Club Runs Diary - January to June 2007
Sunday 17th June
A sunny day after the week's showery weather was a good omen. As the Windsor area geared up for this years triathlon, 11 of us who were not so keen on the running & swimming turned up at the PH: Jim, Jason, John & Jezz, Toby, Tim, Per, PeteC, IanD, AndyB & late but not least, Dave.
Down hill & over the Maidenhead bridge 2 by 2, where a Mercedes behind us decided to practise on his horn. Didn't occur to him that he could still not pass us even if we were riding single file! Immediately left & up past the Courts of Taplow & Clivedon - Pete leading off the front wanting to increase the steady pace a little.
At the T-junction near Littleworth Common we surrounded a silver sports car that was ... well... just stopped in the middle of the road. Signalling left, but positioned to turn right, & 2m short of the Give-way line...& busy dialing/texting on the mobile! Dave was turning for home, so we rode on as he stopped to advise the driver... neither were seen again.
Fulmer, Gerrards Cross & Chalfont St Giles to Hodgemoor Woods, which was a good time for a break.
Over the A355 & up Coleshill - Jason stopped to put his chain back on, then down onto the A404. Mirror-signal-manoeuvre - & despite a text-book right turn, an unobservant twit in a little car still managed to get stuck in the middle of our little group. At Amersham Andy enthused for steep hills so it was up the short sharp route - Per leading all the way to the top. After a regroup we pressed on - Hyde Heath then down the hill into Great Missenden. Tim & Per led at a good speed along the Hampden Bottom valley (but sorry team - no through-&-off TT training today). Sharp left & up the hill to the top of Hughenden Valley, stopping at the top for a breather - except that was for Andy, who headed straight over & down the other side. A strong Toby led the remainder of us down the rest of the descent.
Through High Wycombe, the Wooburns to Bourne End where for a change we headed straight on to Marlow. This possibly confused Jim & Jezz who turned off the usual way to Cookham - their decision seemed deliberate though. Marlow was badly congested & our journey thus delayed. Finally through the town, it was John who reached the top of Quarrywood first [don't mention his 300m head start, after cunningly negotiating the earlier jam]. Down to Pinkneys Green then back to the PH.
53 miles at 17.0 mph average.
TCB.
Sunday 10th June
John, Gordon, MikeM, Steve, Per, PeteC, Chris, Derwent, PaulR, IanD, were chatting at the PH when Tim arrived a few minutes late, & watched with amazement as a twit in a car pulled out of a side road straight at him. An expression of disapproval was conveyed (in the nicest possible way!) at the totally inexcusable near miss.
Mike had got a route planned - "out to the Chilterns" was as much detail as we got - & he led off - & promptly fell off his bike after 1 metre! No harm done (except to his ego) & we were on our way. A calm day, with sun beaming down, as we went out through Shottesbrooke, Knowl Hill to Henley. Jams & traffic lights slowed us before we set off up Pishill. Chris was only out for a short while & decided to head back, whilst Paul & Pete led off up the hill. After a rest at the top it was a brisk downhill run to Ewelme. Around Chalgrove, we did some "through & off" at a fairly steady pace before turning off through the Hasley's. Instead of the usual turn onto the A40, we carried on northwards to Thame with the pace picking up. Legs were getting tired & the heat was taking its toll as we made our way to Princes Risborough. Per led up the hill out of town with Gordon nipping to the front half way up. A fast run now down to Wycombe followed by caution as we negotiated the myriads of lights & roundabouts. After Wooburn Green, John let loose & led a cracking pace to Bourne End. After Cookham bridge there was the usual split as some headed back to the PH & others headed to Maidenhead Bridge, then home. A great day out today - superb countryside as usual, & the miles just seemed to whizz by...
Approx 70 miles @ 18mph
Sunday 3rd June
Today was the first of our once-a-month shorter-distance "introductory" club runs. Despite a number of interested enquiries we only had one new face - a welcome & perhaps overdue visit from PeteC's brother Jim. Also at the PH were Jim (sing-along-with...), Dave, Derwent, John, Tim, Steve, Chris, PeteC, Ivor, Martin & AndyB. Per rode out to see us but was still nursing a healing knee injury.
An immediate change of route so Dave could go back home & get his drink bottles he'd forgotten - necessary today as it was hot & sunny.
Out through Burchetts Green, Shottesbroke, & on to Tywford. For once there was little traffic at the Sonning Eye bridge, then it was up the hill to Binfield Heath pausing to regroup outside the "The Old Club House".
The 3-Counties Cycle Ride was on today & was well signed - we seemed to confuse the marshals en route by always going in a different direction to their guiding hand signals at every opportunity!
A nice stretch of steady downhill brought us to a sudden stop as Derwent's rear tyre went bang. "At last" cheered Jim "a puncture" - & he leapt into action to help with the fix.
Arriving at Sonning Common Andy announced he had just 20 minutes to get home, & promptly did a U-turn - needing a speed of approx 50mph not to be late!
Up the incline to Stoke Row, with a regroup at the top. Derwent took to his knees on the grass, still trying to get oil off his grubby hands after his puncture. Downhill again & up to Highmoor Cross where we crossed paths with Chairman Inder heading the opposite way to watch the racing at Woodcote.
After a wrong turn, it was down to Henley via Rotherfield Greys.
A slow trek out of Henley due to the hoards of visitors overheating in traffic jams, then on our way again via Wargrave to the A4. John, Steve, Martin & Pete raced the last couple of miles to the PH whilst the rest of us took it steady.
Due to a few diversions & some bad estimation on my part, the planned 30 miles was actually 40. Next months "Intro' Ride" will genuinely be more like 30, & all interested riders are most welcome - don't forget - 1st July.
Today: 40 miles at 15.9 mph.
TCB
Sunday 20th May
A change of venue this week due to Maidenhead Councils SportsBug Fortnight - we met at 9.30 at the Bray Wick car park. Sadly despite Dave's meticulous planning & great efforts no new riders turned up. We just had some of our regulars: Dave, Jim, John, PaulR, Derwent, Per, Ivor, PeteC & Tim. We headed up to the PH to check that no-one had turned up there...& low & behold there was a bemused AndyB, all on his own! Then Paul (Pharmiweb) arrived to make it 11.
Off out through the Walthams, where Ivor turned off early (too many miles on Saturday). Through to Hurst, Arborfield Cross, then, whilst heading towards Swallowfield a pit-stop was made. A herd of cows came over to view the goings-on - one taking a particular shine to Derwent. Andy decided he had not recovered his cycling enthusiasm (since "the Fred Whitton" last Sunday) & headed home to race plastic ducks on the Thames.
On to Riseley, & then back through Farley Hill. An unfortunate touch of wheels saw Per hit the deck. Bike OK but Per had some cuts & bruises. Quickly on again, through Barkham & Wokingham - Per heading home through Binfield. The rest of us turned left at Paley Street towards Waltham then back to the Pond House.
A mere 38 miles today at 17.8 mph average.
Sunday 6th May
Mike Mills reports that the same route as laid out below was done again on Sunday in a final prep for next weekends Fred Whitton. 9 riders set out - Mike Mills, Per, Paul Redman, Ivor, Ian Lowe, Tim, John, Martin & Pete.
Ivor turned back at Stonor, whilst Per and Paul waited until the top of the climb at Pishill before turning for home. Pete stayed the distance until the group headed for Radnage, with John almost doing the full monty, but electing that twice up from Watlington was enough for him. This left four intrepid souls pressing on and doing the extra climbs at Ewelme and Sliding Hill. Thankfully, the wind was behind the group for the return to Maidenhead which gave 85 miles covered in 5 hours and 38 minutes at an average of 15.8 mph.
Sunday 22nd April
Mike Mills: "Nine riders gathered at The Pond House for part or all of the route set out below. They were Pete Clifton, Jeremy Monk, Martin Porter, Mark Nathan, Tim Brass, Mike Mills, Dave Lambourne, Ivor Earl and Simon Benge. After a last minute bit of maintenance to Jeremy's bike the ride set off. From The Pond House we headed for Marlow and just before the bridge turned right for the first of many climbs, Quarry Wood Hill - at the top we took the road down to Cookham and on to Bourne End and just after Little Marlow turned right for Winchbottom. At the top we turned left for the climb to the top of Burroughs Grove, where we turned left and went down the hill and into Marlow.
At Quoting Square we turned right up Platt's Hill and followed the usual route through Frieth to Fingest. At this point Dave, Jeremy, Simon and Ivor turned for home. We turned right for Turville and passed through the village and about half a mile further we turned right up the narrow,steep lane to Ipsden. At the top and once we had got our breath back we turned right and dropped down Windmill Hill. At the bottom we turned right and then left up to Turville Heath - after about a mile we forked left down the hill for Stonor/Henley. At the bottom we turned right and headed up the valley to Pishill. At the top we turned right through Christmas Common to Stokenchurch where we stopped at a garage for more water and a comfort stop. We then followed the A40 through Stokenchurch and as we turned left for Radnage, Pete Clifton turned for home. Down to 4 riders, through Radnage and up the steep lane to Bledlow Ridge and a race down Chinnor Hill where we turned left towards Watlington. At Kingston Blount we turned left and struggled up Kingston Hill. At the junction with the A40 we turned right and descended Stokenchurch Hill (Aston Hill) and turned left at the bottom for Watlington. As we reached the village we turned left up Hill Road which leads to Watlington Hill and on to Christmas Common. We then headed back towards Pishill .... I know that you might think we were going round in circles, but bear with me .... At Pishill we turned left and descended the Stonor Valley and on to Henley. Here we turned left at the lights and then up the hill to follow the Maidenhead road until just before we got to Hurley where we turned right up a 1 in 9 hill following signs for the Dew Drop Inn. We followed the lane, but did not turn right for the Dew Drop Inn even though we needed a pint! At Burchetts Green we turned right towards the A4. Mike turned left back to the Pond House and the Windsor/Ascot boys turned right for the lanes leading to home!
From our original plans we missed out the loop that takes in Ewelme and Sliding Hill, but this will be in the ride in 2 weeks time as a final prep for the Fred Whitton. As it was we covered 75 hilly miles at an average of 15 mph for over 5 hours of riding."
Sunday 15th April
As PeteC & Tim arrived at the PH there was already heated debate as to the days route -AndyB wanted lots of hills, MikeM wanted lots of miles & Per was suggested a longish flatter route. PaulR, MarkN & Chris were listening in...
A decision was reached - off towards The Living Rain Forest. Pete decided to turn off immediately! - "I'm going to watch the race" - presumably he meant the local Archer Grand Prix, rather than Paris-Roubaix on TV.
Not a breath of wind today, & it was turning out hot & sunny - hot enough for sun-block, - Tim had even brought a bottle of factor15 with him! The ride out today was superb but was rather uneventful: Out through the Walthams stopping at Twyford lights. Sonning was congested at usual (getting over the bridge) & then it was up the hill to Dunsden Green. Soon after we stopped for a nature break but were quickly on our way to Gallowstree Common. 5 minutes later we stopped again for Mikes benefit - "I didn't wanna wee when we stopped back there but now I do!"
Instead of the usual route up to Stoke Row we kept going till we hit the A4074. A short jaunt along here then left onto the road to Goring. Chris had reached his training target-time-limit & turned for home. Onwards & down, & Per took to the front for the final descent - managing to point out a bucket in the road dangerously placed by a lady doing some gardening!
Up the hill to Streatly & a pause at the lights. The plan to head straight on up the steep hill was abandoned & we turned left.
Turning right off the main road we started a long steady climb. Paul was riding strongly on the front (having done well in the Easter w/e CannockChase sportive) but we all stayed together most of the way - just splitting up as the road rises steeply near the top.
This is where it gets vague (Ed: - get yourself an Ordnance Survey map of the area!!) - we just wound our way through the undulating lanes until we reached the Living Rain Forrest.
After a short break for tea/flapjacks etc we backtracked all the way to Goring. Left at the railway then right at South Stoke to tackle Catsbrain hill. Legs were getting tired & the group was fragmenting. A steady pace was best - the leaders were caught as they slowed on the steepening hill.
After a breather in Woodcote it was on to Checkenden, Stoke Row, & a welcome drop to Sonning Common. Onto Binfield Heath, Dunsden Green, Sonning & Twyford again! Paul was still working hard on the front but then Mikes flapjack kicked in & he took a good turn. After Waltham St Lawrence we split the group as riders turned off homewards.
Approximate Distance : 70 miles at 17.9 mph average.
TCB.
Sunday 8th April
The magnificent seven gathered at The Pond House on a sunny,but still cool Sunday morning. They were John Nichols, Dave Lambourne, Jim Alexander, Chris, Derwent, Pete Clifton and Mike Mills.
We set off for the Chilterns via the usual route of Cookham where Dave decided to get ahead of some cars as the traffic lights went green - quite why I don't know! At Bourne End we turned right at the roundabout and headed for Wooburn and on to High Wycombe. We soon got to the Hughenden Valley and the long climb to the cross roads. Pete and Mike took turns until Dave decided to go on the front a couple of times. Nearing the top Pete lead the way with Mike waiting to pounce for the sprint to the top of the climb, but John had other ideas and came past and held the lead despite a sprint by Mike to catch him! As we gathered at the top for the ride to regroup and to water the undergrowth Jim pulled up and was pleased at the pace he had managed. Chris was not too far behind and it seems his diet is helping as he not only looked thinner, but was able to hold the pace of the ride. Down the hill past Chequers where Dave decided not to turn for home and the even faster descent to Butler's Cross with Mike leading the charge.
At the junction Chris announced he was turning for home and the rest of the ride turned right towards Wendover. Leaving the village on the B4009 heading for Princes Risborough and turned left just past the World's End and then right to make our way to Chinnor. Dave asked plaintively if we were going to climb up to Bledlow Ridge and the relief was almost audible when Mike said no! As the ride neared the A40 Dave & Jim announced that they were turning for home and went up Stokenchurch Hill whilst the remaining four went on towards Watlington. Here they turned left and started the long, steepish climb to Christmas Common. John and Mike led the way with Derwent and then Pete pulling up for a well earned breather at the junction.
We turned right and headed through Christmas Common and turned left for the descent of Pishill. Mike lead out with the rest coming past just before we raced past the pub. A session of through and off ensued until we reached the Henley Road - although John hardly slowed until we reached Henley! We turned right for Wargrave and left all the poor suckers stuck in their cars trying to drive into Henley for some strange reason! By this time Pete was starting to feel the pace a little and missed the lights as they went to red. He soon caught up and we turned left up the hill to Cockpole Green where we found some nice new Tarmac had been laid! Needless to say it was from the Henley road to just past the farm so that all the big houses and golfers no longer have to drive over a few pot holes in their Chelsea Tractors! As we turned left onto the A4 the pace was at first quite sedate and everyone lined up behind John, until we got near to The Shire Horse, where the pace quickened! At the second roundabout John tried to get a tow behind a white van - whilst Mike watched in horror as he was convinced the van was going to turn right! Fortunately it didn't and John had opened up a gap which Pete couldn't close, despite a brief sprint and Mike just failed to catch him up Punt Hill. With several bemused,beer swilling non-cyclists watching from outside the pub we gathered to get our breath back before heading for home and to watch the professionals in The Tour of Flanders.
We covered 60 miles in nearly 3.5hrs at an average speed of 17mph.
Mike Mills
Sunday 1st April
Today's start list:
Tim, Per, John, Steve, Martin, IanD, Derwent, & Andy (a nearly-new face - not quite his first time as he had ridden with the club some years ago).
We hatched a plan to ride into the wind to start with so we would get blown home later! It was a most cunning plan with an extra advantage...just 2 minutes after we had set off (in an easterly direction) we passed another rider coming the opposite way - Paul, who rode with us last week. A quick U-turn & he joined up with us, making excuses about rushing to put the washing on, & struggling to set the video-timer...i.e. he couldn't get out of bed in time!
So now we were 9...
Out through Maidenhead, over the bridge & left at the next lights, ambling our way past the Courts of Taplow & Cliveden.
At Littleworth Common we met another group of riders - they apparently were going to ride with us but went their own way after a few minutes.
Criss-crossing the main roads we made our way through the lanes to Fulmer (church bells ringing) & up the hill out of the village.
On through Gerrards Cross & Chalfont St Giles to Hodgemoor Woods which was a suitable place for a bladder-break.
Refreshed, we headed down the hill, over the A355 towards Coleshill. We took a wrong turn here & found ourselves in Penn Street. On reaching the A404 we got our bearings back & headed downhill to Amersham. Decision time - long & steady climb, or short & sharp? John got his way today & so we went for the short sharp shock - Per leading triumphantly all the way to the top. After a regroup we pressed on. Just after passing the sign for Guidos Restaurant we turned left to Hyde Heath. John took to the front with a steady pace until the charge down the hill into Great Missenden. As we paused at the roundabout - it was apparent we were 1 rider short. Martin had punctured at high speed on the descent - no harm done - he was on the verge in the sun, 200m up the hill changing the tube.
He had punctured on Friday too but luckily still had a spare tube with him. Unluckily the valve snapped clean off as he pumped it up!
Tim was on hand with another spare...but his were short valve tubes that barely fitted Martins deep-section Campag wheels. It was a struggle to get any air into the tube, but persistence paid off & we were on the road again.
Andy decided to head home his own way from here whilst the rest of us enjoyed a tail wind up through Hampden Bottom (Ed: sorry sounds rude!). Sharp left & up the hill then down down down through the Hughenden Valley - John, Derwent, Per & Tim keeping the pace high.
Through HighWycombe, the Wooburns, then up Hawks hill, dropping down to Bourne End passing the garden centre. After Cookham Bridge, Derwent headed straight on - homewards bound, as the rest of us turned right for a few more miles. Through Cookham village, with a stop at the railway crossing for a train. Up the hill around the Dean to the top of Quarry wood, finally bearing left. Down to Pinkneys Green & back to the PH.
54miles at 17.0 mph average.
TCB
Sunday 25th March
Derwent Jeffery writes: "Meeting at the Pond House for the first Club run of British Summer Time on a windy but not cold day brought out the collection of :-
Mike, Derwent, Dave, Jim, Martin, Per, Ian, Graeme and new joiner Paul.
Setting off at an amble across the wind, we headed off from the Pond House through Cookham and Bourne End to meet the start of the Chilterns at High Wycombe with Mike leading the way. Heading towards Aylesbury making good progress into the wind with the plan being that it would be behind us on the way back (it just didn't seem to work out that way!) and turning off towards Princes Risborough where Dave and Jim peeled off and headed for home.
For the remainder of the train it was on to Thame and then part of the Thames Velo race circuit at Milton. A climb up Sliding Hill to Cookley Green and time for a drink, swift recovery and a natter. Then up to Christmas Common for the long descent through Stonor to Henley.
Not being caught by the lights we made our way towards Wargrave without checking to see if the group was intact and it was only noticed at the next lights we were down a rider! Mike admirably went in search of Martin, the remainder climbed to Cockpole Green to wait (have a rest!!). A few minutes later the group was intact and rode through Knowl Hill to the A4.
Graeme turned off to Woodley and the rest to the Pond House. A fairly quick ride considering the wind and I certainly felt the last climbs. An hour later the promised sun appeared!!"
Approx: 65 miles PH to PH at an average of 18mph.
Sunday 11th March
Remember ever waking out of a daydream at school to hear teacher telling you to stand up & explain something to the class...& you know you weren't paying attention ?
Well, relaxed & comfy on Sunday evening the phone rang..."can you write a runs report?"...er...um...it sure was a great ride today but goodness knows where we went & who was riding ! So no apologies for keeping this brief...& sorry if I miss anyone out...
A warm sunny day brought out a "bakers dozen" at the PH:
2 new faces - Ian from Datchet & Jason from Maidenhead.
3rd-timer Graeme from Woodley, & after a long absence a welcome back to a fit & strong looking SteveD. Then there were the ol' timers: Tim, Dave, John, MikeM, Jez, Jim, Per, Mark & Martin.
Out westwards through the Walthams, to Twyford, then on to Sonning. The bridge traffic lights were against us, which gave us time to marvel at the high level of the river Thames (which seemed to have spilled it's banks judging by the water in the fields & gardens) After Dunsden Green the group was split when a patient driver got caught in the middle of us. They were eventually allowed to go on their way...but at the next stop there was some debate about the rights & wrongs of "singling-up" & communicating "car-up" messages through the group. Once amicably sorted & with bladders suitably emptied we moved on...Gallowstree Common & up the tree-lined lane to Stoke Row. Down through Checkenden to Woodcote...which is where I think Jim turned off.
A lonnnnnnng descent followed, through Catsbrain Hill with splendid views over the Oxfordshire countryside. Left at SouthStoke to Goring. Dave & Jez decided to head for home whilst the rest of us continued up to Streatley.
After several miles of long steady climbing we found ourselves at The Living Rainforest. The temptation was too great - we piled into the Café for tea & cakes. Mark got his camera-phone out but found it too technologically advanced to use for photos. "What is multimedia?" "Where does the film go?"...
Refreshed, we set off again - electing to avoid Reading we chose to return along pretty much the same roads as we had just ridden.
Graeme turned for home after Sonning whilst Mark pushed hard on the front setting a good pace - good job too - Steve was rather late for dinner! Per & Martin departed at Waltham-St-Lawrence with Mark diverting soon after. The pace slowed a little as the remainder made their way back to the PH. 'twas a longer ride than usual and it gave our legs a good early season test - the new guys keeping up with apparent ease (excepting the last few miles). An absolutely fantastic days ride, & home in time to see England beat France in the Rugby.
Approx: 72 miles PH to PH at an average of 16.6 mph.
Sunday 18th February
Another good turn out this week at the Pond House, where the topic of discussion was Saturday's crash at Hillingdon, featuring Ian and Mike, with Gary converting to 'cross to escape the pileup. Hope it's just cuts and bruises guys! Dave ran through a few things before the off, including changing at the front, calling out holes and front riders acting as 'eyes and ears for the group' - but was everybody paying attention?
Heading off to Bray, by turning left (!), were regulars Tim, Dave, Jeremy, John, Mike (still with cold), Simon, Per, Martin and Pete Clifton. Fresh faces were Toby, Chris and another bod who turned off before I could get his name. We don't smell *that* bad, do we? Per had looked at the map before going to bed the previous night and when Dave asked for a 3 hour session, a plan formed...
The riders wound through Bray to Holyport, where Jeremy, who was on the front, rode straight into a pothole ('HOLE!') and suffered an instant blow-out. Eyes and ears, eh? With the puncture fixed (without Jim it took at least three times as long as usual), we turned left and then right past the animal film farm onto Drift Road, thence to Winkfield and past The Crispin (where Toby revealed that his sister ran off with the landlord, or something) to the Great Park. A nice loop in the park took in plenty of loose dogs ('DOGS!') and panicky horses ('HORSES!') to keep everybody alert. After a quick nature break outside Ringo Starr's place, we rode onto the A30 for a mile (past the Rolls Royce dealership, natch) and then left to Windlesham, Chobham and Stonehill Road to the outskirts of Chertsey - Simon looking very comfortable on the front into the wind in his black Army shirt. Turning left alongside the M25, we practiced some more changes (we need it), and the pace rose steadily until it was quite quick enough ('EASY'!). Winding through Virginia Water to Englefield Green, the road rose up nicely for Tim to put in a mighty effort, which neither Simon or Jeremy could match. Mike was clearly not 100% but making a brave job of hanging on.
Per managed to work in one new road before the descent of Crimp Hill (no speed recorded - no computer!) into Windsor. Then the usual route reversed (Datchet, Eton, Dorney etc) took the riders back to Maidenhead with a bit of impromptu through-and-off to liven things up. Toby, Simon, Tim and Martin peeled off with a cheery wave over the final few miles. The sun never came out but what the hell.
Ride time: 2hrs 52mins
Distance covered: 48 miles
Average speed: 16.8mph
Sunday 4th February
Eleven riders gathered at The Pond House on a bright, but chilly morning for a ride up into The Chilterns. They were Per Porter, Martin Porter, Mark Nathan, John Nicholls, Pete Clifton, Andy Broadbent, Andy Fowkes, Dave Lambourne, Mike Mills, Jim Alexander and Tim Brass.
Mike and Jim led the ride out through Cookham,Bourne End and on to Marlow where the traffic caused a split as we turned right at Quoting Square. Unfortunately Dave was delayed by the trafiic and no one noticed or shouted that he was not with us - last few riders please should make sure we are all together! Up the climb the ride started as a group, but soon split into several groups that did not rejoin until the top of the second part of the climb. Once Dave had finished reminding us about riding up climbs as a group we set off and headed on to Fingest and turned right and then left for the climb up to Turville Heath. Until the gradient steepened noticebly we followed Dave's advice and rode as a group. Needless to say the riders who had better climbing legs drew away as gravity took it's toll and the ride regrouped at the summit. Dave had said not to wait for him as he was not feeling too well and was turning for home via Henley. The rest of the ride passed through Christmas Commom and dropped down the hill into Watlington with Per only managing 46mph - obviously not trying hard enough!
We left Watlington for a loop around part of the Milton race circuit and apart from the only puncture of the day made our way along the A40 to the base of Stokenchurch Hill and with only a few groans from Jim and John began the climb. That is apart for Mark who managed to unship his chain and had to stop to sort it out! Again the ride split as the faster boys got the bit between their teeth and were intent on beating each other to the top! Tim was the winner and Per was narrowly second, with the Andies just behind. We turned right and went back through Christmas Common and started the usual race down Pishill.
This time we had a fast session of through and off until we got to the main road into Henley where sanity returned and the pace dropped from 25mph to something more sedate! Back through Wargrave and on to the A4 where the Windsor/Ascot contingent peeled off and the remainder headed for Maidenhead. As we got to Punt Hill(just before The Pond House) John led out a mini sprint and thinking he had it in the bag eased off, only for Mike To come past and lead into the pub's car park!
The distance covered was 65 miles in 3hrs.48mins. at an average of 17.1mph.
Sunday 28th January
There was more good weather and a welcome absence of punctures or mechanicals awaiting the riders assembling at the Pond House today. Per nearly had a crash though in the PH car park when he arrived first, and encountered a huge 4x4 that decided to drive forward from the disabled bay at the precise moment he rode past; the driver paying no attention to the forward direction!
He was quickly joined by Jeremy, John, Mike Mills, Dave, Tim, Derwent, Ivor, big Ian, Mike Inder (to say Hi) and the newbie who rode last week (and whose name I didn't catch - sorry!). Dave's arrival before 10 caused much checking of watches. When he said that he would have been earlier, if he hadn't had a valve pull out while topping up his tyre pressures, there were gasps of amazement!
The Velo took the lanes through the Walthams to Winnersh, lead manly (sorry, mainly) by Ian and Tim. Ian turned off with the newbie at the A329 crossroads. The rest of the group rode on through Eversley Cross to hit the A30 outside Hartley Wintney - Dave then turned off, complaining that he'd done too many hours training that week! Before he went, he said he felt in good shape, deliberately dropping back from the pace (set by Per at that point) on the previous hill to accelerate back up to the group. Per replied that he'd been going really slowly, which probably wasn't what Dave wanted to hear...
Thereafter the riders got away from the traffic along the lanes to Odiham and Crondall. Mike for one was awake, noticing that Per had 'cut a bit off' the route. Tim took the honours as usual from Mike and Per on the nasty little rise into Well.
Enjoying a tailwind and sunshine, the usual route took the riders to Aldershot and over Tunnel Hill, where it was apparent that Derwent was feeling the miles a bit, but he continued gamely after a short break. Tim easily saw off a challenge from Per again on Chickabiddy Hill where the group slowed again to regroup and Ivor made a move for home as the time was getting on. Per turned off in Ascot and the remaining 5 riders finished the 12 miles to Maidenhead or 6 to Windsor, hopefully all safe.
The route is possibly a little hard, even though it includes very few climbs, so Per promises to revise it a little for next time!
68 miles at 15.7mph