Exe Valley Revisited
Sunday 4th April 2004

We all sat around a big table, grinning from ear to ear, in room especially allocated 
for us by the management of the Exeter Inn. The A396 from Dunster to Tiverton is 
one all time favourites and this time it was no exception. Most of us had ordered 
food but the Fat Controller decided to go without as the waiting time was becoming 
upwards of 45 minutes. Somebody else better do the write-up he said, if I do it no 
one will believe that some 175 miles were ridden on the back of a Little Chef egg 
& bacon bap. The consensus was that Andy Nicolas should perhaps do it, 
as we all very much enjoyed his previous report.

So, we all set off  on rather cold Sunday morning from the Little Chef at West Meon 
and by the time we picked up another 3 participants form Barton Stacey, this had 
became the best supported ride with over 20 participants. The first 95 miles on 
he A303 were briskly dispensed with and after a refuelling and coffee stop at 
Podimore, the fun began in earnest on the A372 to Bridgwater, and a lovely 
stretch of road it was too. A rather exuberant marking on the A372/A361 fork 
by one of the participants split the ride but after some 45 minutes, the calm 
stewardship of  Tim Considine & John Barnes and the decent range of the 
Kenwood radios, we were on our way to Minehead on the A39. This was 
probably the only section were we encountered a bit of traffic courtesy of 
some good folk who are unaware of what the National Speed Limit is. 
And then, the glorious A396 was upon us and hardly any traffic on it.

On the way back with Tim Considine as our back marker and after a refuelling stop 
on junction 28 of the M5 and a short burst down to Cullompton, another little known 
gem was waiting for us. The A373 to Monition might not rank amongst the great roads 
but was just the ticket to get us all into the swing of things after the sumptuous lunch, 
which was had by most but not the Fat Controller who decided to save himself for 
the treacle tarts & clotted cream ritual in Stockbridge. Once we hit Honiton and 
after a short burst of dual carriageway we turned right on the A30 to Chard and Crewkerne. 
The A30 is also a good biking road but the section around Yeovil is probably the least exciting.  
Things started to hot up again by the time we've hit Sherborne and all the way to Shaftesbury 
lots of fun was had by all.

Given that by then the idea of making Stockbridge in time for the ritual appeared pie in the sky, 
a coffee stop was decided upon within sniffing distance of  the Little Chef in Shaftesbury.
The truth was, the Fat Controller just needed a couple of egg & bacon baps to keep going. 
A  number of participants left the ride for home at this stage in order to keep their brownie 
points top-up for future rides. With our energy reinvigorated, the Zig-Zag hill detour was a must have, 
so we did and then rejoined the A30 for a section which lends itself to a great deal of fun. 
A final refuelling stop in Salisbury were some more participants left the ride to head for home 
leaving the Fat Controller to lead the final 6 back towards the Little Chef at West Meon.

A big thank you to all the participants as it is you guys that make these rides the very enjoyable 
experience that they have become. Sadly the fair Rachael was not with us, so Simon did not get the girl, 
again!  A pleasure to have the company of Tim Goodman who was our back marker for the first 175 miles,  
perhaps SPC should incentivise him to come more often.  Until the next time..........

Panos Simou - Sunny Yellow 1150GS, 
just like his personality