I'm used to getting puzzled looks while mapping, but perhaps none more so than today, when there were several stares of utter bafflement as we drove down the A361 in the Pluriel, with the roof open, with two bikes sticking out the top. In the rain.

After a few days of "shall we / shan't we" as the weather forecast remained resolutely crap, we decided to say "sod it" and cycled NCN 45 from Swindon to Kemble. It's a really nice route, sort of.

There was one forest of pedestrian crossings over the Swindon bypass (Thamesdown Drive, I think) where the signs were unclear and we ended up cycling down a very muddy path then retracing our steps; then the short bit alongside Thamesdown Drive itself was particularly uninspiring, to the point where Anna yelled over at me "Sustrans really ought to get a clue"... just one second before we turned a corner to find a magnificent new cycle bridge over the road, with a swooping, smooth tarmac path down the other side.

The railway path from Cricklade was interesting, in that when they said "this route goes through the Cotswold Water Park" I didn't realise they meant it literally. The puddles were enormous, and enormously muddy - the bikes needed re-WD40ing every five minutes. I suspect it's not always been like that, but today's lousy weather coupled with last year's flood damage made for pretty crap conditions.

Despite that, and the rain, the ride itself was generally really enjoyable: fairly gentle, a couple of startling sights (like an infilled Thames & Severn Canal lock and cottage), and an interesting chance conversation with the chairman of Cricklade's chamber of commerce about the benefits that cycle tourism has brought to his town. And best of all, it ended at a really friendly pub next to Kemble railway station, where a pint of Stowford Press (me) and Arkells 2B (Anna) were the perfect accompaniment to watching Wales beat France at rugby as we waited for the train home.