Group ride with Alec Gore.

Sunday's ride went very well indeed. There were seven riders and one pillion for Alec's Level 3
ride to Mere. There might have been more, but those who were put off by the early morning rain
missed some great riding. There was no further rain and the roads continued to dry throughout
the day. Of course, given the amount of rain we've had recently, that didn't mean there wouldn't
be significant standing water in some places along the route.

Leaving Winnall through Kings Worthy, we took the A272 and B3420 up through Wherwell then back
down into Stockbridge on the A3507. From there it was the B3084 and A338 through Tidworth, then
the A342 to Upavon, south on the A345 and west along the Packway to Shrewton and B390 through
Chitterne to the A36 near Warminster. We took the back road through Sutton Veny to our first
fuel/comfort stop at BP Longbridge Deverill. Progress had been good and it was clear we'd arrive
too early for lunch, so Alec added in an extra loop from Maiden Bradley, which has some lovely sweeping bends throughout: B3092 to A361 at Frome, A359 south through Bruton to A371 to Wincanton, hopping onto the A303 for one junction to the B3081 down to Gillingham, then the B3092 back up to Mere.

As always, The George PH looked after us well with our own table laid out in the King Charles Room. The roast beef went down very well and set us up well for the afternoon ride. We took the Motcombe back road to Shaftesbury then the High Road past Compton Abbass to Blandford, B3082 to Wimborne and B3078 up to Cranborne. It was at this point that Alec remembered he'd said in the briefing there wouldn't be any gnarly back roads in the ride; he'd forgotten about the 13-mile section after Cranborne! This was a fun series of lanes through mud, standing water woodland and various elevations that took us via Damerham to Braemore on the A338, then across to Hamptworth on the A36 via Woodgreen and Hale. We only stopped once, for a jittery horse and rider; safer to let them pass us than vice-versa.

We were going to finish at Romsey but through Wellow, Alec realised Carlo's Ices was still open for another 30 minutes, so we finished the ride there with ice creams and smiles all around! A great Level 3 ride and home to hose the mud off!

Thanks to all who participated in such spirit and made it a brilliant day out.

Sorry, we forgot the group photo.