Another decent morning - nice to see Andy back after a long absence and to meet Carlo, who's done a couple of rides that I've missed. After the climb of Boars' Hill and the descent of Bayworth Hill we enjoyed a refreshment stop in Abingdon Market Square, causing some consternation to the R&R and Java Cafe staff by splitting our custom between them but then sitting together outside. By ensuring that we returned the correct crockery to each establishment hopefully they will get used to the "concept". Louis left the ride at Abingdon for other business and Andy left at Sutton Courtenay. Back at Wantage beers were enjoyed by the thirstier half of the riders.

Good ride to Goring and back whilst experiencing all weather conditions! Dark clouds gathered around us in the Market Square and by the time we got to the top of Court Hill and over the ridgeway there was wild gusty wind and a reasonable amount of rain. Things dried off with a bit of a tailwind across the hills to Goring and whilst sat in Viv's cafe (which was great!) it absolutely hammered it down. Time for a full english for two of the group, especially for Nick who'd suffered two punctures!

Venturing out after the pitstop there were rivers of water coming down the hill from Streatley. Then for the last hour the run came out, the wind dropped and the roads dried up.

Good conditions for riding today. The temperature was perfect and, although it was blowing a strong westerly, this didn't bother us too much.

The early bumps in the profile were soon dispatched and we went on to enjoy the bucolic lanes around Bucklebury and onward to Shaw House. The cafe there is quirky, set as it is in a 16th century manor house owned and run by Newbury council and free for you to wander around inside.

The food pickings looked a bit slim at first and it wasn't until after most of us had purchased from the selection of two or three mediocre cakes on display, that it was revealed under questioning that there was a secret fridge groaning under the weight of a thousand sandwiches (apparently they had not sold many for some reason). Those of us who had been at the back of the queue had the benefit of being able to choose from this range of butties that were amazingly value at £3.75. On balance I liked the place for its quirkiness, but some of the grumpier (hungrier?) members of group were not so impressed .

After lunch we took turns on the front to cope with the headwind and made good time back to Wantage. Two of us had a nice pint in the buzzing Alfred's Head garden and checked out the silver band playing in the market square.

A gentle route in the vale, but with a wet forecast, there were just six hardy riders at the start. The outward leg to Shrivenham was steady into the headwind coming from the west. It was dry until Charney Bassett, but we were all a bit soggy by the time we got to the farm shop, which did us proud as ever.
The rain eased on the return leg and with the wind behind us it felt good. However, the roads were slippery and crosswinds treacherous. One of our number crashed on a bend. The peloton lept into action, ensuring traffic in both directions stopped, while others assisted the rider as they slowly checked themselves out and then moved off the road. Bruised and tender, we hope they make a swift and full recovery.
We took it very cautiously on the final few kilometres back to Wantage.

There was good turnout for the Welcome ride and we welcomed back Carlo, who is now an official member of Corallian. The ride was going reasonably well until Paul went AWOL just after the Maybush pub on the River Thames. The group continued onto Cogges Farm café, expecting to see Paul steaming up from behind, but no Paul. Just as we were finishing are coffees Paul arrived looking a little out of sorts – his Wahoo had failed and Goggle maps had taken him to the wrong destination. He had resorted to asking for directions!! After a quick coffee and a sub-standard piece of lemon drizzle cake he was ready to resume the ride. He stayed close to those with the route for the remainder of the ride. We made it back to Wantage and the sun was out so a swift drink at the King Alfred’s Head was in order. Apologies to Louis and Nick for leaving you behind along the route through Stanton Harcourt.

A couple of light showers during the afternoon in Wantage and thunderstorms not far away - the weather kept us guessing until 6 pm-ish when sun emerged and it became a glorious evening for a bike ride. Four road riders met at the market square and Pete rocked up on his all-terrain green peril to head across country. A lively pace along the main roads to Harwell left the ride leader gasping for breath (but also hungry!) where Pete soon joined us followed by Louis who'd come by car. We then enjoyed the food options on offer and a few drinks, mostly non-alcoholic (sign of the times?). A blast back to Wantage, mostly along the off-road NCN was made quite tricky by the low angle of the sun and fortunately the puncture fairy did not make an appearance. Lovely evening - thanks everyone.

A gentle ride and pleased to note that three infrequent riders joined us: Larry, Richard K and Simon.

The ride was incident free

From a cool start in Whitchurch it wasn't long before the sun came out and warmed us up nicely. We started with the very picturesque section down the Test Valley, staying close to the river for some lovely views, before making an early coffee stop in Stockbridge. After that we made good progress along more pretty back lanes and passing through picture postcard villages. In no time we found ourselves enjoying a pint and a chat with the very friendly locals while sitting in the sunshine in front of The George Inn at St Mary Bourne only 3 miles from the finish. A really enjoyable day out and back home in time for a late lunch.

On a beautiful morning four of us set out. As we climbed up Court Hill it was immediately obvious that flies were out in abundance - fortunately no wasps yet! On the road to Peasemore the ride leader had a very close encounter (1-2 metres away!) with a deer that shot into the road from the right. A large herd then chased alongside us for a hundred yards before we paused for a while fearing that more of them might decide to cross the road. At Yattendon Phil joined us, as pre-arranged. After Aldbourne, and before the steep descent of Streatley Hill, we passed a very large, strung out group of elderly cyclists. As we paused on the bridge at Goring for photographs this group passed us, but our routes then fortunately diverged. The lanes out of Goring afforded beautiful views of the Chilterns and Thames valley and we paused to photograph a spectacular field of mauve flowers. We could not identify the crop - maybe it's this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1900p7571o

We arrived on time at the King William IV pub at Hailey which is in a fine position with plenty of tables at the front. Despite their website stating they have a lunch menu their food offerings are limited to a range of substantial and rather pricey main courses ands starters. The food was tasty and we enjoyed it and accompanying beers over a leisurely lunch. Fortunately the return route to Wallingford was largely downhill with a tailwind so we were soon at South Moreton where Phil left us to return home.

A routing error through Didcot led to a flawed choice of off-road track out of the town and towards Appleford. A low-lying tree at a kink in the path (Note - track best avoided in future) caught out Louis. His helmet hit the tree and pushed his glasses down resulting in a wound to the bridge of his nose. Fortunately he was able to stoically continue with the (modified) rest of the ride back to Wantage.

Beautiful sunny, warm day enjoyed by 31 riders including a trio from Corallian. 27 finishers inside the time limit. Thanks again to the team who organised, catered and otherwise assisted with the event making it a success. Donations on the day raised £35 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Time shown above is overall (elapsed) time for the first rider back.