Every year the CTC organises a Birthday Ride to celebrate, naturally enough, its birthday. This year is the 125th anniversary of the formation of the group, so it’s doing something a little bit special. The CTC is taking over the whole of Warmwell Holiday Park in Dorset for the week of 2-9 August 2003, and using it as a base for an extensive programme of road and off-road rides including time trials and randonnees. Non-cyclists (or cyclists fancying a day off…) can amuse themselves with all sorts of local tourist attractions or indeed the facilities of the holiday park itself, including fishing, dry-slope skiing, swimming pools and so on.

Accommodation is available either in the Park’s own self-catering lodges (which work out at from £11 per person per night if you fill them – the organisers are able to combine people with spaces…) or in any of the various campsites and B&Bs in the area.

And you don’t even have to be a CTC member to join in. It all sounds most agreeable – more information at www.ctcbirthdayrides.org or you can find out more about the CTC in general at www.ctc.org.uk.