Well, well, what a lovely day's riding. I arrived at Tring at just after 9.30 when Clive turned up, and then slowly other people turned up, so by 10 am, there were 13, including William who thought he was going on someone else's ride but in fact that was next week, so Ian spotted him, and forced him to come along.
But someone was missing.
Turns out Aperitif had had a tortuous journey, his GPS had gone on the blink and he'd got a puncture, so we agreed to meet him in Wendover.
Setting off from Tring, we were soon up onto the hills where it was initially a bit murky but we could see some blue patches appearing. After surviving the descent down Hale Lane we headed into Wendover, where we made an unscheduled coffee break stop.
Bizarrely, the lady serving didn't seem as though she wanted our business. However, after a while, Martin arrived.
He got a few cheers, but not as many as Jurek on last week's FNRttC.
Anyway, as we were a little behind schedule, I made a slight diversion, to avoid some rolling hills, and we were soon heading out of Wendover and out into the countryside. After another 10 miles or so, it was time for lunch at the Little Italy cafe in Haddenham, which went down very nicely. They also had special cyclists' chairs.
I'd warned everyone that there were some hills in the second half, but they were worth it for some spectacular views.
We also saw quite a few red kites soaring around, loitering for things to kill.
We zoomed past Wescott, over the A41 and past the Railway centre on Quainton.
The hills eased off, and the miles rolled by so we got back to the station around 5 pm, although it turns out Katie's chain had come off, so she and Martin had missed the final turn, so I went back to find them.
After all, I don't want to get a reputation for losing anyone!
With the journey there and back home, I've done just over 80 miles, in surprisingly warm weather.
Thanks everyone for coming along.
Rest of the photos
here.
