A very quick 300 by my standards - helped by roads in reasonable nick (and plenty of fast A and B road sections), perfect weather conditions with cloud hanging around until lunchtime and little wind, model route sheet. Cafes in Oundle, Edith Weston, Bottesford and Oakham could not have been more helpful (although we cleaned the first out of bacon) and with 30-odd starters, riders were spread out sufficiently so that queues were never long.
Scenically this exceeded expectations, with Rutland Water, Belvoir Castle, Kimbolton, Oundle, the Harringworth viaduct and endless stone villages among the sights to offset the frankly tedious flat sections either side of St Ives. Big open views all the way home and remarkably little traffic.
Nice to talking to Manotea about the Ditchling Devil and riding again with Duncan from Kent who previously helped me get around the Beast from the East with his navigational skills. Thanks to Mel Kirkland for the lift back to north London, which saved a ride to Stevenage for the last train - hope those who set out for that made it back to London with no trouble.
I realise this event was put on to get the miles in for PBP, but it would great to see it become a fixture in the calendar, which gets a bit thin at the back end of July and into August for those of us who choose not to go on holiday then. And a good perm too?
Thanks Ian for organising this.