A good crowd of 10 riders turned out on this cold morning and it’s good to see 7 in club kit. The remaining 3 riders blending in nicely with their choice of colours.  Colin was sporting a new helmet following his solo crash on the way home last Sunday.  Check out Strava for more details.  Brett indicated he had time pressures, but was happy for the group to do the Pangbourne route in reverse and he would peel off at some point.

I’ve missed several rides over the last few months and it appears on at least two occasions this route was tried but never got followed.  Other may like to give the reasons.  Matt and Les were the initial on form riders setting the pace with the rest in tow.  Approaching Twyford, Stuart splintered the group by going for the sprint at the roundabout.  I was too far back to see the outcome.  As we heading into Sonning, Brett turned for home.  Also I notice we had been joined by Sam at some point.

As we left Dunsden Green on route to Sonning Common we saw our first mini rainbow of the day and the roads turned wet.  Leaving Sonning Common, I suggested to Les we cross the Thames at Goring / Streetley instead of Pangbourne.  As we dropped down into Goring the clouds looked very threatening with yet more rainbows to our right.

With a pause at the lights in Streetley, Mike S (our new club hill climb champion) eyes lit up with the suggestion of going up Streetley Hill along with a comment about a beast of a hill.  As the lights went green Mike was away and had plenty of time to recovery before the last rider arrived.  Simon was complaining about his bottom near not working.  At the top Stuart was hoping to get everyone to believe he did it in the big ring of his compact, but at least  one rider past him while in the lower ring.   Stuart did inform us that the steepest part was 16.1% based on his garmin.  Not that steep really.

With everyone recovered we headed back down a dry but mossy lane.  On route a large deer did attempt to take out Mike W and Danuta.  I was hoping for veal for lunch. We eventually picked up the A329 into Pangbourne for some through and off which continue on the A340 to Theale.  Due to every increasing speed, the through and off was breaking down as we approached Theale.

At some point south of Reading, Colin tried to fall off for the 2^nd time buy pulling his foot out of the pedal while accelerating hard from a corner.  This could have been  sheer power or warn cleats / pedals.  The group felt poor maintenance as he’d also missed a couple of gear changes earlier.  This was re-enforced a few minutes later when Colin got a puncture.  The entire group were extremely supportive of Colin while we stood around having a general chat in the cold.  Good work Colin with such a small pump action.

Before Colin had finished Danuta took off early to ensure she got the full quota on points on Beech Hill.  The group eventual caught her after chasing hard in Swallowfield.  As we past through Arborfield both Danuta and Sam were well off the back.  With them both looking for an easier ride back we left them to make their own way home together.  If it had been one dropping back we would have waited.

On the final approaches to the golf club, Les took the Winery sprint from me in the last few yards.  I initial led the final sprint for but didn’t have enough again for the win.  Who was the winner?

Back at the Golf club myself and Simon headed directly for home to leave the others for a coffee in the warmth of the club house.  A while later Sam arrived at the golf club by himself.  Danuta bailed out at Hurst and got David to pick her up.

Today we did about 55 miles with an average around 18.4mph