Six starters seemed pretty good for New Year's morning and we were rewarded by mild and dry weather, though with a strong Southerly wind. The wind soon made its presence felt on the climb of Sincombe Hill. At this point my persistent cold determined that I should adopt the sweeping leader approach (i.e. 10 m off the back of the bunch).

The roads were quiet but flooded sections along the Lambourn Valley slowed our progress slightly (notably where a photo re-enactment was needed). Happily all the floods were passable and we were soon on the picturesque single track road North from Bagnor.

Hillier's Garden Centre at Hermitage was almost deserted but we were too late for the breakfast menu (1130 cut-off to note - careful not to mention that the leader had put back the ride start time by 30 mins!).

After a our stop the strong Southerly winds swept us North until, just before Compton, Louis suffered Corallian's first 2023 puncture. After a couple of abortive repair efforts Pam decided to leave the ride to tend to some dogs at home. Once the puncture had been successfully repaired and the culprit, a small flake of flint removed, quick progress was made back to Wantage (1420).

Thanks to everyone for your excellent company and waiting for me on frequent occasions - a good start to 2023.