Ride Report - Monday 25 August

[Ian]

I was both surprised & excited that one of my cycle rides managed to attract so many. Of course the weather helped & maybe the destination too. But my guess is that despite leading rides for 12 years I’d never done so on a Bank Holiday.
15 of us assembled at Beech Hill for a 1pm start with 2 joining us at Theale. We also caught up with James who’d made his way to our lunch stop at Silchester by following my Garmin route. Yes after 18 months I’ve finally managed to plot a route on my Garmin. This thanks mainly to the assistance of Erica & Jeanette.
The circular route was 29 miles - 24 miles out & 5 miles back.
Our route: Riseley, Swallowfield, Spencer’s Wood, Grazeley Green, Burghfield, Trash Green, Theale, Sulhamstead, Ufton Nervet, Mortimer West End, Aldermaston Soke, Silchester, Calleva, Beech Hill.
Very enjoyable Bank Holiday & good to see so many friends out, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a while. Very hospitable pub just a pity about the lengthy delay with some of the food which after an hour & a half waiting some of us had to cancel.
Thank you everyone for making this an epic ride & particularly to Al for back marking & our other experienced regular leaders for keeping all riders safe.
My next ride will be to lead the Wednesday day group to Marlow. Other rides will appear on our calendar shortly but my next Saturday ride should be 20 September.