The first ride of the year attracted a couple of new riders, welcome to Daniel and Lucy who joined David Dyer, David Booth, Dan, Magnus (after a long absence!) and myself on a fairly mild but damp and foggy morning. It was quickly decided to do our usual run through Twyford, Sonning and Playhatch to Christmas Common, Stokenchurch, Marlow and home. We started slowly, letting Daniel and Lucy get used to riding in a group, but after Sonning we picked the pace up a bit as we headed up the hill. They kept up well, but we stopped to regroup several times on the way to Stokenchurch. On the way a policeman stopped Lucy and told her that she ought to have her light on her bike rather than her helmet! First time that had happened - it was extremely foggy up there, but at least we all had lights on! We passed a large looking Bird Hills group soon after this.

Daniel, Magnus and David B wanted to see if they could get a good time on the hills down from Stokenchurch to Marlow so the rest of us left them to it (not sure how well they did in the end - will have to check Strava!). After a regroup in Marlow we took the flat route back through Bourne End and Cookham to home. 47 miles completed, average speed 15.7mph.