'Not waving but drowning'! Well, it wasn't quite that bad. To start with, the ride had a gritty theme. There was some proper grit and plenty of urban grit, and it was led by a miserable old grit! Anyway, to begin at the beginning, 16 of us 'A's' had a jolly nice elevenses with the 'B's' at Shepperton before setting off in two groups.
My travails to find somewhere the 'A's' haven't visited in living memory had led me to alight on the Dumb Bell at Horn Hill (or perhaps I just 'had the voices', which might explain a lot of things)! We meandered purposefully through the backwaters of Shepperton and Ashford, and along the west side of Heathrow, then, once I had mended my puncture (!), dodged as much of West Drayton and Uxbridge as we could, before circumnavigating the Denham roundabout. Denham Village was much admired before we begun the slog up past the golf club so posh it has its own station! The final couple of miles to lunch incorporated an unexpected water feature, but there were no drownings!
The Dumb Bell had been recommended to me and offered a wide range of menu choices, reasonably priced, and with efficient and friendly service. And there was a large, well-kept garden with extensive views, except it wasn't quite the weather for lunching al fresco!
Dave J, who had tirelessly back-marked for my group all morning, suffered a minor fall and a nasty graze setting off from the pub, but would not be deterred from continuing to back-mark!
On the now rather badly-eroded and treacherous bridleway section of Broken Gate Lane, we came across the first group, led by Mike R, nursing Steve D's punctures. Repairs can't have been straightforward because we did not see the group again until Stanwellmoor! In the meantime, we encountered another 'water feature' - ordinarily in summer you would cross the Alderbourne ford at Fulmer without noticing any water. This time, even the approach to the curiously narrow 'squeezer' footbridge was flooded!
Once we had tackled this obstacle without loss of life, we were back on the old familiar route past Pinewood, Iver Heath, and Colnbrook, and at tea at Shepperton, if not exactly early, at least before closing time!
It was an interesting ride but probably not one I would be anxious to repeat in the immediate future! Many thanks to my fellow 'A's' for putting up with it all! I am particularly grateful to Mike R for kindly (and bravely) offering to sub-lead, and to Dave J for back-marking in the face of adversity!
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