After a swift dash to Chertsey we detoured over St Ann's Hill to find a quieter road and warm the climbing legs up. Under the railway (where the six inches of water from Monday had gone), over the M25 and shortly later over the M3.
In Trump's Green Janice had our first visitation from the P******* Fairy. The weather may have been dry but the lanes were very wet and mucky and we all know that's where the Fairy likes to lurk. A commitee of six helped Janice while the rest of us waited up the road.
When we got moving again we passed Wentworth and entered Windsor Great Park from the A30. Turning right we passed the Totem Pole and the Polo Grounds before exiting by Blacknest Gate. Next the undulating road up towards the Peanut Roundabout.
From here the roads flatten out and we passed through Woodside, Plaistow Green, Cranbourne and along Crouch Lane and Drift Road before dropping down to Fifield and on to the track past Bray Marina.
The wooden bridge over the Thames was wetter and more slippery than usual and caught one of us out but we all made it to The Pineapple - some directly, some taking an unofficial detour to improve their appetite.
Despite the size of our group we were welcomed and fed promptly. The sandwiches came in for lots of comments."I've never seen such large sandwiches", "I've never been beaten by a sandwich before", "I want to take a photo but I haven't got a wide enough angle lens", "I won't need to eat again today", "How am I going to ride home after eating all that". One of us even left and went straight to Windsor station to avoid the ride home.
As we gathered outside for the ride home Simon discovered he had had the second visitation from the Fairy (must have been on that unofficial detour!). We left Geoff to help him out and headed east through Eton, Datchet, Wraysbury and into Staines. By now Dave B was aware that the Fairy was going for a hat-trick and, despite pumping up his tyre to try and make it home, before Laleham he had to stop and sort it properly. Dave V stayed to help.
As we got to Shepperton half a dozen headed for Walton Bridge so very few of us actually made it to Squires at Upper Halliford. There most agreed that they had yet to work off lunch and so declined tea and pushed on for home in the gathering gloom.
Thanks to Mike B for backmarking and to everyone else for a good ride on a dry January day. Thanks also to Simon for his GPS track and Geoff for the photo.
About 23 miles from Shepperton to Dorney and 16 miles back to Upper Halliford.
1 comment:
Well done Neil for an excellent ride and thanks to all your helpers. It does seem a pity that after such an excellent start by the P..Fairy that we have abandoned this award for future years! Maybe the Fairy is annoyed. Would anyone like to take on the mantle of monitoring for 2016 - I am sure we can get Ed to create a new trophy or is it simply a matter of the winner getting 3 new tubes, second getting 2 and third one (Hey Presta). I guess our funds could run to that.
I must say Neil you set a cracking pace and as for it being flat, what about St. Anns Hill?At least it created a natural break and gaps for the passing motorists! As for me a total of 76 miles to and from home including the final climb up the Col de Epsom Downs to Walton le Hill. I guess I was grateful for the Gargantuan sandwich and large donation of scrounged chips!
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