Just 40 places left on Easter Monday's Cotswold Spring Classic

Easter is fast approaching, and while that may not quite signal the end of the Lenten fast that it did in years gone by, chances are that if like us you have a sweet tooth, you’re likely to overdo it on the chocolate a week on Sunday. If you do indulge to excess, or if you jus fancy some riding in a beautiful part of the country as part of your early season preparation, help is at hand with what has now become an established feature of the holiday, the Cotswold Spring Classic on Easter Monday.

Full details of the ride, including how to enter, can be found on the event website, but you'd better be quick - there were just 40 of the 650 places left when we checked this afternoon.

Some changes have been made to the itinerary this year, with features of the 2009 course reappearing after their absence last year, while there are also some new sections included in the route, which starts and finishes in Cirencester.

Two options are available – a 100km route and a 160km one – and you don’t have to decide which one to go for until you’re out on the route, so if you’re approaching the point where the two split and your legs are telling you that the shorter route is perfectly adequate, thank you, or they fancy some more hills, you can make the decision there and then.

This being the Cotswolds, there is of course plenty of climbing, particularly on the longer course. Entry costs £24.50 if made by 19 April, although we imagine the event will sell out well before then. 

Neutral service is provided by Performance Cycles, while there is also motorcycle outrider support from NEG Medibike. All participants get a goodie bag plus free hot food when they finish, and there are two feed stations on the longer route as well, the first of which also serves the shorter ride.