On a frosty cold day 9 riders braved the conditions for a brisk ride.  Before setting off a discussion took place about the conditions with the general view that due to the lack of rain, recent gritting of roads, that if we kept off small lanes we should be ok.  Without much debate everyone appeared happy with the standard Pishill route. 

The group included Neil back for a 2^ndride with us, now with oval chain rings,  Danuta, Robert in nine layers, Callum feeling the cold by not having enough layers, Mike, Simon, Colin who joined us a couple of times during the summer now brandishing a cheque to become a member and Les on his old steel bike.

Leaving the golf club and heading towards Twyford we made brisk progress with little effort due to the tail wind.  On the short climb after the winery up into Twyford, Mike, Callum, Neil, Les lifted the pace for a moderate race to the top.   For a change we got to the lights for a left turn to Sonning without the need to stop.  Neil being new to the route thought we were going straight across, so had to chase to rejoin the group.  We also got over the bridge at Sonning with a green light.

Myself and Neil set a strong pace up Playhatch to Dunsden with the group sticking together until near the top, with only a short pause to regroup at the bus shelter.  On into Henley as usual at a brisk pace making the most of the generally down hill road.  Into Henley and again through both sets of lights without the need to stop.

Leaving Henley along the Fairmile we caught a couple of other riders at the right turn toward Pishill. One of the riders (on a Cervelo) tagged onto our train. On the gently rising road toward Stoner I was expecting a bit of through and off, but no one was interested.  Our guest did attempt to come to the front, but after grunting a few words at me which I didn’t understand (sorry) he disappeared down the line.  As the road kicked up just before the top, Callum got into the sprint of giving me a break on the front.

Through and off then broke out on the road to Nettlebed and on through to Sonning Common.  Colin got the hang of this after some advice from Simon. After the short sharp drop and following climb into Sonning Common the pace back to Twyford was noticeably easier.  Again in Sonning and Twyford we got a green light, so all lights were green for us and this must be a first. 

Leaving Twyford Simon came to the front to act as lead out man followed by me.  About 50m prior to the small bridge, Callum made an early break for the sprint.  I re-acted, but while picking up speed, Mike, Les and Neil all came storming through, so a number of riders up for the sprint.  I don’t recall what happened to Les and Callum, but myself, Mike and Neil had a race to the line with the winner taking it by half a wheel.  Rolling back into Shurlock Row, Mike commented that the sprint today was fast.  Having now checked my SRM file I max’ed out at 34.9mph with an average of 30.4mph for the up hill sprint.

In recent weeks we’ve had sprint into the bends before the golf club.  Today I had to give way to traffic at the Howe Lane roundabout leaving Callum, Mike, Neil and I think Les to fight it out.  Being 200m back, I couldn’t see what happened.  But back at the golf club I was informed that Neil back off due to 4 other riders on the same stretch of road with Callum taking a hard fort win.    As this sprint is now getting competitive we need to agree where the line is at some point before the bends.

Today’s club ride came in at 43 miles done at an average of 18.9mph with about 1200ft of height gain.  The full route can be seen at http://app.strava.com/rides/3358277.  Despite the cold it was a good enjoyable day for riding in the sun shine.