Does anyone know what the collective noun for a group of cyclists is? The internet is awash with suggestions for such matters, but there doesn’t seem to be a definitively ‘correct’ answer.
Anyway, a chatter of Tempo riders gathered in the square, with everyone in good spirits on such a beautiful morning. Our numbers were swelled by a posse from the Fast group end of the spectrum who planned to ride with us to Kemble, making a total of fourteen – far too many for me to keep counting.
The pack was soon spread into a long straggling line as the climb up Nut Hill and Buckholt Road took its toll. We re-grouped at the top and our two-wheeled convoy weaved its way through Daneway, Ewen, and Oaksey to Eastcourt, where the swarm was split by the intervention of a vintage tractor rally (a trundle of tractors perhaps?).
Resuming progress through Charlton, we arrived in Malmesbury a little behind schedule and desperate for coffee and cake.
Suitably refuelled we did a reasonable impression of a peloton for some of the ride back through Westonbirt, Kingscote and Froceter, though by the time we got to the home stretch from Stonehouse and Haresfield we were definitely more like the grupetto, far more likely to be contenders for the lanterne rouge rather than the maillot jaune.