I was standing outside Hungerford Town Hall at 0955 wondering if anyone else would turn up, when Louis rang to say that he was at Dun Mill, having ridden over from Wantage. A few minutes later we set off on a bright but still very cold morning. Caution was needed on the shadier sections of the lanes over to Great Bedwyn where a thin veneer of ice was often present, but after an hour or so we could relax a bit and enjoy the filthy lanes of the Blowingstone route. The mud was compensated for by the beauty of the countryside on a cloudless day. We were the only cyclists at the Honeystreet Mill cafe where we enjoyed their excellent bacon baps, flapjacks and coffee.

The return route was on cleaner and blissfully quiet A and B roads and in bright sunshine. We soon heated up and various layers of clothing were removed at Wilton Mill before pushing on to Inkpen. At Kintbury Louis reassessed the wisdom of the return ride back to Wantage and decided to accompany me back to Hungerford. Overall a lovely day out - where were you all?