London to Shefford via Hurley

With a christening to attend (friend of Mrs Y) in Great Shefford, a deal needed to de done. Probably a little tricky to get the 70 miles knocked off in time to get to Shefford, get changed & get to the church on time, so I split the trip in two. 45 miles out to Hurley on Sat, an overnight stop & 35 miles on Sun.

Sat's ride was very uneventful & I beat the rain & Mrs Y to The Olde Bell in Hurley, and was able to relax in the beer garden with some iron replacement before the sky clouded over & put an end to that. The Olde Bell was pleasant enough, although a little random, and what hotel shuts it bar at 11pm on a Sat night!! A post dinner scrabble victory brought the day to a close & it was fingers crossed that the weather would hold for Sun.

Bright sun greeted me in the morn & with a short ride to do, I didn't bother rushing to get going. Leaving Hurley, then Henley behind, my cross-country route was going well until I turned into Dog Lane. Firstly it was pothole hell, which I managed to navigate (good practice for the cobbles), and then a quagmire. I took a view I would push on, but it became impossible & I had to trudge through the mud for almost a mile. Not exactly what I had planned. Back on track, I descended into Goring, crossed the Thames into Streatley, gained some company from two guys at the lights & we hauled ourselves up Streatley Hill (gradient 8.7%, max 16%, painful), and then cycled together for a while. It turned out that one of them is mates with Simon Marriott (stage 2). Proof that the cycle top is a talking point! The rest of the ride was less eventful & I managed to make it to the church on time.

Next week 103 miles with Andy Neill & El Tel Burwell.