I will start by saying I admire very much, everyone who went out on this ride, because the weather forecast was not favourable. The day was beset with challenges starting with Hans who turned up at Addlestone to find his rear tubeless tyre leaking sealant. I too have had this problem because the sealant seals up small punctures without you noticing, but then in wet weather or if you store the bike for some time the sealant drains from the puncture site and leaks. In any case the first group was down to six. Namely Janice and her guest rider Richard Varian, Ged, Patrick, Neil W and myself. We left at 10.30 to cover the reasonably flat 23 miles to lunch with no rain. Of course we had a Slough puncture (pun courtesy of Ged).
Patrick had a rear flat and the issues were unscrewing the through bolt, which then still proved difficult to remove and then removing the tough Gatorskin tyre. Amazingly Neil W put the tyre back on without tyre levers! During this time it commenced to rain, but as we began to set off, blue sky appeared and with it the sun. We were surprised that the second group had not overtaken us. Nevertheless we decided to ride the optional loop round Burnham Beeches, in bright sunshine. What a lovely piece of woodland!
We arrived at the Fox & Pheasant to find they had not received the lunch order. My fault! I had mis-typed the email address, but it took 24 hours to show up, because I had turned off wi fi to save battery for my sat nav. on my phone. Fortunately I had a low tech hand written master copy, so the staff set to sorting out our food and there were no delays, albeit a bit of confusion on payment. The food was good and so we set off at 2 pm refreshed and dry.
Well we rode straight into a vicious blustery headwind all the way to Upper Halliford. Janice, Neil, Richard and Patrick rode ahead of me (very kind to an old man!) to bear the brunt of the blast. The return was a mixture of urban road and cycle path and despite their efforts I was glad to rest. Nevertheless we arrived at Squires for tea at 3.15 pm. 17 miles in 75 minutes! No wonder I was tired. Ged, Neil and Patrick stopped for tea. Then at 4.15 pm we all left for home or rather I watched the other three disappear into the far distance not having the legs to keep up. They are seriously strong riders. We were lucky to have a mostly sunny day to ride this time of year although 4 punctures in all ( and number 5 by Dave Ward on the recce) shows how we need to prepare for the wintry season ahead. Thanks to all the riders in my group and especially to Ged for back marking. Steve D.
The second group off was at 10.40 am led by Dave Ward. Here's what he has to say:-
Fiona, Steve W, John B, Richard B, Simon (who very kindly agreed to back-mark) were the second away from elevenses. I never look back when someone is trying to catch me up (it could always be someone I owe money to), but I'm told Vic White made contact with the back of the group as we were leaving Addlestone. It's nice to know he is hale and hearty getting out and about. All my attempts to shake the group off were in vain and, apart from spotting a rainbow, we rode without incident, or serious rain, until Eton where Richard was unlucky to suffer a rear wheel puncture. With Simon to assist all was sorted quickly and efficiently, although the spare inner tube available was rather too large for the narrow profile tyre, and Richard dared only re-inflate it to a low pressure, which made the remainder of the ride rather hard work for him, although he gamely stuck it out and didn't seem to be suffering too much!
Neil's group passed us before the repair was complete. We took no satisfaction at all when, having completed our optional Beeches loop, we found them stopped by the road sorting out a puncture of their own and we swept past them in turn! Honour was saved!
We enjoyed our lunches at the Fox and Pheasant although Simon felt badly treated because the custard accompaniment to his blackberry crumble did not come in a miniature saucepan!
There were no punctures on the way back to Squires, Upper Halliford, just a struggle against the wind, so our contribution to the day's puncture count was one and a half (because I had had a puncture on my recce of the route)!
Finally a word from Group 3 leader Neil C:-
"The sun shone, the rain stayed away from us, we enjoyed our lunches and we had a great ride. Thanks Steve."
Look at the sun streaming in through the window! I look forward to more of the same.
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