Following my 30 miler yesterday, I also offered an easier, shorter ride today, since a couple of the local Breeze Champs were not able to run rides this week. The option of 20 miles from Woosehill, or 13 miles if joining us from FBC. A couple of the original ladies who signed up cancelled their places, but Andrea was then able to join me for a gentle ride after a recent virus. I met up with Denise and Louise W at Woosehill, and at 9.27 a call from Andrea. 😕
Andrea has the same Orro bike as me with electronic gears and her battery wasn't working, which means her gears are stuck. So, I suggested we ride over to her house, and put my spare battery in her bike. It was just 5 minutes from our start, and by the time we got there, her battery was working again. Sorted, but at least we had a spare just incase. (Technology!)
We crossed Woosehill on a different wiggle to usual, from Andrea's house, to cross Barkham Road, down Blagrove Lane, and into Nashgrove Lane. We met up with Jodi who had driven to start at FBC. She has not been out for a while, infact much longer than I thought. Great to have you out again Jodi, and hopefully the start of more regular trips.
After yesterday's glorious sunshine we had a gloomy start today, but with the promise of sunshine from 11am.
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| Sorry, we are not in focus, but tree looks great! (Timed Selfie.) After crossing Eversley Ford, we went through Bramshill. Louise W, me, Denise, Andrea and Jodi |
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| Emerging onto tarmac on Ford Lane. |
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| The wimp horses who thought the water was too cold for a paddle. |
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| We ignored the ROAD CLOSED sign on Part Lane, and thankfully the workmen let us though. |
From the beautifully smooth (new) surface on Church Road, Swallowfield, we turned left into Swallowfield Road for our very gradual ascent to Arborfield. The sun came out!
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| A quick photo in sunshine, before it disappears again, as we stopped for moment on Swallowfield Road around the base of Farley Hill. |
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| A right turn onto the ramp, to climb to the pedestrian bridge over Observer Way. It's a horrible surface and hard work. Our toughest section today of this easy route. |
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| Andrea and Denise crossing Observer Way. A dogwalker had come out right in front of them from a side path. 😠|
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| Blue sky, but lots of clouds too from Observer Way looking to Arborfield. |
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| Parking up at The Stables. I took this first, incase the sun disappeared again by the time we came out. |
As we parked up, I noticed a couple sitting in the chairs just outside the cafe. It was fellow Breeze rider Hazel Huggan and Ian, who had walked here. Nice to chat with you Hazel (I'm sure she will be reading this.) We sat inside, where I had to pull down the blind to keep from being blinded by the sun, but not enough seats outside for us.
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| Thanks Hazel! Horses dressed for Armistice Day earlier this week. |
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| Our Woosehill Wiggle via Andrea's at the start. 😂 |
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| Our route. |