Group Ride Sunday 19th May 2024
Group ride with Alec Gore.
The Shropshire Hills 2-day ride led by Alec Gore was absolutely brilliant, helped by some
fantastic riding weather; dry but not too hot, sunny but without it shining in your eyes or
the heat being oppressive. And who would complain about it rising to 24C.
The route was nearly 400 miles and some of the 13 riders would have done more than that
by the time they got home.
We left Winnall on Sunday and headed out through the Bourne Valley to Hungerford and then
the A417 from Swindon, with a stop at Calcutt Services. We headed northwest, with lunch at
Hereford Garden Centre and an afternoon stop at Ironbridge near Telford. This provided
beautiful views of the River Severn and its wooded valley. Then it was on to our overnight stop
at Harmer Hill, north of Shrewsbury.
After the obligatory group photo, somehow featuring Ade Dodd's bike, we rode out towards the Welsh borders and then back across to Craven Arms, and to the finish at Tothill, south of Newbury, with stops at Ludlow - a great cafe and gin distillery, and Evesham. There were so many superb A and B roads with little traffic and plenty of bends from flowing sweepers to tight corners, all good practice and confidence-building for riders reinforcing their skills, as well as plenty of overtaking opportunities to keep the momentum going. Well done to riders who stretched themselves and honed their skills.
Thanks to Keith Lincoln and Robert Ashworth for picking up tail-end duty.
Read what they said about this ride!