Report for B group - 22nd December

A cold and frosty start but soon warmed by Dave Vine's birthday tea and cakes at the Walton Centre.  Thanks Dave.  I was heartened by the response to the ride on the darkest Wednesday of the year, one day after the solstice .  18 riders were ready to burn some fat before loading it all on again at the weekend.  A very straight run out and back, the prettiest bit being along the Thames from Staines to Chertsey Bridge in the afternoon.  So in the absence of any hill, puncture or injury I'll leave you with a photo of the Christmas tree on the Thames, on a section of the river where there were hundreds of beautiful white swans.

~ Steph

Many thanks and Happy Birthday to Dave Vine who treated us all to our morning tea. We appreciated being back in the Walton Day Centre; our last visit had been on the 20th of February last year.

Our second team left at 10:55, almost on time, noting that it was by now slightly less frosty, and we crossed Walton Bridge for a very straight forward ride out to Datchet via Staines and Wraysbury. Steph had saved the more scenic return along the Thames path until after lunch when the sun was low and glowing in its own feeble and wintery way along the water as we rode towards Chertsey Bridge.

The Royal Stag had set up our tables in the 'barn' and were very busy bringing our pre-ordered lunches out to us. We enjoyed efficient and cheerful service with very decent food, feeling lucky in a way that such establishments have been able to remain open. We got to sing Happy Birthday to Helen and remembered too that it was the birthday of Paul, B Group leader and Sou'Wester editor in chief. Happy Birthday Paul.

 

On the home run our team stopped in Shepperton to decide who wanted afternoon tea and who wanted to bolt for home. The result was that nobody continued on to Squires in Upper Halliford but several went to The Pheasantry in Bushy Park. The rest of us headed more directly home and more or less reached our homes before dark. The two seconds of extra sunlight gained by the passing of the Winter Solstice were lost on us really. But things can only get better, can't they?

Thanks to Steph for coming up with a ride that was well calibrated for the season and especially for remembering our previous experiences of having lunch at The Royal Stag and booking us in there for a decent lunch.

~ Tim