A gentle route in the vale, but with a wet forecast, there were just six hardy riders at the start. The outward leg to Shrivenham was steady into the headwind coming from the west. It was dry until Charney Bassett, but we were all a bit soggy by the time we got to the farm shop, which did us proud as ever.
The rain eased on the return leg and with the wind behind us it felt good. However, the roads were slippery and crosswinds treacherous. One of our number crashed on a bend. The peloton lept into action, ensuring traffic in both directions stopped, while others assisted the rider as they slowly checked themselves out and then moved off the road. Bruised and tender, we hope they make a swift and full recovery.
We took it very cautiously on the final few kilometres back to Wantage.

There was good turnout for the Welcome ride and we welcomed back Carlo, who is now an official member of Corallian. The ride was going reasonably well until Paul went AWOL just after the Maybush pub on the River Thames. The group continued onto Cogges Farm café, expecting to see Paul steaming up from behind, but no Paul. Just as we were finishing are coffees Paul arrived looking a little out of sorts – his Wahoo had failed and Goggle maps had taken him to the wrong destination. He had resorted to asking for directions!! After a quick coffee and a sub-standard piece of lemon drizzle cake he was ready to resume the ride. He stayed close to those with the route for the remainder of the ride. We made it back to Wantage and the sun was out so a swift drink at the King Alfred’s Head was in order. Apologies to Louis and Nick for leaving you behind along the route through Stanton Harcourt.

A couple of light showers during the afternoon in Wantage and thunderstorms not far away - the weather kept us guessing until 6 pm-ish when sun emerged and it became a glorious evening for a bike ride. Four road riders met at the market square and Pete rocked up on his all-terrain green peril to head across country. A lively pace along the main roads to Harwell left the ride leader gasping for breath (but also hungry!) where Pete soon joined us followed by Louis who'd come by car. We then enjoyed the food options on offer and a few drinks, mostly non-alcoholic (sign of the times?). A blast back to Wantage, mostly along the off-road NCN was made quite tricky by the low angle of the sun and fortunately the puncture fairy did not make an appearance. Lovely evening - thanks everyone.

A gentle ride and pleased to note that three infrequent riders joined us: Larry, Richard K and Simon.

The ride was incident free

From a cool start in Whitchurch it wasn't long before the sun came out and warmed us up nicely. We started with the very picturesque section down the Test Valley, staying close to the river for some lovely views, before making an early coffee stop in Stockbridge. After that we made good progress along more pretty back lanes and passing through picture postcard villages. In no time we found ourselves enjoying a pint and a chat with the very friendly locals while sitting in the sunshine in front of The George Inn at St Mary Bourne only 3 miles from the finish. A really enjoyable day out and back home in time for a late lunch.

On a beautiful morning four of us set out. As we climbed up Court Hill it was immediately obvious that flies were out in abundance - fortunately no wasps yet! On the road to Peasemore the ride leader had a very close encounter (1-2 metres away!) with a deer that shot into the road from the right. A large herd then chased alongside us for a hundred yards before we paused for a while fearing that more of them might decide to cross the road. At Yattendon Phil joined us, as pre-arranged. After Aldbourne, and before the steep descent of Streatley Hill, we passed a very large, strung out group of elderly cyclists. As we paused on the bridge at Goring for photographs this group passed us, but our routes then fortunately diverged. The lanes out of Goring afforded beautiful views of the Chilterns and Thames valley and we paused to photograph a spectacular field of mauve flowers. We could not identify the crop - maybe it's this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1900p7571o

We arrived on time at the King William IV pub at Hailey which is in a fine position with plenty of tables at the front. Despite their website stating they have a lunch menu their food offerings are limited to a range of substantial and rather pricey main courses ands starters. The food was tasty and we enjoyed it and accompanying beers over a leisurely lunch. Fortunately the return route to Wallingford was largely downhill with a tailwind so we were soon at South Moreton where Phil left us to return home.

A routing error through Didcot led to a flawed choice of off-road track out of the town and towards Appleford. A low-lying tree at a kink in the path (Note - track best avoided in future) caught out Louis. His helmet hit the tree and pushed his glasses down resulting in a wound to the bridge of his nose. Fortunately he was able to stoically continue with the (modified) rest of the ride back to Wantage.

Beautiful sunny, warm day enjoyed by 31 riders including a trio from Corallian. 27 finishers inside the time limit. Thanks again to the team who organised, catered and otherwise assisted with the event making it a success. Donations on the day raised £35 for Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Time shown above is overall (elapsed) time for the first rider back.

The persistent cool North Easterly wind did not deter many of the riders, even John and Paul joined, albeit dressed in their winter gear, no bear chests today!! We picked up Louise in Denchworth who informed us that due to closure of a section of the A417, the side roads around Standford-In-The Vale were busy so we decided to go the Hatford via Charney Bassett. We arrived at Blakes in Coleshill and the sun appeared and the temperature had improved so refreshments were taken outside. It was almost a full round of Cinnamon Buns – only five more before a free one. We all made it back to Wantage, with the exception of Louise who turned off at Kingston Lisle and John who had a chain malfunction just outside Ridgeway Cycles. Some of the group went to the King Alfred’s Head for further refreshments. Any enjoyable morning ride and a good overall pace.

Chilly to begin with but we soon warmed up trying to keep up with Dave into the Northerly headwind. A succession of rather busy roads eventually gave way to the back roads of North Oxfordshire and it felt pleasantly warm when the sun broke through the clouds from time to time. As forewarned Richard left the ride at Brighthampton to head home. At Lyneham we turned South West looking forward to a lunch stop, but then sailed past the turn-off for the farm cafe distracted by high-vis people controlling visitors to some random event. On arrival in Milton we discovered that we had missed the Bruern farm cafe and a back-track up the road confirmed that said random event was a craft festival at the farm. However the queue for food at the cafe was rather long so we headed back to Milton under Wychwood to try the pub there (The Hare), much to the amusement of the kids directing car parking (having passed them three times at this stage!). Our arrival at The Hare was 15 minutes too early to order a pricey Sunday lunch so a short stop for coffee and packet of crisps had to suffice. With a tailwind now and quiet lunchtime roads nobody seemed keen for a second stop and we made rapid progress back to Wantage arriving about two o'clock. Apart from the aborted lunch stop it was a pretty good ride, and quite tough for a flattish one.

A perfect day to be out on the bike...not a cloud in the sky and hardly a breath of wind!

We wound our way across to Wallingford with only Sires Hill to interrupt our good speed on the flat. Phil S left us as we headed on to No.25 cafe in Benson where the majority hadn't been before...the coffee and cake was great sat under the tree in the sunshine and the sausage rolls apparently also came highly recommended!

After passing the cress beds of Ewelwe, we headed back to Wantage along well the trodden route via Cholsey, Blewbury and Ginge.