Meeting
Kevin Sp8 (a fellow Chippenham Wheeler) at Chippenham Station was a good start to the day and we chewed the fat all the way to Didcot Parkway
I thought that the puncture fairy had paid an early visit when wheeling my bike out of the station I discovered a sort back tyre. Whacking some wind into it we had a soggy 5.5 mile ride to the depart at Cholsey. I wielded the pump at the rear tyre again, not knowing if it had softened or not, before the off. Riding myself in at my own pace I found myself constantly with others and paired up the Whippet (Kevin No 2). As his handle suggests, he was a little more nifty up the rises than me (I have always done a fine impression of a geriatric snail up the ups) but on the whole our pace was compatible, especially on a dead bit of road into the wind where through and off worked for us.
Waterperry came at the right time for me I was getting hungry and that back tyre was due for a little more air…and the rain eased off!!!
The first bit out of Bicester towards Chipping Norton was a bit of a struggle with showers. I thinking I was missing Whippet’s company who had stopped in Bicester to see to a puncture (Nice man had insisted I go on and not get cold).
The old Mill Café at certainly had good food hand hot drinks with card stamping professionally completed by Jadded. – A bit more air into the tyre (whether it needed it or not!) and off into the final leg of clear skies, beautiful sunset and moon with fireworks and encouragement from Whippet when, in the final kilometres my energy waned…Thank you.
Thank you, also, to Phil D and team for an excellent event.
Foot note: Having reset my Garmin for the ride back to Didcot Parkway a big smile came across my face as I retrieved my bike from the guards van at Chippenham, the light was on, and the max speed recorded… 126.94mph!!!
Oh, and the rear tyre, still inflated yesterday morning…so what was that all about!
