It's January, and it's cold. No surprise really. But it has but really cold the last few nights and I have delayed the start on all my rides this week. No different today, accept even later with a 10.30 start. Woosehill Ladies ride today, but too cold for Jeanette and Andrea, and Martina had a "get out" up her sleeve.😉
Layered up, and hand warmers installed, I met with Lynne, still below zero, and in turn we met with Gill at Pound Lane, Hurst. We were actually a tad too hot by the time we met up! We were heading to the quirky Fishing Cafe at Cranbourne. I reversed a route I had, so it would be slightly different from my last trip there.
It was too cold for photos today, and the landscape rather gloomy anyway. (The average temp today on our ride was -2.2, and a faff to remove gloves etc, although we did have a fair number of nose blow stops when the sniffing got too much.)
Our route took us to Shurlock Row, then over the motorway and to Bottle Lane. Behind Moss End, we continued to the end of Wellers Lane, and did a short section of the Ascot Road, before a left turn into the quiet Nutptown Lane. (I came the opposite way last time, and it was all up hill on the Ascot Road, so today it was easy on the downhill).
Around the Nuptown Lanes, and then left on Winkfield Lane to Crouch Lane, and soon were were there. But we all said that the last couple of miles it seemed colder than when we started. It was 11.45 by now. Almost lunch time we decided, and hot food seemed like a good idea.
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| Gill's massive omelette and salad with included Tangerines! And her pot of tea. |
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| Lynne had the same |
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| I just asked for water with my soup, and even that came in an unusual vessel. |
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| I had Tomato and Basil soup, which also had aubergine slices in it. It came with a whole mini baguette, (which we shared) AND I had ordered a scone as well. 😋 |
A table next to us had a "reserved" sign on it, and after a while two ladies arrived and sat down. A little while passed and they asked us about how they order? We explained they had to go up to the counter... and btw it's cash only. They were not prepared, and had no cash. No one has cash since Covid struck, but I had been to the cash machine before I met with the others this morning, so I offered to trade my cash for a bank transfer. They were delighted! They were meeting for the first time for 6 months, and didn't want to waste time messing around finding somewhere else to eat.
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| Christine and Charlotte "cashless" at the Fishing Cafe |
So, having given Christine my bank details, all she had to do was set up a payment, then she could order lunch, using my cash. Unfortunately, her phone got stuck in a "pending" mode for a while. Her friend then decided to also set up a payment for £25 so they could at last order their lunch. Before I left I swapped phone numbers with Christine so that in the event that I got two payments, we would get in touch to arrange a refund. Needless to say, when I checked my account just before writing this, I had two payments in my account. I sent her a message straight away. She was not quite home, but a short reply to say how grateful she was for my kindness. Good deed for the day.😇😇😇
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| views to the left of Winkfield Lane |
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| Gill and Lynne waiting for the photographer at the junction of Crouch Lane |
It definitely was colder on our return route. We returned via Malt Hill, and Westhatch Lane, with a short section of the main road to Moss End, and a left turn into Bottle Lane. Left into Ryehurst Lane all the way to the end, then left again to Binfield, where we turned right just before the Stag and Hounds Pub. A climb now up Tilehurst Lane helped to warm us a bit. Finally back via Binfield Road to Wokingham, with Gill peeling off at Bell Foundry Lane.