John rang me up at 8:15am to say he couldn't find his shoes, and thought he'd
left them at the Britwell Village Hall after roller racing on Thursday, so could
I lead the ride? Despite the cold weather and possible icyness, the roads looked
clear, and I was heading out anyway, so no problem. (Everyone I related this
story to was amazed to hear that John only had one pair of shoes - most of us
have about three on the go at any one time!)

Fifteen riders met up at Martyrs, including a new face, Dave, ex-Thanet RC, not
been doing much riding for the last couple of years, and Skippi, who was clearly
tinkering with some new bike, sans bartape. Not having time to scope out John's
proposed route, I followed roughly what I'd done a couple of years previously.
Skippi and Tim Wallis led us out through Farmoor (Nigel W. was missing this week
due to a cold, and Tim was taking it easy for once, having done 100 miles on
Saturday), and then despite shouting at Skippi twice, he managed to mis-hear my
directions at Eynsham and disappeared left when we all went straight on! I
subsequently learnt he regained the back of the bunch, only to be dropped for
good when the road went uphill sometime later.

The bunch largely held together on the way to Stow, using frost-free roads via
Coombe, Stonesfield, Leafield, Shipton & Bruern junction, with Dave struggling a
bit on some of the steeper bits. I shared the lead with Tim and Chris Smith into
the biting headwind, and Stow was reached at 11. Chris, Tim & Nick turned around
and headed straight back, while the rest of us headed into the warm confines of
a local café (The "Toad in the Wold") for refreshment, at which point it
transpired that Sam had a complete change of clothing stuffed in her back
pockets.

The journey home via Kingham, Churchill, Chippy N and Charlbury was more
pleasant, with some excellent tailwind stretches. We saw Richard Pettinger out
training near Charlbury, fresh from his win the day before. Dave gamely hung on,
suffering in the way that only someone who's experienced a club run before can
do. Ironman Jim turned for home at Fawler, and the rest of us were led back into
Oxford by Eli and Tom. A bunch of triathletes caught us in the traffic on the
Botley road and one said Hi to me, but I've no idea who he was!

112km/69 miles done by the time I'd got back home, average 27.4kph/17.0 mph.

Next week's 80-miler to Northleach is likely to be the last of the season, as
subsequent Sundays have Club Hilly events scheduled for them.

Howard


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