On a bright if a little chilly Sunday morning 12 of us met up at the Berries Cafe in Henley Hart Street – a new venue for me and perhaps not the absolute best on a Sunday morning with the proximity of St May’s Church and it’s Sunday bells, but it certainly typified that stereotypical English Sunday morning scene.
Unfortunately Andy and Laura had to cry off suffering from seasonal colds. However of the remainder it was especially good to see the ride so well attended by new members and a good smattering of tutors. For the time of year the roads through to Bicester were perfect, relatively traffic free, dry, sunny and with none of the inherently seasonal problems of frost pockets, flooding and leaves.
Good progress was made by all showing that the drop-off system works extremely well with a mixed group of differing levels of experience. After a stop for coffee in Bicester the route took us in the direction of Charlbury and Burford before dropping down to lunch at the Riverside at Lechlade – such good roads and what a day to indulge in what they had to offer.
After lunch, literally at the riverside in the sunshine, our numbers were diminished by some having family commitments to attend to and with smaller numbers, the group tightened up considerably as we made our way towards Wantage and from there across to Goring and finishing again in Henley.
My thanks to Tim and Gemma for back marking and to all who attended for making the whole thing work as well as it did – I only hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did.
Robin
