March ride east of Gelterkinden

After the February ride was cancelled I wanted to be sure that this one went to plan. I had ridden the route during the week as a "Reccy Ride" and tweaked it a little. I discovered a new roundabout, which fixed a dangerous junction, but in Frick we still had to rush across the main road to get on to the Veloweg. 

So with the preparation done, I arrived at the meeting point at the back of the Bahnhof early in case others got there early too. First to arrive was companion 1 with the dragon on the stem, she is training it.  She has an issue with one her brake levers and was concerned it wasnt very safe. We had been fiddling with it a bit when a friendly man appeared wearing a Tudor Pro Cycling  team jacket - he offered his advice. Thanks to him for his concern :)

This chat continued as trains arrived bringing people out from the city and I picked up our new joiner from the front of the station. We were nearly all set to go but were still missing one person who had registered for the ride. A quick Signal chat later, not coming, made a mistake, apologies were given. Not a problem, all good -  we set off only a few minutes later than originally planned.

First order of business was to Tecknau to warmup then left turn up the climb to Wenslingen. Traffic here in a Sunday morning is normally very quiet and so it was today. We made our way up, some faster than others. Once in the village, we turned sharp left to get to the fields and the view. I had seen lambs here a few days ago in bright sunshine, today was cold, cloudy and there was lying snow as the weather had changed. 

I short stop to put on another layer before going down to Oltingen and up again towards Anwil. Here, I was passed up the short steep section and followed on behind. The route had been shared via Strava on the event and everyone had it on their headunit, they still managed to go off track which meant I got to the front again :) 

Here they are rejoining my route.

Once over the top the rush down to Kienberg is always great before the left turn at the junction and another mega ride down to Wittnau for the marvellous toilet stop at the church!

You will see that we were all in bright colours. What is it with some cyclists that decide that black is just the best thing on a cloudy day? You will see from the back of my jacket that Assos decided that only the front and arms needed colour, the back is black with 2 tiny reflector stripes.  Once suitably refreshed, we continued to Frick where we waved cheerio to companion 1 and her dodgy brake lever. She went home to get it fixed not wanting to chance the last descent to a single brake, wise choice.

Through Frick, past the dinosaurs and out of the town, safely on the veloweg before right turn to a roundabout and off on the side road to Zeihen. Again the roads here are typically quiet with only the odd bus to worry about. After Zeihen, last week on my reccy mission, I went on a dirt road to pick up a Col from the Club des Cent Col list, no need to do that today. The road joins the main road in Effingen at a new roundabout which is brilliant. This used to be a challenge to see round corners and cars were going pretty fast as its sort of a bypass road. Glad to see the new roundabout. Over we went and through the village ending up on the veloweg back to Frick. 

Back in Frick at the petrol station it was the rush across the road and we made our way back to Wittnau for final refreshements before the last climb. This is always a good one. Its steep in places and winds up through the trees. 

Two went ahead and me and companion 2 plodded along, here we are just out of the first hairpin bend, the others ahead are getting to the next one. We all got to the top OK, putting on a bit of a mad sprint to the sign at the top - phew!! this isnt good for me. Once I had recovered my breath I learned that one of two fast companions had fallen! when standing still - so this is a novel one. Damage seems to be light - so all OK. Lets hope she still feels OK tomorrow.

Jackets back on and then the last mega downhill to Rothenfluh and back to Gelterkinden. All arrived safe and sound. The weather seemed to have cleared a teeny bit.

Great fun, as ever. Thanks to all for joining.

Distance: 62km

Climbing: 820m

Avg Speed: 20.3km/hr

Helpful bike mechanics - 1 - Thanks Tudor Pro Cycling!

Cute childrens bikes spotted - 2