Saturday night’s weather forecast meant the Vice Captain went to bed expecting Sunday to be an indoor day, with only ducks and Audax riders enjoying the outdoors. However, he woke to sunshine coming through the curtains and so decided to “man up” and get out, where he found a good turn-out in King’s Square.
An eleven strong B ride split into a groups of seven and four for safety on the main road to Maisemore, and stayed that way as the break pressed ahead, progressing up the west bank of the Severn. The pace was at the top end of B ride specifications, which the Vice Captain claimed to be caused by the flat route and tail-wind, rather than his presence.
The President, on his fixie in the chasing group, practiced his souplesse as far as Forthampton before a perfectly timed abandon for home, just before the day’s first heavy shower. The others proceeded to Croome, where they separated, one going on to Pershore, the remaining two taking coffee (and claiming a Dancey Trophy point each) at Clive’s Fruit Farm.

Another heavy shower at Defford caught the main group, but luckily it had cleared by the time they reached coffee in Beckford. The return via Gretton Fields and Prescott Hill was uneventful, apart from a heron being spotted in a field at Stoke Orchard. A final heavy shower on Chosen Hill failed to spoil an enjoyable day.