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2014-07-05 00:00:00ThreeCounties
Stroud - 22nd June 2014

It was possibly the hottest day of the year when six tandemists and one recumbent rider forgathered in Stroud for Eddie and Heather’s run  to the river and back. We had tacked ourselves on to the Stroud Valleys Project sponsored bike ride but we saw no crowds of Blokes on Bikes on our route.

We sped off down the hill out of Stroud and coffee was taken somewhat late at the Black Barn on the Sharpness canal where boats floated serenely by and then, it was onwards to Purton Hulks for lunch. . The hulks are 2nd World War barges which were sunk on the embankment of the Severn Estuary to prevent erosion. We sat and burnt in the strong sunshine and identified a few birds and took in the majestic sweep of the river and tried not to think of Berkeley nuclear power station a couple of miles downstream, de-commissioned or not.

As anyone knows, what goes down must climb back up, and so it was. Our return route inevitably involved a climb or two and a tea break at Frocester was well earned. Altogether, nearly 40 miles of unvarying interest were covered and a feeling of satisfaction was engendered in the riders at the end.