Two of us were at the Red Lion for the final F&F run of the year, the boot camp run. The plan was simple, 32 miles out via the sheepwalks to the Cat at Enville and 25 miles back to the Coach via St. Kenelms Pass, (we chickened out of doing the Romsley Hill climb and instead did the much shorter next one down) only 3 up "arrows" but a lot of additional climbing as well. The cold hon sec joined us at the top of the climb out of Alvechurch having opted to do a loop before the start. Elevenses was taken on Broom hill while the captain repaired a puncture (serves him right for riding his plastic), but the day was brightening up and we were treated to some stunning views. The lanes around the back of Kinver were as challenging as usual, but not as bad as expected in view of the recent weather. The food and beer at the Cat were excellent as usual, but the fire had only just been lit and was about as effective as a candle. Out into the sunshine and we soon warmed up skirting around Stourbridge with the help of a muddy railway track. We scaled Clent and then the Lickeys, had a great deal of trouble crossing the A441 at Hopwood due to the volume of traffic, and finally navigated the road works on the closed Watery Lane to arrive at the Coach for a well earned pint or three. 65 miles 4,800 ft. of climb for me.
