Great ride out with the birthday boy. 11 of us in total to start with. I played super domestique a bit, first helping Adam who hadn't ridden in a year and was finding the hills too tough, then while Hedley ensured Adam was OK to ride back home he asked me to tell the others to stop and wait at the top of the hill. They were quite far ahead so I legged it up the hill to catch up. Felt quite smug giving each group the directive as I passed them. Once I'd passed them all I continued up the steep bit of the hill in the lead. It levelled out (or so I thought) so I pulled over to wait. Then I was passed by the first of the others, then the second and so on. It wasn't the top but just the top of the steep bit, but there was a less steep bit continuing for another mile or so. I had a bit of a breather then continued up, nearly caught the others by the time we'd reached the top. Next domestique duty was to give Dave my other bottle as he'd ridden from London to get to Hedley's but had forgotten to recharge his bottle before we set out.
Lunch stop was pleasant - cider and an open sandwich, then espresso. First mechanical as we came out again, someone's tyre was flat, so a quick change. Then we set off up Maidensgrove Hill (whatever it's called). Near the top we had to stop while a herd of deer dashed across our path - beautiful. Then I realised my Garmin had gone to sleep, so it had had a rest and missed out one of the hills! So the ride was about 55 miles not 53. Shortly after that, on a slight incline thankfully, my front tyre had a blow-out. The bang sounded like someone had fired a gun. While we were fiddling around trying to fashion a suitable boot, Hedley called a mate of his who runs a LBS nearby and within 5 minutes he'd turned up with a spare tyre, changed it complete with (broken) track pump. It's great - the cycling community is a fantastic community - always happy to help each other out. Off we went and a little later, after a downhill run, my tyre went phfffsssshhhh! Another puncture. It turned out this time it was an ordinary puncture. I didn't bother to pump the tyre up hard as it was getting late and we wanted to get home. But those last few miles were quite tough as the front tyre was so spongey.
Got a bit split up approaching Didcot, and me and another chap got a bit lost, but we ended up being the first back surprisingly.
A great ride and very good fun. Plus adventures too.