Even before this ride could start there were challenges to be overcome.
Oxfordshire was awash after last nights rain with several roads flooded. Each of us were forced to drive different routes through this water world to the start in Faringdon, Andy being the last to arrive - hampered as he was by driving a microcar.

We cast off only slightly behind the scheduled embarkation time and were soon sailing along in the unexpectedly warm conditions. We encountered numerous submerged sections, some of which were quite deep. We got through most of these by adopting the approach of waiting until a car came along so that we could watch them and gauge the depth before proceeding with caution. This worked well except for one section near Down Ampney where no obliging motor turned up and we decided it best to take a detour.

Reaching the Cotswold Water Park, which today was indistinguishable from the surrounding fields, we decided to check out the Lake 12 cafe and then to take a shortened route back. The cafe has a nice (all year round) lakeside location with a deck to sit on and take in the views. The food offering was OK, fine for coffee & cake but otherwise a bit basic.

Continuing on through countless more floods we got to within 2km of the finish before getting caught in a sharp shower that then stopped just as we reached the cars. Slightly annoying but hey-ho.

All up an enjoyable day out with some aquatic adventures adding to the fun.

The original destination of the Jolly Nice Cafe will be saved for another day.