As I cycled into the Market Square there was no one under King Alfred so I thought maybe I was going to get away with going straight back home to a warm bed but I spotted Pete skulking in a nearby doorway out of the wind and a few minutes later Nick turned up too!

Not surprising it was a low turnout with a biting and strong NW wind and no Sun no alleviate the cold. The route took us mostly into a headwind to Shrivenham and north to Coleshill and eventually Langford along a mucky lane.

We pushed the pace a bit to get to Bampton before the breakfast to lunch dead zone and just made it to order breakfast goodies. Unfortunately the goodies were anything but. A bit of shrivelled bacon in a bap and a half filled cup of coffee. Nick's breakfast was an embarassment. £9.50 was not good value for money. A shame as they have so often been good to us.

The tailwind back cheered us up though and we flew along up Buckland Hill and back to Wantage just after 1pm. All day ride? Whatevs

Good to get a ride in on a cold December day so everyone's a winner!