It was great to have so many riders taking part in this toughest of trials, and I was especially glad to see so many of our Fareham Wheeler friends, who represented a third of the field. What brilliant weather we had, too: 15 degrees and wall-to-wall sunshine, almost as good as the February ride.

I’m pleased to report that all of the 38 who signed on at the start made it to the finish line. The results, displayed alphabetically by category (Sotonia, unless otherwise stated)

GOLD STANDARD (16 mph): 22
Dave Barrett (FWCC)
Tom Bloomfield
Tom Budden
Joffrey Carlier
Jon Chapman
Gary Davis
Duncan Edwards (Braishfield)
John French
Ant Gritton
David Jeffery (FWCC)
Harry Johnson (St Raphael)
Jon Judd
David Lunn
Peter Nail
Neil O’Brien
Martin Olney
Steve Orriss (FWCC)
Rick Paulson (FWCC)
Thomas Roberts
Rich Stephens
Phil Wilks
Paul Witcombe (Braishfield)

SILVER STANDARD (14–16 mph): 14
Martin Cole
Robert Correy (FWCC)
Dave Dalton (FWCC)
Jon Dudley
Becky Hodson (FWCC)
Marianne Holt (FWCC)
Charlotte Keeler
Nigel Parsons (FWCC)
Nigel Sign (FWCC)
Mike Stevens (FWCC)
Patrick Stumpf
Bruce Tandy (FWCC)
Jane Tandy (FWCC)
Greg Vint
Joseph Wynne


BRONZE STANDARD (12–14): 1

Juliet Baker-Beale

The next Reliability Ride, which will start from Carlo’s Ices at 9am on the last Sunday in April, is a 75-mile route to the west, of which the scenic high point is the drive through the Fonthill estate. Longer than today’s ride, but less hilly!