Our mission, which five riders chose to accept, was to cycle to Moreton-in-Marsh. On the way, we encountered many near-impossible obstacles that the evil entity had placed in our way, the first being Ham Hill. Unlike Tom Cruise, none of the riders needed Hayley Atwell to revive them after this ordeal, and all riders continued over several more such climbs. In Hawling, as we rode past a heard of Llamas, we imagined that we had climbed so much that we must be in Peru. Finally, the members of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force, not a bunch of bankers) sought revival with excellent coffee and cake at The Revolution Cafe in Cotswold Cycles. Despite the previous reference to Peru, no marmalade sandwiches were consumed.
After coffee, the mission changed, following the beautiful Evenlode valley, then crossing into the equally stunning Windrush, for a return via Northleach. However, the entity had not finished trying to stop us, throwing strong headwinds in our way, which we countered with good teamwork. We were also given a heavy soaking near Sherbourne, but that didn’t stop us either, although the usual trick of caping up did not stop the rain. A large murder of crows circling noisily above us in Northleach did not stop the IMF.
With the world saved, and nuclear war averted (although with the current U.S. President, perhaps I should note that this is correct at the time of going to press), the riders returned to Gloucester. More in keeping with the 1960’s TV series than the Tom Cruise films, the IMF will be back next week for another mission (should they chose to accept it) to Coleford.
Take care, this report may self-destruct in 5 seconds.
82 miles, 5,170′ ascent @ 15.2mph
IW