The last official ride of the year was on the 19th December. As if the rain of the last three months had not been enough to dampen our spirits, the Weather Gods chose this day to give us everything they had, just to make sure we were thoroughly extinguished. One look at the torrential rain beating against the windows was enough to tell me that attendance would be low, and so a decision had to be made to save our Christmas Lunch ride.

After numerous telephone calls, a complicated schedule was arranged for running four cars, collecting some of the youngsters from their homes and meeting anyone who turned up at the pick-up points. When we finally arrived at Cockwood there were no less than twenty-one of us, including two of Frances’ friends and Jean’s daughter Karen!

It really was good to get so many back together again, even if it had meant breaking the first principle of any cycling club. We were sorry that Colin and Don were too ill to be with us, particularly in the latter case as our usual mince pie stop at Dawlish had to be cancelled at the last minute. Still, we were determined to make the most of our afternoon, and after a delicious meal at the Ship Inn we rode down to Dron Lodge at Dawlish Warren for coffee. The open fire and Christmas carols made a pleasurable end to our day.

(Michael Jones)

[The attendance list for this event is currently incomplete]