Report on A group ride from Fairoaks, 9 Sep 2020

First of all thanks to NeilC for the route! We had a not-so-auspicious 13 riders in 3 groups but no major mishaps thank goodness (so much for superstition). It was a flat, fairly fast ride (15.2mph av) with a slight headwind on the way out to lunch at the Cricketers at Littlewick Green, and a tailwind on the way back. 25 miles from Fairoaks to lunch, 18 miles to tea at the Potting Shed by the Savill building in Virginia Water. Thanks to NeilC for helping to keep our pace up by jumping into the lead every time I flagged! After lunch Neil’s gear cable broke but he was up and running again in a few minutes by cleverly clamping the gear cable using his bottle cage bolts in order to maintain a mid-range gear. This didn’t seem to slow him down at all as he again overtook me several times on the way back with legs spinning like Billy Whizz! 😂

Many thanks to Brian and DaveV for leading their respective groups, and to Hans for backmarking. Here is Dave Vine’s ride report and a few pictures:

“Thanks Mike for a really nice day out to a really nice welcoming pub.

I confess it didn't seem that flat to me, but perhaps I'm out of condition. The day started well; I met Pete Betts and he kindly dragged me from Addlestone to Fairoaks behind his new e-bike at a respectable pace. Thanks Pete. Unfortunately he was destined to ride with another group. I think in future each sub-group should have their own e-bike member to assist with the pace.

We were pleased to welcome Geoffrey Shields on his first Wayfarer outing since lockdown. Clearly he has not been wasting his time watching TV or whatever as he set a mean pace up every hill, seemingly with ease.

We were overtaken by Brian's group approaching Kiln Green; clearly they put something in the coffee at Fairoaks, which I had missed. To keep our groups separate I elected to take a more scenic cross country approach to Littlewick. Even so we arrived in a respectable 2 hours dead.

It was hard to drag myself away from the pub, but the red kites were circling ever closer, so it was prudent to move. The routre back took in some nice lanes, and the gravelly bits were nicely gravelly. Geoffrey left us at the entrance to Windsor Great Park to go directly home, so it was in the congenial company of Simon and Geoff that we took tea at the Savill Garden. Once again I struggled to get going, but Simon said there was a cold front coming, which I think means cold rain, which sounded like a good reason for getting home and out of it's way. Thanks to Simon for back marking, and everyone for their company.

Dave”