For whatever reason, perhaps the brief lull in the recent run of wet weather, there was a very good turnout at elevenses at Addlestone, and the queue for refreshments was so long that some members did not get served until well after 11.00 am! This led to a late start to our ride, but we made steady progress towards Windsor Great Park via Trumps Green, Callow Hill, and Englefield Green despite the the rather blustery headwind. In the park we paused briefly for a glimpse of Wembley Arch in the distance before heading down into Windsor, using a slightly different approach from usual, and arriving at The Windlesora just before 1.00 pm.
At lunch there were two dozen of us, a few having arrived by a route avoiding the morning's climbs. Mostly the food orders arrived quite quickly, but, as we have observed before, anything from Wetherspoon's Wednesday Chicken Club menu always, mysteriously, seems to take longer (note for future reference)!
Despite these small delays we were still able to set off homewards by 2.00 pm with a bit of a tailwind to spur us on. The attempts by various level crossing barriers and temporary traffic lights to split us up were to no avail, and we managed to keep together well as we rode through Datchet, Horton, Stanwellmoor and Ashford to reach the tea stop at Nutty Lane, Shepperton. Not a very scenic route but at least not one we do not do very often, and with the added bonus of passing Ed's old school!
For once I was fortunate to lead an incident-free 'B' ride with no mechanical mishaps, or riders lost (especially me)! Many thanks to Tony Hooker for back-marking, to all the eager corner markers, and to everyone else for your company.
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