Ray Cox, his wife Alexandra and daughter Claudia, were among the first to take advantage of a new venture – a fully-supported, 800km, week-long cycling tour to Snowdonia, which promised all the pleasures of cycling without any of the usual anxiety. This is Ray’s impression of the glitzy world of Glaudax touring
It was one of those ❝ sunny days when the green of the trees and grass shone as if back-lit, full of promise
❞
THE IDEA of a long bike trip with friends and family, with all the organisation and support done by someone else? What’s not to like about that? This is Glaudax, a new venture by Richard Evans and his brother Tony. We joined the first of these supported bike tours at the end of May, 2021 – for a cheerful week-long tour to Snowdonia. Getting to know Wales better was a big draw. My wife Alexandra signed up to the plan, relying on being able to get in the support van if need be. Our daughter Claudia, and a friend, Lizzie, were in training to do the Ride Across Britain (LEJOG) later in the year and were therefore keen. A friend and cycling buddy of ours, Mick, was also persuaded to make a group of five of us.
Stage 1 Aldbury to Tewkesbury – 139km, 1,300m We started from Café Musette, a lovely bike-themed establishment between Tring and Aldbury in the Chilterns. This saved us flogging through London on the bike. Over bacon rolls, coffee, and much other breakfast fare we had the first of our daily briefs from Richard or Tony. For some reason, some in our group had trouble distinguishing between them, so they simply became “Richard or Tony” without distinction, or difficulty. It was here we met the Bellavelos, a group of six girls from the SW London cycling club, who were also on our trip. They were very friendly, but there seemed to
be an awful lot of carbon and Rapha, and it looked like we might have trouble keeping up. Our bags for the week were loaded into the support van. Richard or Tony inhabited this for the week, although they also got out to ride with us whenever they could. One of the joys of the ride was that during the day you just took what you would take on a day ride, like puncture stuff, and layers. We set off with a GPX route to Tewkesbury. The road book gave details, maps and suggested places to stop. The support van was waiting at 55km in a lay-by with water and snacks. During the week we would generally see the van twice a day, morning and afternoon. Some of us shared our location on Google Maps for the week, with Richard or Tony, which meant they could, as Richard said: “Watch the ducklings coming in”. The route took us due west, over the Cherwell at Kidlington, gently rising up to Stow-on-the-Wold, where we had lunch in a sunny graveyard, to Tewkesbury on the River Avon where it meets the Severn. It was one of those sunny days when the green of the trees and grass shone as if back-lit, full of promise for the week – pretty much correctly as it turned out. The Royal Hop Pole pub in the centre of Tewkesbury was the first of several pubs we stayed in. Some nights it was a hotel. The standard varied: it didn’t
Arrivée154Winter2021
Day one in the Cotswolds
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It was one of those ❝ sunny days when the green of the trees and grass shone as if back-lit, full of promise
❞
