Everybody seemed in a very relaxed mood today which resulted in a chilled-out social ride. The fine weather and fabulous route no doubt helped. At the impressive hilltop mausoleum the views over open countryside to a distant High Wycombe certainly justified the climb. This is an interesting destination so we spent a short while soaking it all in before dropping half way down the hill to the cafe in front of the entrance to Hellfire Caves, which also proved to be an interesting place to visit. After this relaxed break the route sidestepped the worst of Bledlow Ridge and threaded us back through the Chilterns on some lovely, not too taxing, quiet lanes. It was almost as if a lot of the population had stayed at home to watch a sporting event or something. More fool them. With 10km to go, four of us decided on a refreshing shandy at the King William at Ipsden. A charming hidden little boozer that I had not visited before but certainly will again.

Thanks Richard for providing impromptu sweeping services and to everybody else for being good company.

A wonderful evening for a bike ride in warm sunshine and with great company. An easy route out to the Letcombes and then North to Southmoor on nice quiet roads. Topped off with a drink at the King Alfreds to round off an enjoyable evening. Thanks for joining me on the ride.

The fates came together to make this a top day out. The route was excellent, the weather perfect, the cars at Ablington stunning, the company genial and the riding considerate. The Classic Motor Hub located on a disused old airbase is like a free museum where all the exhibits are for sale. The first hangar was impressive but the not-to-be-missed larger second hangar was mind blowing. Millions of pounds worth or rare motors you can freely walk among. The only catch for the hungry cyclist is that the on-site cafe has not much more to offer than coffee and cake. No matter, after we finished ogling, we dropped down the hill only a couple of miles into Bibury and used the Trout Farm cafe there. Also not the best cafe in the world, but good enough if you don't mind the odd annoying wasp and tourist. After that it was more lovely Cotswold scenery all the way back for a well deserved pint in the Fred's Head.

Chain Hill and the undulations in the route over to East Ilsley do not favour group riding but the time spent re-grouping at the hill tops was short. Claire joined us at Windmill House having cycled across from Hagbourne. Despite the ever-present threat of rain we arrived dry at a very quiet Saddleback Cafe and settled in to enjoy refreshments. Louis seemed to make the best food choice with his cooked breakfast, but the teacakes weren't bad either. Shortly afterwards a lot of cyclists arrived, including a large group from Reading, coinciding with a heavy rain shower. When the rain stopped we ventured out to complete the ride and met Jenny at Great Shefford who joined us for a couple of miles. The weather improved as we approached Wantage to conclude a very pleasant incident-free ride.

A perfect evening for a ride, no wind, sunny, dry and warm. Makes a change from all the rubbish weather recently!!

Six riders whizzed round the Vale, no dramas, plenty of excellent riding and chat. Five of us ended up in the KAH at the end. Good to see Glyn out for his first club ride since May. Thanks all

Given the weather immediately before the start time, initially I wasn't thrilled to find three other, somewhat more keen, Corallians waiting at the statue. However, the rain stopped at 10am on the dot and it wasn't long before waterproofs were being removed. After a playful duel with the DHL van that lasted from Wantage to Lambourn (multiple overtakes between delivery drops) we got over to the ever popular Bloomfields Cafe in Shrivenham in the dry. Louis, fresh from a hippy forest retreat, was very Zen about lingering over our coffee and cake, although not quite Zen enough to avoid pronouncing the coffee itself to be a bit "meh".

Back on the road, the rain came down proper and we got very wet as we surfed along in front of a decent tail wind. Nobody fancied sitting in wet tights and rain filled boots so no pub today.

As ever - once you get out there doing it, it wasn't so bad after all.

https://www.strava.com/activities/9593351883

Good turnout for the ride considering the number of club members away. The weather was certainly better than the Saturday and Storm Antoni! We had a nice tail wind to Wallingford. “Pigeon Pete”, you will need to speak with him why he now has this nickname, suggested rather than stop in Wallingford Town Centre, we try the café at Root One Garden Centre, after 10 minutes trying to find somewhere to store the bikes, we eventually wheeled the bikes through the garden centre to the café. Taking the orders took a little time, but what was served up was very acceptable. A stop worth considering for the future, but be aware the café does not open until 10:30 on a Sunday. After refuelling we headed back to Wantage into the inevitable head wind. Nick Dunton peeled off at Sutton Courtenay. The sun was shinning when we got back to Wantage so a drink in the KAH back garden was required – thanks for the good company and disciplined riding.

Short but sweet, sociable ride on dry (for a change!) but breezy day. Decent choice of cakes on offer at Court Hill.

Another amiable social ride on a not too taxing route. Spurred along by a brisk tailwind and a forecast of rain due at lunchtime, we made good progress out to Bampton. Figuring that the group was to large to fit into Lynwood's Cafe and with a jaded opinion of Bampton Garden Centre, we decided to push on to Stanford where the Community Cafe was spot on as usual. Back home just as rain began (although it was not even in the same league as the rain we experienced in Northumberland earlier this week).

Ride from Middleton to Ravensworth in Richmondshire (is this really a county?).

Two separate groups of three for this ride. The second group was staying an extra night in Middleton and didn't fancy a drizzly start at an early hour. Both groups stopped at the same Artisan Bakery in Barnard Castle and enjoyed the same Sausage/Black Pudding Rolls there (highly recommended - Jez later returned there to acquire a week's supply!).

The first group Nick (following from the back in the absence of any navigation device (Wahoo issue!), Louis and Richard experienced steadily improving weather. Bit of a shame not to reach Richmond but time dictated a shorter ride than Chris's planned route. The roads, apart from 200 yards on the very busy A66 were quiet, as they had been earlier in the week. The roller-coaster back to Middleton from Barnard Castle was particularly enjoyable - a fitting end to an excellent mini-break.

Scant details of the second group's ride have been unearthed other than a claim from Pete to have been somewhat quicker then the first trio!

Many thanks to Chris for the route.