We had a fantastic day. The ride down to Fairford was magical, with the very light mist giving an ethereal feeling, and the sun trying to break through. The traverse to Hungerford was a bit routine - headwind, and no sun (and generally very familiar roads). But it was (given the headwind) remarkably fast, and I was there at 1100. Tutti Pole was empty - never seen it anything other than busy before. They must have been glad to have us there, I should think.
Across to Marlborough was literally a breeze (nice to go through Ramsbury and know that Spring Hill will not feature!), and the A4 to Calne was fantastic - not too much traffic, and with a brisk tail wind the average speed was up around 35kph.
After Lacock the sun was out, but the wind had turned, and was coming briskly from the North, so it got quite hard work. From Lacock to Tetbury I was with three other riders, but at Tetbury I was feeling Jaded (sorry, couldn't resist that pun) and told them to go on, I was easing off. Saw two of them again when they were contemplating which way to go through Stroud - with the GPS and the help of a PCO we found our way through, and then they zoomed off while I consumed a banana.
I seemed to be getting slower and slower, and by Slad it was clear that the 8-hour finish which was on the cards at Lacock was just a pipe-dream. After Birdlip, it was clear why Steve gave such severe warnings about the road condition. As it happens the route from Stroud to Andoversford was exactly the same as the "Across the Severn" that Evesham Wheelers put on in August, so I knew what was coming. Finished in about 8h30 (didn't notice the actual time) so still quite quick overall.
All in all a great day. The route was well thought out - there was some A-road (Fairford - Lechlade - Highworth, and Marlborough - Calne) but it was relatively light traffic, and not a problem. Shame that Steve only had 21 entries for the 200 (plus more on the 100). I would recommend this ride to others.