N.B. GPX TRACK HAS NO BEARING ON RIDE STORY.
Seven hardy riders sallied forth through the rain heading east on the newly surfaced road past the old Cowley Brick – a quick stop to pay tribute to the statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and a glance left at the old railway track before yammering through Iver and on to the Red Lion – the leader assured everyone that he had changed the route to avoid any mud BUT sadly Hollybush Lane proved him wrong and the splattered party drove on through recriminations and the chalet park to the Slough Cut where the first sign of dissention appeared as the leader went left into Goodman Park while the peloton went right following the tow path – more mud, puddles, and some dangerous slithering close to the canal bank ensued but finally we made it safely past the winding bay and the workman, left onto Stoke Road and up to Slough Railway Station. An architectural gem, built for Queen Victoria ( since Eton school refused to have a station closer ) – we blagged our way through the ticket barrier by claiming to be the Loiterer’s Taxidermist Society and so to the highlight of the day : Station Jim ....... Stuart was only into paragraph two of his 4 page “nobby lecture” when an ear-splitting fire alarm went off – the announcer claimed it was a test but there’s a strong suspicion that Alec Martel triggered it remotely ??!?!? We enjoyed coffee on the platform watching trains and commuters and listening to John W recounting his nerdy youth writing their numbers down in his I Spy book ...

As we cut through the litter strewn streets a technical failure of the navigational equipment caused some chaos and a halt – would we need to re-programme the s/w ? recalibrate the gearing ? phone NASA for satellite co-ordinates ? no fortunately Gerry had a large elastic band to hold the map in place ..... we followed the lion pathway north out of Slough, past the wonderful old church and into Farnham Royal – what a contrast – chalk and cheese .................. lunch at the Jolly Woodman – much banter - tinged with sadness as we all signed a card for Lawrie – home through Burnham Beeches – Little Egypt – the old Yew Tree pub sadly now an “eatery” – Hedgerley – hills – more dissention until finally the black spot was declared and we finished at Colne Valley Park Centre for tea and dispersal – an excellent day out with good chums and a meeting with Station Jim.
Professor S "N" Morgan