At five to nine I was the only rider in sight, hiding from the drizzle under the canopy along the side of Iceland. I quite expected only one or two more, given the miserable weather and the unpromising forecast. Much to my delight people kept appearing out of the gloom, and in the end ten of us set off.
Brookthorpe, Haresfield, and Stonehouse were sufficiently flat for the peloton to stay together. The climb through Kings Stanley to the top of Selsey Common however, had us spread out thinner than marmite on a slice of toast. Once regrouped, we chugged along nicely into the headwind, and everything was going well until some of the group missed the turn on to Old London Road. Somehow we all met up again by Charfield, and we picked our way carefully together along the slightly dodgy back roads to The Pepper Pot and then Berkeley.
I was concerned that we would swamp the little tea room in Berkeley, but there was hardly anyone else there, so no problem. Very friendly service and good coffee.
At this point one rider decided to return home the long way over the bridge (no, not him). That left nine for the usual tailwind boosted thrash home through Slimbridge, Cambridge, and Frampton.
A special mention to our junior rider who was commendably fast when he got his turn on the front, and even faster at demolishing his cheese toastie. A chip off the old block?
And the weather forecast? Absolute rubbish. Not a single drop of rain. I could have taken my summer bike after all.
54 miles, 2,438 feet, 16.5 mph
SP