It was an unpromising morning; grey and misty, drifting in and out of drizzle, we had children and grandchildren staying and I had a bit of a cold. But the announcements reminding riders of the winter time change had not gone smoothly and with Nigel on slow recovery, Steve away the last couple of weeks and Tony down to take the short ride at two-o-clock, we had no idea how many would turn up at the Mansion and whether we would have enough leaders.
A one-o-clock start gives us a minor lunch challenge, and Maggie's experiment to meet up with Anna and lunch in Cheam would have worked perfectly had I not underestimated the size of the savoury pastries. I had to ride with a cherry tart wrapped in serviettes in my saddlebag! We had a guessing game about how many would turn up, and knowing that Nonsuch riders have a history of good attendance on bad weather days, I was the one who guessed correctly.
Thirteen of us had gathered and as the only registered leader willing to lead I explained that with a bit of a cold I did not fancy a hilly ride in the country; my suggestion of Hampton Court seemed to go down well. The group was uncomfortably large so I was mightily relieved when on the cusp of our departure Steve breezed up the path offering a slightly faster ride to Walton Bridge, so we split and seven went with Steve, five with me.
Six is a really comfortably sized group for an urban ride, I kept a steady pace, my cold behaved itself, and the weather slowly cleared, so we ended up having a delightful ride through Tolworth and Thames Ditton to One over the Eight, the Molesey Boat Club cafe south of the river.
Friendly staff, a leisurely coffee, a delicious cake, back through an autumnal Bushy Park and Kingston Market, home in the light before five-o-clock and nearly 50 Km door to door to help me creep towards my annual mileage target. What more can you ask of a Saturday?
Bushy Park on Saturday; picture by Sue
During Sunday, however, Maggie and I began feeling really rough and on Monday we tested positive for Covid, despite having had the vaccination four weeks previously. I expect we will not be round and about until at least next weekend.
