Lovely to have Martina join us today on her day off work. Lynne and Andrea not free today, and Jeanette playing nurse to Martin, who had his long awaited hip replacement surgery just a few days ago. 😇. She had thought she might join us for coffee, but we peddled so fast, that she was still doing the breakfast shift, by the time we reached coffee stop.
Todays route link (photo of map at end)
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| On my way to meet the ladies, Chestnut Avenue looking lovely in the morning light |
A cool start this morning, and all 4 of us wore an extra layer, and 3/4 or long trousers as well. We were heading to Cranbourne "Honesty Cafe". Anyone remember how to get there? Martina had looked it up on google and thought it was near the South Coast.😂
I knew of course, but am trying to get them all thinking about how to get to places, rather than just follow me, or a planned route. So, by committee we agreed that we should first head to Binfield. One step at a time. But which way? We opted for the cyclepaths passing the Oakingham Bell, and under the M4 to pass the old ski slope. A gentle climb the whole way, but then we enjoyed the long downhill of Jocks Lane, before our climb over Cabbage Hill, once more on a cyclepath, through Warfield housing development.
We crossed to Watersplash Lane, and then at the XRoads and traffic lights, dropped downhill on Osborne Road. ROAD CLOSED AHEAD. But we were able to just squeeze through next to a grass banking. I had half expected to see some big puddles on this lane after some torrential downpours the last 48 hours. But thankfully there were none.
As we stopped for a nose blow at the junction of Bishops Lane and Winkfield Lane, 2 cyclist arrived behind us. It was John and Dave. They were heading for the same coffee stop today. We gave them a head start. 😊
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| John and Dave at Tally Ho, (Honesty) Cafe. |
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| The tables and chairs outside all seemed pretty wet, so we opted to sit indoors. |
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| Views from the Tally Ho cafe. Lovely day now. |
By the time we had visited the ladies, John and Dave were also leaving, so we peddled with them as far as Drift Road, where we split into 3 groups of 2. Well spaced out. All an easy downhill, with not too many passing cars, then a further downhill to Fifield. The road to Fifield used to be covered in potholes, but its now beautiful new tarmac. Bliss.
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| Rear of Shottesbrook House. Looks tiny with this BIG sky. Great clouds today. |
Arriving at the Old Bell at WSL, Martina had a eurika moment. Ah! We're here! Then slight right at the 5 way crossroads into Sill Bridge Lane. I can never remember if its on this road, or the Shurlock Road that the "haystack" is. Gill confirmed it the "other" road. Will I now remember? 😏
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| Hinton Road, Hurst |
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| Hinton Road, Hurst. Opposite the hay barn. Louise, Gill and Martina. |
Then right into the pretty Poplar Lane. I had spotted a couple of fields of white crops here a few days ago.
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| Here's one I prepared earlier. (Sunday ride) |
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| Gill chatting to Richard , who confirmed the crop is bird food and is MUSTARD. |
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| WHITE MUSTARD CROP. Poplar Lane, Hurst. (more normal that its yellow) |
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| A zoomed in shot, since I thought there were deer in the field. They are tree stumps 😅 |
We crossed through Hurst into Tape Lane. We had been talking earlier about the housing development applications for the village. Very sad, but not all approved yet. Then passed the Castle Inn and we waved goodbye to Gill at Sandford Lane. Louise needed to home in 30 mins from this point, so I suggested she just peddle ahead, and I would wait for Martina and peddle at a more leisurely pace. Hope you made it in time Louise.
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| Just off Chestnut Avenue, 100 yards from home. A carpet of Autumnal leaves already.😓 Summer has ended, but we will have some stunning Autumn rides to look forward to , I hope. |
Enjoy your weekend all. And hope we get good weather for next Friday, when the plan is to cycle to Cookham to support the Macmilllan Coffee Morning, hosted by a friend.
