Gorilla's Grand Day Out 2024
Key information
When - June 1st, 2024 - Start from 7 am - 9 am (Cafe open 7 am - 7 pm).
Where - Gorilla Coffee Cafe, out east and back again.
What - 203km approx. 1650m ascent.
Cost - £12.50 advanced tickets, £15 - pay on the day. Sign up.
What is included - a pre-ride bacon sandwich, coffee, your brevet card, a post-ride plate of hot pasta, and an embroidered patch for finishers. If you want to ride and have special dietary requirements please get in touch with Bruno and we’ll take it from there. Any profits from the event will be donated to Kings Heath Food Bank.
After last year’s frankly surprise success, Gorilla’s Grand Day Out returns for 2024. There’s a new route but it still promises the same great day out on the bike, culminating in beers, food, and a social back at HQ. There will be a starting window from 7 am to 9 am, with rider briefings at 20 past and 40 past the hour. Please make sure you hear a briefing before you head out. The cafe will close at 7 pm giving you a maximum of 12 hours to finish which is an overall average speed of 16.9kph.
There are 5 control points, all of which this year are information controls. This means no stuffing your pockets with receipts from petrol stations but you will need to bring a pen and fill out your brevet card with the key information you are asked about along the way. Your brevet card and pre-ride briefing will give you all the details.
The route
Our route takes us South East away from Birmingham on familiar roads. South of Kenilworth, skirting the north of Leamington Spa, through Cubbington, and onto Long Itchington for our first control of the day. Past the Co-Op, looking out for the War Memorial on the right at the junction and the post box which will provide the answer for the first question.
A brief detour north around Draycote Water and touching the edge of Rugby takes us to our 2nd control. Depending on your start time this will likely be the busiest roads on route so take care through the suburbs. Passing through the villages and the farmland of middle England we are treated to views of rolling hills, quiet country lanes and the ubiquitous thatched roofs which charactise the English country side.
Turning South West at Guilsborough you start to head for home, but not before passing the village church on your exit from the village which marks the answer to the next question for the 3rd control of the day. Crossing Raventhorps Reservoir and swooping down through Long Buckley, after safely negotiating the sunken, pot-holed cattle grid (more about this in the rider briefing), you head towards the cafe at Daventry Country Park. Be sure to go to all the way to the cafe and visitors centre as your 4th control point question requires it!
Depending on your time of arrival and how sunny a day it is, the cafe can become quite busy so if you don’t fancy waiting in the ice cream queue you can avail yourself of the many eateries that Daventry has to offer. If you follow the route exactly coming out of the park, across the road and using the cycleway you will not only pass through central Daventry relatively unscathed but also have the option of a Greggs and a sit down in the park opposite!
Leaving Daventry and continuing South West, you can once again enjoy views of rolling hills, basking livestock, and the beautiful haze of Rapeseed. More middle England and snapshots of village life before eventually to the south, views of Edge Hill and the northern slopes of the Cotswolds, which today we leave untouched… maybe next year?
On to Kineton for the final control point and maybe an ice cream from the village shop. Make sure you are either in a group or hungry though as you can only buy 3 at a time! If you can wait for your refreshments Wellsbourne is only 5km down the road where there is another shop and several cafes if you feel a pit stop is in order. On now more familiar roads you head northwest, through Snittefield, Claverdon, and up the final grind at Lowsford to retrace your departure and return to the cafe.
Final notes
As ever, the route uses mostly quiet roads and avoids cities, towns, and A roads as much as possible but there are a few on route so please take care. The condition of the roads is generally good, but there are a few patches of bone-shakingly crap surfaces in the second half so keep an eye out.
The route uses 3 sections of concrete cycleway but they are all very well surfaced. The only note about any of them is at 35.5km where the route forks from Kenilworth Road onto a narrow cycle path with a bollard at the entrance. If riding 2 abreast on the road, this will be tricky to negotiate so single out and take it easy.
The one main point I want to highlight is a sunken cattle grid just after you cross the canal at 103.7km. There is a sign warning you one is coming, but it is at the bottom of a fast hill. The cattle grid is not only sunken but has some quite difficult-to-see potholes on both sides of the far edge. You should use the lane that goes around the cattle grid to the right, however, this also has a number of very large potholes that appear very suddenly when approaching at speed.
Finally, there is a lane closure on the A439 Warwick Road at 163.1km with a temporary one-way system in place. You turn right, across the lane closure into Ingon Lane which is closed to motor vehicles. Be careful as you turn across the closed lane as there was loose gravel and debris on the road.
The entrance fee is £12.50 for an advanced ticket and £15 on the day (cash only) which covers; a bacon sandwich and coffee in the morning, your brevet card – always a great souvenir of your day out, embroidered patch for all those that finish with a completed card, and plate of hot pasta (veggie options available) at the finish, no doubt needed after a long day in the saddle. Any profits will go to this years’ chosen club charity, Kings Heath Food Bank.
Bruno and I will be at the cafe from 7 am to give out cards, with the final start time being 9 am. Rider briefings will be at 20 past and 40 past the hour. The cafe will be closed at 7 pm giving you a maximum of about 12 hours to finish. If you have completed your card but look like you are going to be later than 7, get in touch and we’ll work something out.
The route is below. If you have any issues with downloading it please ask on Facebook or in the Gorilla Audax Whats App group and we’ll do our best to get you sorted.