Heavy rain during the late afternoon kept Michael’s telephone buzzing with questions about the fate of this evening’s ride. When 7pm arrived, however, the rain had ceased so we set off along Colston Road hoping that our good fortune would hold for another couple of hours. Dayle, who had decided at the last minute that the ride looked a good deal more attractive than it had looked earlier, caught up with us as we neared Hood Farm.

The ride was not uneventful. Allen had some chain problems, then Alec came off his bike on Staverton Bridge. Finally, two disappointing members chose to ignore Michael’s clear instructions and rode at top speed past some walkers on the Staverton riverside path so that they had to move out of the way. Cyclists have no right to use this path at all, so if our members are unable to respect the absolute rights of walkers we will simply stop using the path altogether.

The rain now began again, so we set off for home via Abham and Caddaford. Some members took the track climb to the top of Green Lane, getting slightly muddy in the process of course.

Most of the crew returned to Crofters at 9pm for drinks and computer games, but a few decided to return home to clean their bikes ready for tomorrow’s ride to Steps Bridge.

[This report never previously published, but it was written in full at the time]