What's in a name?

It seems there are many naming conventions for Audax rides. There's the factual (Two Battles, which visits Bosworth & Naseby), the cryptic (Towering Trees, which goes through the National Forest to Alton Towers), the 'bordering on the rude' (The Faccombe Haul comes to mind) and then the outright untrue (The Dean Bluebell Doddle).

Perhaps not outright untrue, it was in the Forest of Dean, but the bluebells were delayed by the late Winter and it wasn't a doddle!

With 1250 metres of climbing in 58km it's billed as the hilliest 50 in the calendar, and we believe it. Right from the off there was a draggy uphill, followed by undulations to St Briavel's. This is a lovely place with an interesting castle around its quiet side streets, but we were in no mood for stopping, only averaging 15kmh to this point due to the hills. A screaming descent followed with glimpses of the days few bluebells, before one of the climbs featured in the following day's Forest of Dean Sportive. Nevertheless, it got done, and we arrived at the Symonds Yat Control still in possession of our legs. Views were, as promised, spectacular.

Of course, being so high must lead to a descent, and this was a good one, 25%, narrow & winding, as riders on the Sportive would have appreciated as they were going to come the opposite way. Dodgy squeezes past cars were negotiated, and we rode out, briefly, onto the valley bottom.

Only too soon, we were climbing past Worcestershire Spa towards Drybrook on a road with 4 chevrons. Linda achieved three, and then had to stop to reinstall her lungs. Starting again, the top was achieved, and we tootled off over the undulating lanes, by now on our own.

Shortly after, just before Drybrook, the unthinkable happened, and walking was done. Mind you, the instructions advised it to best view the scenery behind, so we were just following instructions. This was the physical high point of the ride, and more good descents followed, getting us back to the start in just under 4 hours of ride time.

By Monday, legs were complaining and bodies very heavy (mine's always very heavy) so the climbing took its toll. As a comparison, the coming weekend's ride to Skeggy only has 350 metres more climb than the Doddle, but that's a 300km event not a 50!