A Memory of a Tail Wind by Ron Trill
Once or twice in a lifetime one gets a tailwind which provides a truly memorable ride.
Long ago in the mid-fifties, I had a couple days off work, which I took on a Friday_ and the following Monday, thus making a four-day week-end. As I was working away from home I had no chance to work on the bike during the week, and it had been left in a right old state the previous week-end. Among other things it meant replacing the cups and ball bearings in the bottom bracket and took all the morning. That is how it came about that I found myself leaving home at about 2.15 p.m. , without much idea as to where I was going. As it happened there was quite a strong wind from the south-east, so naturally I chose north with a vague idea of making the youth hostel at Marlborough (It was still operating in those days) I cannot remember much about the ride, except that I went out of Ringwood up the Salisbury road, with that wind behind me, like a rocket. Tea in Marlborough at a quarter to five! Never before had I been so fast over nearly 50 miles. But I could go on further. So I headed for Duntisbourne Abbots. On my way north, I soon came upon the Roman road, running from Silchester roughly north-westerly to Gloucester via Cirencester. The modern road follows this, in fact is largely built upon it, so I followed it, too, as far as Cirencester. After a few hundred yards, I came upon the village of Stratton St. Margaret, and just beyond this, there was a hill going down to the plain, where I was horrified to see a few miles in front of me, near Cricklade, a large thunderstorm moving across the road. So I freewheeled down to a large bridge over a very small stream, against which I leaned the bike for the five or ten minutes which the storm took to clear. The streets were running with water as I passed through Cricklade. Lucky once again It was getting dark when I arrived in Cirencester. Feeling slightly famished, I sought out a cafe, an "Egg and chip" sort of place where I had a good meal, and then pressed on to Duntisbourne. It was quite dark by now, but I knew my way through the lanes via Daglingworth and Duntisbourne Leer, and arrived at the hostel at about 9p.m. Not bad really. 83 miles in under 7 hours, and I could look back with satisfaction on the day's ride. There were few other people at the hostel, but there was one other ex-accounting student there, boasting about having packed in his studies and gone to work on a building site at ten pounds a week quite a lot of money in those days. The warden and I soon shut him up by telling him that while he would no doubt go on getting £10 per week, that was all he was likely to ever get. After the great effort of the first day, I rode more easily on the next, the wind having dropped, and made it to Stratford-on-Avon, a mere 49 miles. I returned home via Marlborough and Amesbury.Click here to go back to Salisbury Section Home Page
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