No Sunday group ride this weekend, brought about by a mixture of icy roads and probably the last of the team's Christmas and New Year holiday social commitments.
Steve and Chris ventured out on Saturday despite the ice. The sun had lured us out and some roads were clear while others white-over with crunchy ice which was amazingly not slippy. We decided to stick to well used routes, but even then came unstuck. The road from Woolton Hill to Kintbury had some ice-rink like stretches. On one of these Steve came a cropper. We then became more cautious and ended up walking over the worst bits of ice.
After Kintbury a decision was made to head for the perceived "safety" of the A4. The traffic was quiet but the road still suspect with icy edges. We picked our way to Hungerford and then the road quality improved as our route took us to Chilton Foliat and up Stag Hill to return towards home on the A4000. We then took a short diversion to Great Shefford and on to Welford, Boxford and Bagnor. All the lanes were still considered impassable on two wheels so we headed into Newbury and the safety of well-used roads.
After negotiating through Newbury we headed home and turned off the main road again at Wash Water. This took us yet again onto ice covered roads and it was nearly midday - obviously a day when the temperature wasn't going to rise above freezing.
We arrived safely home having covered just over 32 miles at a very slow average speed. Our walking stretches at the beginning took their toll although the pace of between 17-22mph back from Hungerford helped.
Not surprisingly no signs were contested. Chris told Steve he could "have" the Kintbury one as it loomed up ahead along the whitened road. After that they were passed unnoticed.
Next planned group ride the Evans "Ride it" event at Chieveley, a 65 mile route. We'll see how the weather affects this!
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