C&M Easter Tour 2026 - John and Carolyn's Sunday ride

The Lechlade Lakes’ ride

Forewarned by Pete that Bourton-on-the-Water would be a most unpleasant destination for cyclists during the Easter weekend, due to the large numbers of cars and campervans and people who regularly overwhelm the town on bank holidays. After our experiences of this phenomenon on Saturday when we stopped in Burford and Bibury we knew to take this advice seriously.

So, instead of the planned round trip through Bourton-on-the-Water Carolyn and John decided to lead us on their ‘Lechlade Lakes’ ride, which they had planned but not recced, and on this sunny day with its brisk and gusty wind from somewhere in the West we set off towards Fairford then across a landscape of gravel pits, ponds and nature reserves around the Cotswold Water Park.

Just beyond Whelford we stopped outside the high perimeter fence at the eastern end of the RAF Fairford main runway. We observed and heard the bombers (B-1B Lancer and/or B-52 Stratofortress) preparing for take-off, then off they went with a sky shattering roar and disappeared into their own clouds of black exhaust, leaving us to our own sombre reflections about what we had witnessed. Fascinating but sinister; we knew they weren’t just popping over to Biggin Hill for a jolly air show or delivering Easter Eggs.

Spies at the perimeter, RAF Fairford

We carried on through Kempsford and John was pondering a possible Elevenses stop in Cricklade which could have been ideal except for the difficulty we would have had getting to the south side of the A419 which is something of a motorway. So, near Latton, we joined the Roman road heading NW and navigated through a pair of roundabouts to cross the A-road and just before crossing over a disused canal, which is now the Thames and Severn Way, we found ourselves turning off to Lake 86 to find portaloos and the Ohana Coffee Hut, a modest kiosk under a canvas awning serving excellent coffee and cake.

Martina, Peter S, Carolyn and John at Ohana

We headed out along Spine Road (East) towards Minety and bypassed Ashton Keynes eventually heading north and again through the Water Park towards Somerford Keynes and our Lunch destination, Cirencester. Around a quarter past one John’s instincts lead us very quickly to the Café Mosaic, in the Woolmarket precinct, off Dyer Street where after sitting in the courtyard and ordering our lunches we flocked inside to find a little warmth from the air outside which felt a little too fresh and bracing now that we had stopped riding.

After lunch we knew we could look forward to tailwinds. Looking at the map and planned route we saw that there was a Roman Road, Akeman Street which would take us most of the way back to Lechlade, a great alternative to the busy A417 (London Road). And indeed this leg of the day’s ride was a breeze despite the gentle undulations which took us up to an altitude over 600 feet affording great vistas of the rural landscape. We arrived back at the hotel at 4 pm after another excellent day’s riding.

on the Roman road, Akeman Street

Thanks again to John and Carolyn for their planning and leading us around this interesting 40 mile course. Carolyn, John B, Pat, Steph, Dawn, Angela, Daghni, Martina, Peter S and Tim C comprised our team for the day.

~ Tim C