Sunday 11th December 2011

Sunday 11th December 2011: Kingston Bridge-Fairoaks Aerodrome-Cheapside Thatched Tavern-home

A good day out in what turned out to be dry weather. But marred by the ride leader’s two back wheel punctures.

From Kingston Bridge, five of us cycled to elevenses by a mainly direct route, with minor scenic diversions at Shepperton Marina, Walton Lane and Victory Park.

I discovered my first puncture of the day just before we were due to start from elevenses. So it was nearly 11.45 when we left Fairoaks and cycled, on largely car-free roads, via Burrowhill and Windlesham to Sunningdale where my second puncture occurred. We managed to pump up the flat sufficiently for me to reach the Thatched Tavern at Cheapside near Ascot at about 1 p.m.

My grateful thanks to Terry and Jeff for their mechanical help. Jeff sacrificed part of his lunch hour to patch one of my inner tubes and then sacrificed more time to refit a rear brake pad (I had trouble releasing the brake mechanism on my non-standard brakes, so had to push the wheel and tyre past the brake pads to get the wheel back into place. This dislodged one of the brake pads and it proved difficult to refit it securely.)

After a good lunch, we left the Thatched Tavern at about 2.15 p.m. Soon afterwards, the group divided. Some went through Windsor Park to Egham, while others followed the leader through the Wentworth Estate and on into Chertsey. Most got home as or before darkness fell.

There were 13(?) of us at elevenses, but some went straight home. Attendees on the ride from elevenses to lunch were Carolyn, Irene, Nancy, Pam, Stephanie, Graham, Jeff, John, Terry.

John Gould