by Marjorie Smith
Sunshine, blue skies, quiet roads, country lanes, scenic countryside and quaint villages all contributed to a few days of excellent cycling around Worcestershire.
Day 1 Friday, 15 August
Jim, Jackie, Steve and Marje set off from Ripple on a beautiful morning with Pershore as our destination. A lovely and lively town with the historic bridge over the River Avon, magnificent Abbey dominating a manicured park with a memorial to the warhorses of WW1. After lunch we returned via Upton upon Severn where we stopped at the Kings Head for liquid refreshment by the river.
Day 2 Saturday, 16 August
David joined us. We left Ripple towards our destination of Little Malvern passing through Naunton, Welland, Castlemorton Common. After lunch we returned via Upton upon Severn and a brief stop at the Kings Head again! That evening we strolled through Ripple to the Railway Inn and all enjoyed a very pleasant evening and lovely food.
Day 3 Sunday, 17 August
Another glorious day our destination being Evesham.
We headed towards Upper Strensham and the River Avon. An interesting hour followed where we had to dismount to cross the weir and sluice via metal bridges, walk along the river banking and cross the lock via a very narrow lock gate. A slow and tricky two-man task for each bike and entertaining for the group of walkers nearby and the two motor launches waiting to navigate the lock. Continuing on we cycled through the Combertons (Great and Little), Elmley Castle where David had a puncture! and then on to Evesham. Returning via the same route due to lack of time and to enjoy an apres-cycle drink after a very enjoyable and sociable three days cycling in Worcestershire.
Thanks to Jim for organising the weekend and planning the routes. He did a wonderful job as always.