It turned out to be a good ride. 12 people set out heading for the green man in eversholt. There were 2 groups, the keen cyclists and the loonies. I was in two minds which group to join but in the end I joined the loonies.

They set out at full speed and from the start I found it hard going but I was determined to keep going. A few steep climbs later and any fear of being cold turned into taking a layer off. After a few miles we realised that we were a bit behind schedule so it was time to put the foot down. Now I was feeling really knackered. The group had now split in three. There was Colin, Mike and Ian up front speeding ahead. Andy, Neil and a guy who's name eludes me right now were in the middle and had stopped to wait for me to catch up. I had got into my flow so cycled straight past them as once moving well I didn't want to stop. They began to catch me on woburn park hill where I turned off to the pub. When I looked back they had dissapeared so I continued to the pub where I met the advanced group, who arrived 20mins before me. The keen cyclists had already arrived having taken a shorter route.

The final 3 arrive another 20mins later as they got lost just 1 mile from the pub. Strange as they have all riden the area before. I reckon they did a sneaky off road section.

After a good lunch and a couple of pints we all set off back to the lake. I rode off with the keen cyclists this time while the loonies had an extra 15mins chat. I split off on my own to do a little off road down hill. It was a lot muddier than I expected and when I found a hole I thought "maybe this was not a good idea" as I flew through the air landing on my head.

I finally arrived at the clubhouse to find all the others had turned up before me.

After another chat by the fire, we all wished each other a merry christmas and went our separate ways. All happy and all knackered.