A nice Boxing Day morning ride with a couple of club mates this morning. Just a bimble out to Frocester for me, then said my goodbyes to Gordon and George and headed back home on my own via Frampton on Severn, intending not to be out for too long. When I got to the waterfront at Epney there were enough people hanging around to suggest there was a Severn Bore due any time soon, so I pulled up and leaned my bike against the flood wall and waited. It was only forecast to be a 1 star bore today, but it turned out to be small but perfectly formed .... with a decent wave all the way across the river, sufficient for a couple of surfers to ride it all the way around the bend from Framilode Church to Longney Sands.
Just before the bore arrived at Epney, a car screeched to a halt in front of the Anchor Inn and another surfer raced across the beer garden and down into the river, paddling frantically and he just got out to the middle in time to catch the wave. I hung around for a while watching the river flowing upstream faster and faster and watching the surfers disappear into the distance, then rode off to Stonebench to watch it all again. While I was waiting on the riverbank, another cyclist from Slimbridge who had also been at Epney joined me, and I admired his e-bike while we waited for the tide. Turned out to be a damp squib ... just a big swell and the river suddenly looked much fuller, but no real wave. Still, that was enough to remind me of my plan to chase the bore next year. I'm going to see if I can follow one all the way from Arlingham to Maisemore and catch it five times along the way. Must start studying the tide tables again. That's another 23.3 miles done towards my target of 3,000 miles for the year. Just another 13 to go now before I start on next year's target.
Cheers, Donger.
