A less cold but dry and grey morning welcomed sixteen riders for the A ride to Berkeley. The Riders split into two groups with a sensible gap Marshaled by Toby whilst Alastair lead the ride along the canal towpath past lots of fishermen with tons of equipment and rods that almost spanned the canal. Fortunately no-one tangled with them but I didn’t see any fish. It was then the lanes to Longney, Elmore and Saul. We encountered horses everywhere but a cheery shout and wave gave a safe passage. We had to use the A38 to get to Slimbridge and being ahead of schedule a loop via Purton resulted in views of the Severn and May Hill in the distance. Coffee at the Berkeley Tea Rooms was a disaster as it was so busy with us and other cyclists so we will need to think again before using it, a pity as the staff were so friendly.
Some returned to Gloucester and six continued via Stinchcombe and Cam to lunch at the Ship where we met Ken. We also met some runners, one of whom used to come out with the Club. They had just run 22 miles which made me feel exhausted.
The run back to Gloucester was uneventful but the wind never seemed to help that much. It was really good to see Marie out again especially as she taught how to make hats and things with buffs. 58 miles