Ready for action? Another weekend, another training ride...

At the end of the month, my colleague Ally and I are taking part in the Action 100 bike ride - a mere 115 miles of smooth A4 road from Bristol to London.

Last weekend we managed a rather leisurely 50 mile round trip to Cheddar and the surrounding countryside. This weekend Ally wasn't available (nothing to do with last week's badger incident!) so my boyfriend became my training partner. As a fellow participant on the ride, he thought another long ride would be a good idea.

South Gloucestershire have produced four picturesque bike rides in conjunction with the CTC (Cyclists' Touring Club). We picked the one that takes in Wotton-Under-Edge, described as "an historic market town along meandering country lanes."

At the back of our house in Easton, we can easily get on to Bristol and Bath cycle path. After five miles of the virtually flat cycle path we came off near Mangotsfield, on to regional route 10, and followed it north to Iron Acton.

The hills were not too punishing, in fact, the only memorable ones were surrounding Wotton-Under-Edge. The hill into the village is pretty steep, but my calves are stronger after last week's hilly venture, so this was (almost) a breeze!

Feeling good, I wanted to get some extra miles in so we got back on route 10 to extend our route. We continued past Charfield to Littleton-on-Severn.

Cruising down the hill to an amazing ploughman's lunch at the White Hart pub, I took in the view of Wales and saw heavy clouds looming to the east.

The gentle breeze soon blew the rain clouds over, just as we started off again. The rain failed to dampen my spirit - but dampen my clothes it did very much so!  I was completely drenched before long, and combined with riding along the Portway, I must admit my enthusiasm began to waver.

Total miles: 60. I felt like I could have managed more but the changeable summer weather got the better of me. A cup of tea and a biscuit tempted me back home...

Next week: Any ideas for an 80 mile ride?