As promised, I offered a choice of 5 destinations to the gathered crowd who were eagerly anticipating today's ride: Lavender Hall & Church End, Long Itchington, Napton-on-the-Hill, Bidford & Galton Arms or Fruiterers Arms. Perhaps the choice was too good because the result was inconclusive with votes being shared equally between the 5 options. I cast my deciding vote and we headed south in the general direction of Bidford. As we were riding through Binton I reconsidered my democratic generosity and decided we'd all be much better off just riding our bikes rather than enjoying a succession of cafe and pub stops. There were no complaints as we bypassed the promised brunch stop at Bidford Glider Club so in a merciful gesture I allowed a quick stop for elevenses at the lovely village shop in Long Marston as we headed towards Mickleton. In addition to a cake I also grabbed a sneaky flapjack because I was already hatching a plot. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the warm sunshine and there was not a murmur of discontent when I put in a couple of totally unnecessary loops near Mickleton and Pebworth. We continued onwards towards the planned lunchtime stop and nobody seemed to notice as I stopped in the shade for a few minutes to eat my flapjack lunch. Eventually we approached the Galton Arms in Himbleton but I rode straight past, which actually felt quite strange. This turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back and with a mutiny brewing, after a few miles, I turned back and returned to the pub where I bought a pint of Bathams for everybody on the ride. We then headed back to the Coach & Horses via a longer than necessary route including the Lickeys, getting there just in time to greet a group from the Beacon who had also ridden 100 miles.
