John MacMillan was the leader for today's X ride with John Hare, Chris Kinsey, Jim Swan, and John Owen following him in what turned out to be a really nice day for cycling. John said there would be a minor detour as we headed through several golf clubs towards Chalfont St Peter. The ride came to a five minute holt at his house as he collected some jam to hand over to a grateful John Hare. We all knew John had a reputation for going off road and using alternative routes but the day was a mixture of fast roads, cycle paths and bridleways. The morning tea stop was in Amersham and we happily sat outside the Masterchef Cafe along with Dave Peck who had travelled along ahead of us making sure his bike remained firmly on the tarmac. Dave Peck and John Hare bid farewell as the remaining four of us headed for the lunch stop in Wendover. Riding along a mixture of narrow roads and walkways parallel with the A413 we were close to Little Missenden and then Great Missenden and with the opportunity to take a shorter road route to Wendover, we took a sharp right turn and were soon off road again cycling through The Ridgeway in the woods just before Wendover. It is a fantastic place to cycle when the weather is so pleasant, but most of us didn't have bikes suitable for the terrain and found it hard to cycle up the hill and then had to ride slower than we wanted to down the other side. Lunch was a thirty minute stop at Whitewaters Deli before we were off again through the narrow roads and regularly off the road completely, passing through Prestwood and Great Kingshill until we reached Holmer Green. No afternoon stop had been specified so The Royal British Legion in Holmer Green seemed a suitable place to stop for a beer. Back into the woods towards Penn Street and a reminder as we passed The Squirrel pub that one of us stills owes the pub some money for an unpaid lunch in Spring! As we reached Jordans the route was nearing the end for today’s leader John MacMillan but he showed his knowledge of the area and pointed out the grave of William Penn (an early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania) and we cycled past the country house of John ‘Ozzy’ Osbourne. Humming the sounds of ‘Paranoid’ started soon after. After eating fresh Plums from the roadside it was then time for Jim to head off and leave John and Chris to enjoy the final off road stage of the trip. This time having to keep their hands and legs away from the plants and nettles as the very narrow path went under the M25 towards West Hyde and then Harefield. Reaching Ruislip meant the end of the ride at 6:30pm and a very enjoyable ride it was too! Chris leads the Loiterers the following week and I expect he’s had some ideas where to go after following John MacMillan for most of the day...