Yes Sundays ride was a tuff fast one and harder than most expected including me.  The 6 people taking part on a cold and damp May day were Simon, Callum, Mike W, Brett, Les R and myself.  We left the golf club sharper than normal as Simon was on time.  Mike suggested the normal route to keep it simple and limit the thought required, but Simon suggested a minor extension from the top of Pishill into Watlington.

Forming up into pairs we headed to Shurlock Row, with myself and Les setting what appeared a comfortable but brisk pace which still allowed the rest of the group to chat.  The descent past the winery was done around 30mph and as the road kicked up Simon took up the pace setting with Callum taking chase and the win to the rise. 

The lights were in our favour at Twyford as we headed out towards Sonning.  As we left Twyford, two fully loaded (4 water bottles each) Triathletes came sailing by.  As a group we really get past and I wasn’t going to stand for this today.  At this point we were still in pairs now with myself and Callum on the front.  Callum responded to the suggestion that he should bridge the small gap, which was closed easily.  After a couple of minutes following with the pace dropping, I moved towards the front for a short chat  The 2 riders were out for a long ride of 120 (miles or KM not sure), then I took up the pace setting.  We cleared the A4 without stopping and the lights at Sonning bridge changed in our favour as we approached.  At the foot of Playhatch I wasn’t looking for a race, but Callum shot by, so I had to respond.  Callum pulled out a 10-20m gap which remain constant till the green, when he started to look uncomfortable.  By the tree making the top he’d dropped back to 2^nd.  A short pause at the t-junction before brisk ride into Henley.

The God of traffic lights was definitely on our side as Henley came and went without the need to stop, but I feel someone behind would have appreciated a pause.  The slight raising road to Stoner was done around 19mph, with Simon and Brett taking brief turns on the front.  As the road levelled slightly after Pishill Bank, Callum came to the front and lifted the pace and again pulled out a small lead.  As the road kicked up again in the last ¼ mile I caught Callum, followed for a few meters then attacked and took the win.  All at the top, Simon reconfirmed the route into Waltington and then some hill on the left beginning with ‘B’.

Simon and Brett were the fastest down the hill into Waltington, followed by Mike and Les with Callum just back from myself.  At the base of the hill, Les pulled over as his chain had come off.  Was this due to the rough road?  It definitely slowed me down.  Leaving Waltington we were now looking for the left turn to take the climb up Britwell Hill.  The long hill as Simon called it.  Simon is off to ride up some famous mountain in France in the near future, so wanted to get some more practice in.  The main part of the climb can be seen the distance at it looks like vertical wall on the approach.  While on the climb it doesn’t look steep, but our speed dropped to 5-7mph which tells a different story.

This extra 4-5mile loop took us back to the top of Pishill and back onto the normal route.  The through and off never got going properly today in to Nettlebed (were Callum headed for home).  The lack of team work continued back to Sonning with Simon now doing the vast majority of the lead work.  We got split back at the A4 due to traffic, but were all back together in Twyford and thinking about the winery sprint.  Brett took the initial pace setting out of Twyford, then slowed with Simon taking over to the top of the raise who also slowed for the roundabout, leaving me to lead out.  At the based of the descent the speed had reach 32mph.  Brett then made his move round the outside on the approach to the bridge followed by Mike.  I then eased off feeling boxed in as the effort levels rose on a bend.  Simon and Les were also in strong contention going up the rise.  Brett then sharply move left and nearly took Mike out, but now Simon and Les were clear and I couldn’t see who took the win.  So today all 5 joined in the sprint.

Shurlock Row came and went and somehow myself and Brett had pulled out about a 100m lead crossing Howe Lane, so it looked like a 2 way final sprint.   A quick glance over my shoulder showed the chasing pack was closing in.  I lifted my pace and past Brett, but struggled to really get going and about 100m before the line, Mike came past much quicker and took a comfortable win.  Had he been saving himself all day to take maximum points in the final sprint?

Today we completed 50miles at 32.3 kph or a fraction over 20mph.  Not bad considering the hills and lack of through and off working.