Whilst out on my epic 5.8 mile Breeze Ride yesterday, (at which point I got a puncture), a message from Sue P to say that would need to cancel her ride today, due to illness. Seemed a shame to let the ladies down, so, having offered to lead her ride instead, I met with the ladies at Cantley as planned by Sue.
(If you are reading this Sue, we are sending best wishes to you.)
I overslept a little (a lot actually!), so was in a bit of rush, but whilst porridge was cooking, I popped into the garage and decided to just check that my tyre which punctured yesterday, was all still looking good..... it was completely flat! I had gouged out a piece of glass, and some flint yesterday, so was convinced that I had found the culprit. Damn. No time to change the tube now, so I decided to take my ebike instead. The only problem with that is that I physically cannot replace a tube if it punctures since the skinny tyres are just too tight for me to get back on. At this point, hubby was under strict instructions to not stray far from home incase he had to rescue me. I couldn't expect someone elses husband to rescue me again.😉
I was running so late that I decided to throw my bike in the van, and drove to Cantley. Pathetic.
Since there has been a lot of rain recently, I planned to stick to roads today, no tracks. My only concern was Ryehurst Lane out of Binfield. We would see.
It was 10 degrees as we left this morning, and Gill arrived at the start, from Woodley, in a lather. The first part of our route was to Binfield Road, which is a slight uphill, using the cyclepaths of the new Northern Distribution Road. I think everyone was overheating by the time we joined Binfield Road. Clare had not been on her bike for a long time, and so was taking her time on the hills today, like most of us. (I had to admit that the ebike little magic button was too irresistible at times.) 😊
Monks Alley is definitely to be avoided atm, so we peddled along the Forrest Road into Binfield, then left into the quiet Wicks Green. I was concerned that the little track we often use passing Binfield football club would be a real mess, so we dropped down Tilehurst Lane, then left at the Stag and Hounds. We entered Ryehurst Lane, with a car following (how annoying), so we pulled over. A flood just ahead of us, but Louise who had ridden with U3A a few days ago, said it had gone down a bit. So I sent her and Gill ahead to test it 😂, and the rest of us followed behind.
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| Emerging from Ryehurst Lane to Bottle Lane, where we turned left. |
From Bottle Lane, we looped around the Westley Mill Road, then we joined Howe Lane, breaking into smaller groups. We passed a road sweeper, which was trying to clean the road which was a muddy mess, presumably from farm vehicles. Another filthy bike to clean later! Left at the roudabout half way along, to take the road over the M4 to Beenham's Heath. So, next right into Smewins Road.
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| Smewins Road, Beenham's Heath, where we stopped for a nose blow just opposite the Fishing Lakes. |
In White Waltham, we turned left at the cricket pitch, into Butchers Lane. I spotted these sheep in the grounds of Shottesbrooke Park as we passed, so stopped for a photo.
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| Shottesbrook Sheep. The path looks a muddy mess, so wont be using that for a while either. |
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| Waiting for the photographer as we pass Shottesbrooke Park. |
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| The view to Crazies Hill from Bottle Lane, where Clare had requested a snack stop. |
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| Selfie. Louise, Sandra, Linda, Gill, me and Clare. |
Over the A4, and a gentle climb to Warren Row, passing Velo Life. Looked like a lot of cars there today, so perhaps walking groups, or coffee drinkers. We continued up to Crazies Hill, then across Dark Lane, to ride towards Ruscombe. We dropped down from Ruscombe to Stanlake Vineyard.
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| Stanlake Vineyard. Louise brushing her hair, whilst Sandra patiently waits to get her bike parking space. 😂 |
I've been here 3 times now, and there seems to be a bit of repetition of "the cakes haven't been delivered yet!" We managed, with mince pies for some, and snack bars for others. It's a nice place to stop, and a lovely courtyard garden for the better weather too.
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| Inside the Stanlake cafe/shop. |