Ride report for 26th September

Child Okeford to Morton

I was enjoying my breakfast coffee when my phone rang. It was Charlie impatiently asking whether I was coming on the ride. Fortunately the Gold Hill cafe in Child Okeford is a very convenient starting point for me and by the time I had pushed my bike the 200 yards (not worth riding), eight club members had already arrived. Lorraine and Jenny had only come for coffee and Alan was suffering from a noisy transmission which left seven riders. To comply with Covid regulations we started in two groups, Charlie, Ron, Jackie and Ed joining me in the first group and Mary and Martin following shortly after. The ride down through Ansty and Cheselbourne to Puddletown was uneventful and with a following wind we made good time through Tincleton to the Dovecote cafe in Moreton. Mary had her own sandwiches and left us at this point to return for ukulele practice. Unfortunately the cafe had expected a confirming phone call so had not booked a table for us, but we stood over a solitary diner at a table outside and he kindly got the message and vacated his table. One of Charlie’s wasp friends joined us but dodged all attempts to crush it. After the meal we set off back into the wind through Briantspuddle to Milborne St Andrew. Pausing on the Milborne Road the choice of routes was discussed, all entailing hills to Jackie’s dismay. We eventually decided on a nostalgic route for the leader past Milton Abbey. After a brief Richard-like history lesson we continued on up Hilton hill. At Ansty Cross we split with Ed joining me up to Bulbarrow, while the others continued to Hazelbury Bryan. Ed and I enjoyed an ice cream at the pop up cafe halfway down (open until 5 pm Charlie) and thence downhill to Hammoon where we parted.

47 miles and 990 metres of climbing according to Garmin.

Paul