Stratford Upon Avon. 26th-June.
Meeting at The Cross Hands pub in Old Sodbury at 9.30am. We arrived the pub car park and it was full of classic cars on a meet up. Some great vehicles to look at. The weather was a bit gloomy with a few small showers around so off we set with 6 bikes in the group and 8 members. We took the A46 towards Nailsworth before turning onto the A433 towards Tetbury, this time there was no car park detour. We carried on towards Cirencester from where we took the great road which is the Fossway. Traffic was light and the weathers improving. Our next stop was for refreshments at Moreton in the Marsh and a chance to take the micky out of each other. Once we had got fed up with each other it was time to set off north on the Fossway again and it was only a 30-minute ride to Stratford. Traffic was quite heavy in Stratford and it’s a one-way system around town but there is a big bike park right in the middle of town which was fantastic because you are right where everything is. Stratford had a great feel to it and there was a big market next the canal with street food and all sorts of things for sale, except fridge magnets unfortunately. Martin, Mand and Andy went for a cider or two while us sober ones had our caffeine fix. We spent around an hour here and it was buzzing, the sun was shining and there was also a pub singer in the park for entertainment. Soon it was time to ride to our next destination which was the beautiful historic village of Broadway. It wasn’t very busy there and easy to park. Looked in a few shops and then some of us went for a light lunch. Time was going on, so we left Broadway and rode nonstop back. Again, the roads were quiet and the weather good. Not sure how many miles we did because I’m still trying to figure the bike out, but I think around 170 miles. The day would have been shorter, but it seemed whenever we stopped somewhere Mike would spend at least 30 minutes talking to strange men about bikes. A very enjoyable day and ride and fantastic company. Also, a big thanks to Andy for suggesting this route. We will definitely do this one again as it’s a great ride and an easy one to take part in. Mark