A cold but bright day with no ice thankfully. Six riders made it around with no incidents to report.

The pace was fairly brisk and the ride leader was paying for his lack of riding recently as he began to flag towards the end. Fab bacon butties and scrambled egg on toast at Linwood in Lechlade, which was busy but we found a table and were served quickly.

All in all a very pleasant ride with good company

Only one rider was daft enough to turn up at WMS, where two men and a cherrypicker were busy putting up the Christmas lights. That rider then exhibited even more daftness by deciding to do the ride anyway. Then the rain started and the A417 was most unpleasant so Plan B was enacted - a swift return home. But by 1930 the rain had stopped and conditions were not too bad, so a trip up Court Hill seemed worthwhile. No photos I'm afraid!

A good turnout given the dank conditions but at least it wasn’t too cold and it didn’t rain. The roads were slippery in places but there were no mishaps and less standing water than I was expecting. An uneventful and reasonably paced ride to Abingdon, via Cumnor. Coffee was taken at R&R, where John Talbot joined us, having run from Sutton Courtenay. We emerged to find Louis had a flat but he manfully offered to find his own way home, rather than delay the whole group, so we left one rider down. We decided the road through Ginge would be unpleasant after the previous night’s rain, so diverted along the A417, down Laines Barn Hill and back along the A338. Louis caught us just after we arrived back at King Alfred: chapeau. Thanks to Terry for sweeping.

Not many out tonight, and parking in Wantage wasn't helpful. Anyhow, a change to the planned route to save wading through the floods - we did well not getting much of the easterly breeze, which was pretty cold.

My knee stopped working at Kingston Bagpuize, so we had to slow down a bit from there back to the pub, where we had Pete greet us for a natter and a noggin!

Chris was to ill to ride today so I (Pete) stood in as ride leader.

It was a cold day but we were all appropriately equipped, so after a short while under power were more or less warm enough, depending on who you ask. We arrived smartly at Beaulieu where the sun made an appearance and Jez made peace with the equine forest dwellers following his rodeo incident earlier this year. We lingered a while in the cafe over some monster portions of cake before heading out again. The full range of farm animals was encountered roaming free in the forest so we successfully dodged around donkeys, ponies, pigs, sheep, swans and cattle wandering across our path. The scenery was excellent all along the route although perhaps we missed the height of the autumn colours by a week or so. Lunch at the pub in Linwood was splendid and thanks to Chris for booking the table otherwise we might not have got into this popular watering hole. This put us in a mellow mood for the puncture repair that became necessary not to long after. This is a great route, if you haven't ridden it already then you should.

Pete.

We set off under grey skies, but it wasn't long before the sun came out to warm our bones . This was just as well as it kept our spirits up at Bablock Hythe, where a new record for longest time ever taken to fix a puncture was set. I'm sure those steel tyre levers are museum pieces, or should be . After much friendly joshing we were eventually back underway. Soon after this we paused at the roadside and observed 2 minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday. Further down the road the Humble Bumble Cafe sorted us out with great cakes, butties & coffee. Inside is small and was full of locals, but we were happy sitting in the sunshine on the veranda. This would have taken a nice photo but I was to busy scoffing. The homeward leg was uneventful. All in this was a relaxed social ride in the sun with good food and great company - happy days. Thanks to all who came along.
Pete

A nippy night, but it stayed dry. Some knee challenges slowed the pace from Steventon, and a pothole induced pinch puncture stopped us in out tracks near Charney Bassett.... faith in motorists was well and truly restored - one car stopped and gave us light to repair by and another car stopped to check all was OK.

To cap it all off for the unlucky leader (yep, my knee and my puncture!) I realised at the end that I'd not switched my computer on at the start.

Good conditions after the rain of the previous 24 h - only one small flood across the road and the weather remained dry (just about) throughout. A very evenly matched quartet made rapid progress through Oxfordshire and Berkshire and into Hampshire, enjoying some beautiful autumn colours, where we failed to take any photos of the Roman walls of Calleva (for the record Calleva Atrebatum was originally an Iron Age settlement from about 25 BC to 50 AD then a Roman Town from 43 AD to about 550 AD). From there a cunning cut-through found us in Tadley to try out the Cafe Retreat for lunch. It seems a popular spot on a Sunday Morning but there were a few tables available and the service was pretty quick. Breakfasts there are coded B1 to B5 and seemed good value (but note no cards! cash only). The return ride was similarly incident free until Andy picked up a puncture on the descent of Chain Hill, happily slow enough to allow him to limp to the market square a few minutes after the rest.

Rides don't come any easier to lead than this one - a real pleasure.

Enjoyable ride on dry roads with only light winds. It was a little chilly later on - crucial to get the clothing right! My first go at leading a Winter/Autumn evening ride in the dark was made straightforward by a good group. The difficult decision seemed to be choosing when when to ride two abreast - a little off-putting with lights bearing down on you! Thanks to everyone. Only two of us at the KAH.