The sky cleared around 11:00am so we agreed to meet at a suitable mid-point and invent a route from there. Having learned my lesson about food & drink, my bar bag was packed with suitable sandwiches and fruit and the scene was set for full afternoon cruising round the lanes previously frequented by Inspector Morse.
We started with a fantastic descent towards Benson, and half way down, I realised that JB was no longer on my tail - was I going that fast? Could he not keep up?. I stopped as the road flattened to allow him to catch up. The brown muddy stripe straight up his hi-viz jacket and across his face clearly explained why he had chosen to put a little distance between us. Must get those mud guards fitted...
The big event of the ride occurred sometime later. The weather turned pretty grim, so we stopped and sheltered and took the opportunity to refuel. Things brightened up again. "Looks like it's blown over". We set off again, through Cholsey and out on one of those long, exposed, bleak, wind-tunnel like roads that you really don't want to get a puncture on.
The wind got stronger, the pedalling was tough, the rain fell in chunks and my front tyre, along with our enjoyment, deflated in seconds. Puncture repair in those conditions reminded me of the Apollo 13 scene where the unfortunate astronauts have to fix their CO2 filter with something like a milk carton, colostomy bag, sellotape and a sweaty sock. Sadly, our puncture repair skills were no where near as good as the honed NASA training that Jim Lovell and the guys had, and by the time we got back to Cholsey, it was time to reach for the pump again.
5 minutes later, it seemed like the repair would hold and I could limp back home. We shelved our 70 mile plan and returned home to warmth and comfort.
Note to self: Buy spare inner tubes & 'modern' puncture repair kit.
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