A 10pm start and a supper in a café at 1am.  That makes for a good start to an all-night ride and the hours that followed are full of interest, even to us reading about it 92 years later.  They were bound for Meriden, and as you will find out in subsequent years, it was always a bit of a bash to put it mildly.

Meriden of course has always been held to be the exact centre of England, in that it is the furthest you can get from the sea in any direction.  It is worth reminding you that this year of 1923 was Charlie’s first year of cycling club membership, the CTC, so all of these long rides were a new experience for him, and he certainly entered into the spirit of things.