My thanks to Neil Dixon for taking over the event; and for making it even more challenging than Ron Johnson's 2007 route.
 
The weather leading up to the ride was bad. So was the weather last year - remember the record breaking floods? Last year we had only 2 riders. This year we had a 50% increase! Maybe we would have had more if the heavens hadn't opened in the hours leading up to the start. And who knows how many we would have had if this Summer, or last, had been "normal"!
 
It was good to see Richard King, our DA Auditor, riding a DA event once again. Also riding was Shane Blower of the South Leicesters, plus myself.
 
We were sent off by our DA President, Keith Lakin, with good wishes from Neil, Gill Lord and Bernard Bailey who had sensibly left their bikes at home.
 
The rain held off for the ride, so we all opted for the full distance which was around 30 miles. The first 2/3rds of the route were unchanged from last year, so I tried to remember my way on the unmarked tracks. Despite the many waterfilled holes we thankfully avoided any serious incidents or punctures.
 
Neil had cunningly replaced use of the private road through Rough Park with several more offroad sections which were new to me. They included Packington Nook Lane over the A42(T) from Ashby, and School Lane from Normanton.
 
We arrived back at Ravenstone in just under 4 hours, very muddy and ready for a welcome pint at the Plough.