A day of warm sunshine and gentle winds - oh no, that was yesterday: welcome to autumn! In fact, it wasn't as bad as forecast: only light showers. I doubt I had my waterproof on for more than 25% of the ride. The roads were greasy with rain, fallen leaves and various varieties of manure. We observed good social distancing on the first ascent of Hackpen, i.e. I was way off the back. The Sheepdrove track was as delightful as ever. We saw Andy Cowan coming the other way. All was pretty uneventful until Mike picked-up a puncture on the lanes after Ploughley. We found two shards of glass in the tyre but the repair failed after another couple of miles. By that time we were almost in Hungerford so Mike walked the last few hundred metres to Honesty. Good café! We played a game of Count the Patches on Mike's Inner Tubes. Eventually I took pity on him and gave him one of my new tubes which got him back to Wantage. Louis had a lunch engagement, so left after a quick cuppa to hurry home. With all the faffing, it was 1.30 by the time Mike and I reached the top of Hackpen for the second time and I was hungry, so we hammered home through the Letcombes rather than through Sparshot. An enjoyable ride despite the conditions. Thanks to Louis and Mike for taking the brunt of the wind, especially on the outward leg.