A fine sunny day produced a fine crop of riders at Kingston Bridge -
thirteen in all! Bushy Park, the Feltham wheat belt, Ashford and
Stanwell got us to a rendezvous with Irene and Pam in the middle of
Colnbrook. The fun and games had already started - Tony (puncture in
Poyle), Chris (slow puncture), and Andy (AWOL). As special treats I
tossed in the Lakeside Road Incinerator and off-road sections of NCN
61. Most (including the missing Andy) were in the cafe
overlooking the lake but 11s for four stragglers was at the other (and unknown
to me) cafe in Black Park.
The restart was protracted
as the four had to be rounded up whilst others stood transfixed by the
manoeuvrings of model boats on the lake. Roads still showed signs of the
recent floods but what really caught the eye were the innumerable
potholes. Near to Fulmer and near to Hedgerley got us to Littleworth
Common (nearly). But instead of right then left I went left then right
meaning a long descent was followed by a long ascent up the same hill
albeit on different roads. Nevertheless we were at The Jolly Woodman
before one. Taking the landlady's advice we removed our bikes from the
garden to the car park. It didn't deter us from sampling the menu.
To
avoid a repeat of last week's ride we headed for Taplow but not before
dispatching Chris towards Burnham (he'd finally given up on his slow
puncture). Our numbers were further diminished as Vic and Jeff left for
differing reasons. The Olympic rowing lake (for anyone who'd never been
there), Eton Wick, Horton and Poyle led us to tea at North's of Staines.
To my surprise all three runaways turned up so only Tony missed for
family reasons. About 60 (plus 2 extra) miles door to door.
PS
Due to the incompetence of Virgin Media, I've been unable to update
the website for the last two weeks. I'm on my fifth round of
communication!
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