Seven riders at the square including Ben (good to see you back!) for a relatively short welcome ride. John warned us to keep an eye out for Paul - he eventually joined us at Stanford, dripping with sweat, having chased us following a delay due to a clothing mishap!
After the climb up Sincombe Hill we re-grouped at Sparsholt Firs which was also acting as the Banana Refreshment Stop for the HydraRide sportive. I'd never heard of it and the Controller there told me it was organised by a group of friends - a subsequent google revealed that it is in fact organised by the Swindon branch of Cycling UK (https://www.cyclinguk.org/event/hydra-ride-2024). Their route up Hackpen Hill and subsequently up Blowingstone was the reverse of ours, so we saw a few of their riders twice.
Stanford Coffee Shop supplied the drinks and cakes, a table outside and good service.
Once we had got the hills out of the way we rode well as a tight group. A relatively high speed was maintained throughout and, after Andy, Ben and Dave had peeled off towards the end, we arrived back in Wantage about 1145.
Thanks everyone, you made it a pleasure to lead!
