After two Sundays of inaction due to snow and ice, just Mark and I turned up at the station on a sunny but breezy morning.  We took a familiar route via Riverside, Cookham and Bourne End to Marlow where we headed up the hill to Frieth.  We decided to see what we would be letting ourselves in for if we entered the ‘Hilly 30’ so turned left at the top to try the ramp up to the village hall.  However we didn’t get very far before I could feel a flat back tyre, so I pushed the bike up the rest of the way and we set about mending it.  Having removed the inner tube, I ran my fingers around inside the tyre to see if I could find the cause.  OUCH!!  I certainly found it - a very sharp piece of flint which had now not just slit my tyre, but also the tips of two fingers. 

 

As I carried on the task (and with blood going over everything), a couple walking back from Church saw our problem and asked if we would like to come up to their house just up the road and clean up.  So once the tyre was back on we knocked on their front door to find they had got cotton wool, tissues, antiseptic wipes and plasters ready.  We also accepted their offer of coffee and biscuits, but decided we didn’t need to wait until the imminent arrival of their daughter (a nurse).  Going back down the hill Mark spotted someone who he was convinced was a famous DJ / cyclist.  We briefly thought about stopping but decided we had enough items to fill up the ride report and carried on for a less eventful ride down to Henley and along to Sonning before the sprint back along the A4.  So with the stop that was 37.5 miles covered in 3 hours 15 minutes. 

 

David Dyer