The Somerset Screamer was a late season sportive that also doubled up as a tourist trail. Starting off from South Petherton, near Yeovil, on Sunday 8 November the route took in Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury Tor and Wells Cathedral, all for the princely sum of £24 over 84 miles.
The event was organised by Adventure Café and Grand Tour Cycling (GTC), a company who have been around for a decade. They organise rides all over the continent and out of London, as well as the West Country but this was their original sportive event.
The event base was at GTC Headquarters down a few narrow country lanes. Despite being provided with a name and a post code there were several cars driving around aimlessly around 7:30am when I arrived. I saw a lone cyclist who looked like she knew the area heading in the opposite direction to me. I turned around and followed her the short distance to HQ, which had the appearance of being a working farm. Cars were being parked in every nook and cranny but there was sufficient space to accommodate everyone.
Sign up on the day was easy with no queue. I received a helmet sticker and paper map in return and then joined the short queue for the two toilets. There were also some refreshments available but I had already eaten breakfast so didn't partake.
My parking spot was out of sight of the main yard and once I had got ready I wheeled my bike round only to realise that I had barely caught the tail end of the rider briefing. "Anything come out of the briefing?" I asked a fellow rider. "No, the usual" came the response. This later turned out to be an inaccurate reflection of events.
The rider departures had been advertised as taking place between 8:15 and 8:40am, but in the event we all set off as one group. My estimate was of about 50-60 riders. The weather was cold, with no rain and a possibility that things might warm up a little as the day progressed. Consequently, there were a variety of different attires on display from short bibs and tops to my more layered approach.
The route was fairly perfect for a late season sportive. Not too much climbing, but still challenging. Most of the initial course was fairly flat along country lanes so that everyone was able to warm up effectively. The event also had Ride Leaders on the course. I saw them at several points on the first part of the course, providing directions and riding up and down the "peloton".
The first feed station was based in the church car park in the well-appointed village of Wedmore. The arrival of the majority of the riders coincided with the gathering of various uniformed organisations for church parade as it was also Remembrance Sunday. However, it wasn't a problem, the riders were able to access the toilets and get to the refreshments without a problem. There was plenty of variety including flapjacks, nuts and bananas.
Following the feed station the route continued to head north towards the headline climb of Cheddar Gorge. The course went through some back streets of Cheddar that I hadn't ridden before until it emerged at the bottom of the climb. Due to the time of year there wasn't too much traffic around, and it was quite refreshing not having cars straining to get past on the lower winding corners. This is the steepest section, and, once negotiated, I settled down for the sustained but manageable push to the top. One of the other riders came past me and I joined on to their back wheel for some company.
At the top the weather turned into a "pea souper" with plenty of fog so that visibility was vastly reduced. My Garmin showed the course turning off to the right towards Priddy but the signs on the road indicated straight on. Luckily I had my companion to clarify that this change had been notified at the morning briefing due to a closed road. The diversion wasn't outrageous as the course soon took another right turn and descended out of the fog down into Wells and slightly brighter weather.
There was a quicker spin around the middle of Wells and then it was back out into the country across the pan-flat Somerset Levels towards Glastonbury. At this point I was riding with a male and female couple. The route was generally well signed but there was one crossroad section that was confusingly marked and triggered a mini domestic incident. The lady was at the front but braked suddenly as she correctly realised that we should have gone right instead of straight on. Her partner narrowly avoided piling into the back of her and issued an expletive in the heat of the moment. However, equilibrium was quickly restored. I rode on ahead as we entered Glastonbury and there were some short but significant climbs before the Tor came into view.
The route was now winding southwards to the second and final feed station in Somerton. This was well stocked, similar to the one at Martock. For the final stretch there was a choice due to a route split. The longer route took in the climb of Ham Hill which was described as "punchy" in the event handbook. However, I took the coward's way out, heading back through the short cut of Martock. This was still eventful because the distinctive arrows used elsewhere on the route suddenly disappeared. They were replaced by a variety of colours and different arrows which I initially assumed were for another event. As a result I went the wrong way on a couple of occasions before I clocked on.
Once back at base I checked in and was immediately given a time. Again refreshments were on offer for those who wanted them. As I drove away there seemed to be plenty of people who had taken on the challenge of Ham Hill. I enjoyed this sportive and it was generally well organised. Definitely one to go back to, and their other events would also be well worth a look on this evidence.
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