The Quick Quacks Holiday in Gloucester
2nd to 4th September 2005
The long awaited day arrived and we all found ourselves in the Holiday Inn, Gloucester. There had been a little doubt about this as the bham.ac.uk server had taken offence to the word Dyke and prevented posting any information about this run! After a little manipulation the route appeared on the list and sufficiently reassured the Quacks flocked to Gloucester. Actually quite a few of us! This was a minor problem as there were only two identified leaders. Rather rashly I volunteered having read the route and thinking "it can't be that hard". Silly me.
Friday was travel day. Mike and I set off from Essex at 5.30pm with the knowledge that the M25 was jammed up. So we went through London. This, in my opinion, was a great move. It was hot and the ladies were young, buxum and barely dressed. Weapons of mass distraction indeed.... This may be why Mike got so hot under the collar. Which was a problem after London as he had undone his jacket and it acted like a windbrake after we hit the M4. All thoughts of an entertaining ride in were abandoned as time was getting on so we cut up to Oxford then across to Gloucester. We arrived after 3.5 hours which isn't too shabby for a Friday at rush hour. Naturally the buffet closed when we arrived so a la carte it was for us. The band entertained us with a quick practice session, things looked very promising for Saturday night!
Saturday dawned and the realisation hit that I needed to lead the fast group. To those that haven't, this is a challenging and daunting event. I see the leaders role as threefold. 1. To show the group the way round (obviously). 2. To allow the group to enjoy the ride, be relaxed and go at their own speed. 3. To promote safety. In a few obvious respects I failed on the first item by getting briefly lost a few times, but we got round in the end :) For item 2 I think the trick is to maintain a gap of around 2 bends on whomesoever is following at the time. This means the pace varies and hopefully everyone has fun and feels comfortable. For safety I think the leader needs to be very aware of hazards and slow down appropriately as others may be concentrating on the rider in front or on keeping/catching up.
The first leg took us down to Monmouth then up to Hay-on-Wye. Apart from a little detour (ahem) things went quite well, though we did end up behind group 2 who had not gone that extra mile.... Hay is an excellent place full of bookshops (as most will know) but is becoming rather touristy in my opinion.
The second leg also started with a minor detour but I was just checking (honest!). Tthe only real problem was a closed road which required a little route reconstruction, though not for Huw's group who took a different but surprisingly correct path. This did mean that we caght him up and he very kindly stopped to let us past not once, but twice when they passed us whilst we were filling up with fuel and kindly waited along the road until we got on with it. Lunch was taken in a biker's cafe in Craven Arms.
The third leg went slightly more according to plan and we had a great blast down to Ledbury and afternoon tea on a fruit farm owned and run by friend's of Alan; Angus and Beata. The house is most unusual both in shape and construction, but it works. The welcome we were extended went above and beyond the call of duty. There was a marvellous spread of refreshments, the view was magnificent and the sun was shining. We were reluctant to leave!
But leave we did, the final leg was a straightforward blast back to Gloucester and we managed to arrive as a group to make a grand entrance. Naturally we imbibed some liquid refreshments before freshening up and then heading for dinner. This was mildly shambolic but it didn't really matter as we were having such a great time jawing about the days events. After food we were treated to a superlative performance by the band (do you have a name yet guys?).
Most of us managed to be present for the Sunday morning meeting at which we confirmed the dates and places for May and September 2006. 13th and 14th May 2006 will be in Lockerbie with the possibility of an extension into Scotland the following week. 9th and 10th of September 2006 will be in Kent with the possibility of an extension into France in the following week. Other important items included thanking Alan for organising the weekend, congratulations to Huw and Martyn for their epic journey from Lands End to John O'Groats, thanks to the band for the entertainment and a huge Welcome Back to JB. In addition we decided to thank Angus and Beata by sending a donation of £100 to the Acorns Hospice for children. Plans may materialise for a skiing meet in winter as 8 months is too long!