Beautiful sunny, warm day enjoyed by 31 riders including a trio from Corallian. 27 finishers inside the time limit. Thanks again to the team who organised, catered and otherwise assisted with the event making it a success. Donations on the day raised £35 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Time shown above is overall (elapsed) time for the first rider back.

The persistent cool North Easterly wind did not deter many of the riders, even John and Paul joined, albeit dressed in their winter gear, no bear chests today!! We picked up Louise in Denchworth who informed us that due to closure of a section of the A417, the side roads around Standford-In-The Vale were busy so we decided to go the Hatford via Charney Bassett. We arrived at Blakes in Coleshill and the sun appeared and the temperature had improved so refreshments were taken outside. It was almost a full round of Cinnamon Buns – only five more before a free one. We all made it back to Wantage, with the exception of Louise who turned off at Kingston Lisle and John who had a chain malfunction just outside Ridgeway Cycles. Some of the group went to the King Alfred’s Head for further refreshments. Any enjoyable morning ride and a good overall pace.

Chilly to begin with but we soon warmed up trying to keep up with Dave into the Northerly headwind. A succession of rather busy roads eventually gave way to the back roads of North Oxfordshire and it felt pleasantly warm when the sun broke through the clouds from time to time. As forewarned Richard left the ride at Brighthampton to head home. At Lyneham we turned South West looking forward to a lunch stop, but then sailed past the turn-off for the farm cafe distracted by high-vis people controlling visitors to some random event. On arrival in Milton we discovered that we had missed the Bruern farm cafe and a back-track up the road confirmed that said random event was a craft festival at the farm. However the queue for food at the cafe was rather long so we headed back to Milton under Wychwood to try the pub there (The Hare), much to the amusement of the kids directing car parking (having passed them three times at this stage!). Our arrival at The Hare was 15 minutes too early to order a pricey Sunday lunch so a short stop for coffee and packet of crisps had to suffice. With a tailwind now and quiet lunchtime roads nobody seemed keen for a second stop and we made rapid progress back to Wantage arriving about two o'clock. Apart from the aborted lunch stop it was a pretty good ride, and quite tough for a flattish one.

A perfect day to be out on the bike...not a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind!

We wound our way across to Wallingford with only Sires Hill to interrupt our good speed on the flat. Phil S left us as we headed on to No.25 cafe in Benson where the majority hadn't been before...the coffee and cake was great sat under the tree in the sunshine and the sausage rolls apparently also came highly recommended!

After passing the cress beds of Ewelwe, we headed back to Wantage along well the trodden route via Cholsey, Blewbury and Ginge.

The warmer sunny weather enticed a good turnout (9) and we were joined by a perspective new member Carlo. The route took us to Frilford and through Abingdon and along the cycleway to Clifton Hampden, where Louis continued on for a lunchtime appointment. The remainder of the group continued to Notcutts Garden Centre for refreshments. We said goodbye to Nick at Wittenham and continued back to Wantage via Didcot, Hagbourne, Upton, Harwell and Ginge. Those who had come with full leggings were beginning to feel the heat and one member decided to bear their chest albeit briefly. A lovely warm Spring ride.

A good turnout for what turned-out to be quite a punchy ride. Although it was a flat route, it required some effort to overcome the stiff cross-headwind on the way out, especially if you were on the front! Nevertheless we set a good pace.
Lynwood's cafe was busy but we squeezed in on two tables for nice coffee and cakes etc. After that we revelled in the now tailwind and blasted back at a good lick.
Welcome to guest rider Hugh, hope you enjoyed the ride.

Two of us rode out from Wantage in sufficient time to have a coffee before joining the others at the start. We set off and chose to stop after 30K at Pete’s club in Cricklade where we had coffees and enormous cakes. These filled us for the two big hills up to Broad Hinton and Hackpen White Horse before the glorious run down the Marlborough Down. We chose not to have a break there, which turned out to be a mistake, because Goodies in Lambourn was closed.
Nick rode directly back to Wantage while the rest of us returned to Shrivenham.
The ride was so good for at least one of us intends riding the full White Horse challenge next week.

Despite the weather being overcast with a chilly northerly breeze, 10 riders turned up with another joining at Childrey. We said goodbye to Jan in Shrivenham for a pre-arranged lunch engagement, the remainder of the group continued onto Ashbury Tea Room and Shop for a well-earned coffee – unfortunately it was closed!! Plan B was put into action, coffee at the Uffington Stores. Fortunately it was warm enough to sit outside to enjoy the refreshments. As we made are way back to Wantage various riders dropped off to make their way home – four riders finished in the Market Square. A quick drink at the recently refurbished King Alfred’s Head was taken – the overall view was positive for KAH’s.

A smaller field but of the 36 entries 35 started which is a much better percentage than last year!

One heavy shower near Chipping Norton was reported and it was busy past the notorious farm shop but otherwise the ride went off without incident.

Despite the smaller field huge generosity from the riders meant we were able to donate £75 to the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.

Only four riders on such a beautiful morning - bright but not quite shirt sleeve weather yet! But good to see Jan again, newly retired!

Uneventful ride out to Great Bedwyn. From Ermine Street we took the lane downhill through Poughley despite the Road Closed sign but found no roadworks. Arriving in Great Bedwyn we found that Wendy's has now closed - looks definitive - which is a shame - but a rather insalubrious Portaloo close-by proved a useful adjunct to the ever-reliable food offering from the Post Office. After enjoying our lunch amongst the Church cemetery headstones we set off on the return ride, soon interrupted by a puncture to Jan's rear tyre. This time it was a sizeable sidewall split, GP5000 tyres again demonstrating that they are not robust enough for Oxfordshire roads. With a boot and fresh inner tube installed, and a not-insignificant bulge in the tyre, Jan nursed her bike back as far as Kingston Lisle (and hopefully back home), where she left the ride. Richard left us Lambourn to check on his driveway tradesmen, leaving just Pam and I to finish the ride back to Wantage.