To me, it's most deffo about the people thing.
The bikes, the ride, the beer, the chips and the cake are all just a happy by-product.
NOW onto next week. I see that the Farmers is in an unusual position of having two pub quizzes on consecutive weeks. As the forecast (currently) is for 6C temps and 1m/s wind, from the NE, it sounds like a good idea to head there. It is the spiritual home of the Thursday Night rides, after all
FWIW, some stats for the Scorton run:
Distance (total): 22.62miles
Distance BEFORE beer: 12.4miles
Ascent (total): 294ft
Ascent before beer: 161ft
Number of times a train has been missed : once
So more distance than this week, but less climbing (much, much less, in fact it's one or two drags then nothing for the rest of the ride)