What has happened? My weekly mileage has suddenly taken a dip! Only 45 miles this week after none last week. But I did have a nasty cold and the weather has not been very friendly. Here is my graph of weekly miles todate :-
Notes:
After a slow start where I was constantly behind my target I managed to get ahead a few weeks ago.
- I have been consistently ahead of last year's actual.
- I am practically spot on my target line for 3,500 miles in the year but that is assuming I don't continue to slack!
On Thursday 31st Simon and I decided to join the sociable group of Barrie's Pedallers led by David Foster. We left home just on the stroke of 9 and made it to the Stoke Charity Rendezvous in plenty of time. There we joined Caroline, Karen & Bill, Sue Tull, Alan Gwyer and Brenda, a rider I'd not met before.
David suggested riding to John Lewis's Farm Shop on the Leckford Estate but he had found out that Sue Reeves was planning taking the Saturday easy ride there. However we all agreed that we did not mind that, so off we set in that direction.
We headed towards Longparish and the Test Valley but unfortunately David had a flat rear tyre just as we were crossing the bridge over the A303. Simon and Alan both stayed to help him replace the tube while the rest of us carried on. The remainder of the ride to the cafe was uneventful.
The Farm Shop and Cafe are beautifully situated in a very rural area and is very spacious, there are tables and chairs outside too, but the weather was too cold and grey to sit there.
We enjoyed coffee or tea with a good choice of cakes and scones, not cheap, but very much in line with many other similar cafes.
The other three joined us after about half an hour, it transpired that David had a second flat, possibly due to a faulty valve.
Our journey back towards Stoke Charity which was slightly shorter than our outward one, was via Chilbolton and Newton Stacey. Caroline left us at Fullerton to return home to Whitchurch.
Simon and I left the group in Barton Stacey, attracted by the Siren Call of the nearby Swan Inn together with the HCMF group who were meeting there. David dropped off near his home too leaving the other five to return to Stoke Charity.
In the Swan we found the usual hardcore of riders together with Alan Burr and his family, others having already departed.
Suitably refreshed we headed home where we arrived at about 4 p.m. having had a most enjoyable social ride. I had particularly enjoyed seeing friends who I'd not seen for a while and making friends with Brenda too.
Thanks David for leading the ride and to all those who took part in making it a very enjoyable day.
Gridironman.
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