Club Ride Saturday 8th November 2014

A quintet of Clarions convened this morning at the Allington Farm Shop.

Reference to the BBC’s on-line weather forecast revealed that the SN16 postcode area was in for 5 hours of heavy rain starting at 9.00am. Working on the basis that the weather is never as bad as predicted, I decided to give it a go.

I’d arranged to be at my mum’s house in Chippenham at 10.00am to meet a plumber who was going to quote for a new bathroom suite. Together with Mark, I rode out of Malmesbury at around 8.40am. The plan was to take the most direct route to my mum’s and once the plumber had finished, to ride past the Allington Farm Shop until we met those taking the longer route coming in the opposite direction.

Once on the Foxley Road we were buffeted by a lively headwind, but the rain was definitely of the light variety and by no means heavy. Strangely, the sky over Chippenham showed some promise of improvement. Perhaps I should have checked the SN14 postcode area as well.

Domestic matters at my mum’s concluded we went straight to the Allington Farm Shop to check in case there were any early arrivals. With no bikes in sight, we embarked on a course through Biddestone and out towards Yatton Keynell. After a couple of false alarms when advancing cyclists turned out not to be Clarions, and with the rain shifting into the heavy category, we abandoned our search and sought refuge at the farm shop.

Arriving outside, a pair of Chas Roberts’ frames and a bike I recognised as Phil’s, told me that he was inside with Howard and Dave. Having reached the counter, I glanced back towards the entrance door and to my horror I saw a trail of puddles leading up to where we were standing.  It was at this point that a flurry of staff armed with paper towels began fussing around and two signs were erected warning people about the slippery floor.

With the rain now lashing it down outside, we were in no hurry to leave. The completion of a second round of coffees and a large pot of tea coincided with an unexpected appearance by the sun. 

Aided by a strong tailwind we enjoyed a pleasant trip back to Malmesbury.