out north towards Birdlip. Shortly after leaving Cirencester it was thankfully time to leave the main road and turn on to my favoured lanes, taking the Overley Road to the village of Daglingworth. A journey that had started out as a small incline was now getting noticeably steeper, confirmed by the need to change down a gear or two in order to keep up a reasonable pace. This uphill aspect continued, and became steadily steeper, as I I continued through a number of small villages all with Duntisbourne in their name.
Not long after leaving the last of those villages (Duntisbourne Abbots) I passed though the edge of a village called Winstone before hitting a welcome downhill stretch in to Caudle Green, unfortunately this was a short lived respite – as I soon crossed the River Frome I had to climb back up the other side of the valley towards Brimpsfield where I took the opportunity to stop for a breather and appreciate some of the very pleasant Cotswold scenery, knowing that the checkpoint was only a couple of miles or so away.
Once rested it was only a short (but still uphill) stretch through to the Village of Birdlip and out the other side to the checkpoint at the Barrow Wake, which is situated in a layby just off the busy A417. The Wake sits on the edge of a hill and offers some spectacular views across the Cotswolds towards Gloucester and the surrounding villages. With not much time to waste to get back to my hotel before checkout time it was time to head back off to Cirencester, and knowing the checkpoint was the highest point on the route it was comforting to know the return journey would be somewhat easier and quicker.
So after crossing under the A417 it was a quick downhill section through Cowley and Cockleford which lie in the valley of the River Churn, this of course meant that after Cockleford there was a bit of a climb up out of the village but once that was done it was back to the downhill route and an easy cruise through Rapsgate, Woodmancote, and Perrotts Brook before hitting Stratton and the outskirts of Cirencester in time to have a quick shower and check out of the hotel before the deadline.
This was again one of those rides where there wasn’t enough time to fully explore the area but if you have more time then you could easily stretch this out for full half day, or add some more miles on for a full day ride. It also marked off yet another question card ready to send in for validation having reached forty checkpoints.
Miles Cycled –27
Checkpoints Visited – 1
Total Miles Cycled – 771
Total Checkpoints Visited – 40
Click here to download a gpx file for this ride
