MWW A ride to Dorney

A picture tells a story of a thousand words!

Hence my ride to Dorney will be short and sweet - great to see the 2 groups head out in the hail and wind, with my group first off.

It was day when I was glad the route was flat, allowed for a fast pace in sections despite the headwind and we got to The Pineapple around 12.50am for a lunch delivered promptly.  Dave's group followed soon after and the pub said afterwards that they were surprised to see such a happy bunch on cyclists in view of the downpours that day.

We held off leaving the pub to let the rain pass and made our way back to tea at Walton just before 3pm. Hans and Mike said their goodbyes at the bridge, whilst Steve, Patrick and I decided to grab a brew, missing another shower.

Overall we saw the sunshine, dodged the majority of the showers and importantly our group did not avoid the Crimp Hill climb - say no more😅

Thanks to my group, Steve for backmarking and for all their good spirits on the day. 

Dave W writes  

It didn't bode well - my phone app was telling me to expect wet weather at 2.00 pm, but I had already got heavily hailed upon by the time I reached elevenses.  In the event, although there were plenty of heavy showers all day, they didn't last long and there was plenty of time to dry off in between.  It was also pleasantly sunny for much of the time, and less cold than I had expected.   Dave F, Sue C, Andy C, and Brian G joined me, along with Jennie J who very kindly back-marked for us all day.

Frances's rides are always impeccably well organised, and it is always a pleasure to help with them.   The route was varied, but with plenty of opportunity for some fast riding (relatively speaking), which was just as well since we were convinced the weather would worsen as the day went on, and aimed to get to the finish as early as possible.   The Pineapple provided our excellent lunches very efficiently, and we did dodge a long shower while we were eating.    Then we had it dry almost as far as Shepperton.   I did take a strategic decision to bypass Windsor, Crimp Hill, and the Egham roadworks, which was cheating, I know, but may have helped keep us a bit drier!

Anyway, thanks to my group for putting up with it all, and the weather!