On 1 May nine of our members helped Gloucester City riders to celebrate in some style their 125 years of club life with a re run of their club’s very first ride in 1891. Neither us nor Gloucester could entice any Ordinary riders to this 19 mile bash, but a number of their riders had some interesting older bikes, I saw a Raleigh or two and a lovely Rotrax Shirley whilst there were something like ten Pashley Guvnors that acted like protective cruisers to the several patrols which we formed so as not to cause too much problem to the small amount of traffic we encountered on the way to Dursley. Altogether we had about 60 odd riders including two young teenagers who romped away from the rest of us. The route left Kings square, the traditional start point for GCCC club runs, then via the southern suburbs before looping south easterly through meadowland towards the hills – there were one or two minor teases of sudden incline around Stonehouse at the halfway mark but it was the cool sharp headwind that most people felt. Through Cam and onto Dursley itself where the hill on the north side of town was just too much for some of us. But then it was 1100 and time for a most welcome bacon and ciabatta roll with coffee or tea and a slice of Jubilee cake at the Bank café in Dursley main square. We had been met on our way by Malmesbury Clarion and Stroud Club riders and in Dursley our fellow V-CC men Ben Amor with Dursley Pedersen and John Dunn with his Raleigh “X”frame were waiting with Geoff and Molly with their Dursley machines. The scene in the square resembled those old photographs of the heydays of cycling cycle parks as at Herne Hill track. Then it was off for lunch –and home. The mostly undulating route seemed harder on the seat by now- but hey it was mostly downhill- and the wind was supposed to be behind. Those in the know eventually led us up winding single track to a rail crossing and then Nirvana! in the shape of a most welcome pub with outside catering of sandwiches and whole piles of chips, with beer on tap as well. Time for some more nattering before the final few miles, with Paul Naumann providing our little V-CC group with a guided tour of city short cuts back to Kings Square. Thank you, Gloucesters for your invitation to the day and hospitality shown to us!
Alvin Smith of the Vintage Cycle Club