London Oxford London - 25 March 2023
A thoroughly enjoyable day out, planned and organised meticulously by Tim Sollesse who is always so helpful. As I arrived at the start, Tim was giving a warning about some lanes at around 30 km, suggesting riders might want to dismount - no problem riding these for those of us who are familar with the Chilterns. After so many grey wet days in March, we were all so lucky to have blue skies with some white clouds, but a stiff head wind on the way out to Oxford. Several riders I met said that the winds were set to abate in the afternoon but there was still enough of a tailwind to make the return 100 km easier, just as well as the second half contained the ascents of Church Lane to Swyncombe Church and Chinnor Hill, to say nothing of the short but killer climb of Windsor Hill, just as fatigue starts to set in.
I'm always slightly nervous about leaving my bike while getting a receipt as proof of passage and was grateful that Tim and a colleague were at Didcot Parkway station to sign cards. Tim said he was encouraging as many riders as possible to continue and finish. As a rider the wrong side of 75 I was pleased to finish around 7.15 pm with about half the field of 100 plus riders back.
Only suggestion which I recognise is probably impractical - either warn the Co-op at Chinnor (control at 158 km) of the impending arrival of 100 plus cyclists - they had run out of bottles of water - or have another staffed control. I finished up with a large bottle of flavoured water just to get a receipt.
I can thoroughly recommend any ride organised by Tim and suggest that anyone deciding whether to sign up or not does so immediately - provided of course that I can always get a place!
Looking forward to the White Hart next week. Did it a couple of years ago.
www.sunsetcyclist.uk
