Circuit to Draycote Water with the 3 cyclists 33

Met up in Leamington with Mick and Graham from the 3cyclists, had a brief conference and decided to head east towards Rugby and visit the cafe at Draycote Water, a large reservoir to the SW of Rugby.  Went out of Leamington through Cubbington, Weston under Wetherley, Eathorpe, Birdingbury to Dunchurch. Not a bad day to be out, clear sky, not too cold although the wind was a bit in the face on the way back.

Road Closed

Turned off the main road through Wappingbury to cut through to Eathorpe and risked ignoring the road closed sign that was across the road.  We found the road was completely closed with workmen digging a trench but after a bit of friendly banter they let us through.  A laugh and a smile works wonders.

The Token

At the Draycote information centre and cafe we had to have massive scones as they had run out of tea cakes. Outrageous.  It was also time to hand over the 'Whose turn is it to pay next' token from Mick to Graham with the waitress securing the documentary evidence we need to prove it is Graham's turn to cough up next time.

Puncture

Came out from the cafe to find that the rear tyre on my bike was flat.  Changed the inner tube and again, second time in a week, could not find the cause of the deflation.  The tyre did look way past its sell by date so that needs changing.  Mick had a CO2 gas canister in his bag which inflated the new tube almost instantly.  Amazing piece of kit (have since bought one) which put the right pressure in the tyre which is almost impossible to do with the mini pumps that we normally carry.

The repair got us back to Leamington just fine through Birdingbury and Offchurch.  Recorded 33 miles in total.