Entries open for Cotswold Spring Classic

If, like us, you’re anticipating overdoing it on the Easter eggs come the first Sunday in April, the following day provides an ideal opportunity to remedy those excesses with the return of the Cotswold Spring Classic.

Entries are now open for the event, held on Easter Monday 5 April, which will largely follow the same route as last year, although organisers have made a couple of tweaks to take out some poorly-surfaced roads that still haven’t been repaired, as well as adding in some new climbs to an itinerary that already included plenty of hills.

While those may be ideal for rolling a painted hard-boiled egg down, they’re likely to prove a good test of early-season legs, with Bubbs Hill, Birdlip Hill – a pub-to-pub climb that has featured in the Tour of Britain – and the Stroud valleys all figuring on the longer, 160-kilometre itinerary.

There’s also a shorter, leg-friendlier 100-kilometre route that does away with some of the bumpier stuff, and both start and finish in Cirencester, which also provides the location for event HQ and, of course, whichever route you choose you will be riding through some gorgeous Cotswolds scenery.

As last year, the event will be fully supported with comprehensive signage, feeding stations, and motorcycles from the National Escort Group, as well as a broom wagon if it all proves too much.

Full details of the Cotswold Spring Classic, including how to enter and links to overnight accommodation in the area, can be found on the event website.