It was a somewhat milder start to the day than last week (only 3 of us made it then, and only 2 finished - it was so cold - so I didn't write it up!) and 8 of us met at the Clock Tower. 3 new riders Matt, Derek and Charlie (who has been out with Birds Hill before) joined Dave D, Dan, Rob and myself whilst Malcolm set off for home straight away (we did see Brian on the road to Twyford so maybe they managed to hitch up). We decided to do the usual route today, as it gives new riders opportunities to head home if they are struggling.

So, off to Twyford. A rather brisk headwind today, and we didn't push it too hard. Everyone stayed together with Dave setting the pace to start with then Rob and I took a turn. Waited at the roadwork lights in Twyford for a bit before heading through Sonning and up to Playhatch. Thats where we realised Matt and Charlie were strong riders, as they took the lead with Rob. We regrouped at the top, and had a slightly scary moment as an Aston Martin was going too quickly towards us as we went along the narrow road between Playhatch and Sonning Common, but it was all fine. At Nettlebed Dan was struggling with a bad chest, and Derek was finding the pace quite hard so they went back to Henley and home whilst we carried on to Christmas Common, Stokenchurch, Marlow and home. It was nice to have the wind finally behind us as we descended into Marlow as it has been relentless in our faces up until then.

In the end it was a slower ride than some weeks - 47 miles with an average speed of 16.1mph, but for some reason it felt quite hard - probably the wind and cold.