Autumn Colours & Sunny Sunday.

Paddy Power.
At North Waltham.

Wednesday 23rd October 2019.

A somewhat dull day but at least it was dry. I found a somewhat lumpy route to and from the QE Country Park and was glad I had chosen Txiki for my mount of the day. 

The trees are really showing their autumn colours now and it was a shame there was not a sunnier day to show them to their best. Still a few odd flowers about and plenty of old man's beard to decorate the hedgerows. 

I even found a road I don't remember ever having ridden before, maybe I just forgot it. Will check with my maps.

Two red kites soaring over me as I climbed Wheeley Down. I think they had spotted a dead pheasant on the road. A little further on a buzzard took over the soaring duties.

I notice The Cricketers on Tichborne Down is still closed with some fencing round. I wonder if refurbishment is in progress or has it been bought by developers?

Thursday 24th October 2019.

With rain forecast over the next few days, I felt it would be good to ride to the HCMF meet at Easton despite the rain forecast for the middle of the day. As I rode the first few miles the roads were almost dry and apart from a spot or two of rain it was dry but just as I was riding out of Sutton Scotney it started to rain more. Fortunately not very heavily. When I got to the Cricketers I found Simon and Andrew on the doorstep so we went in together. It was good to meet up with them both as I'd not seen either for a while. The rain came heavily for the next couple of hours and it was gone 3 by the time it stopped and we headed home. So overall a good day out despite the weather.

Sunday 27thy October 2019.

A beautiful sunny day but rather chilly at around 6 deg C when we set off. Warmer in the sunshine. We had planned to go to Jolly Ollie's in Oakley but when I realised they were closed on Sunday we changed the plan and we stopped at the Old Barn Stores in North Waltham. We had to wait a while for our coffee and cake but it was well worth it as it was a lovely day to sit by the duck pond in the sunshine while other customers from the shop sat on a nearby bench and a lady and her two boys fed the ducks.

Many thanks Paddy, for making my day so enjoyable and for a post-ride dinner "en famille" with the entertainment of premier league football and "Strictly"!

Gridironman.