Setting off in a light drizzle & cooler temperatures than yesterday, we were soon into the lumpy stuff and having to tackle a few rather steep climbs; Dave's Garmin reporting 17% on one occasion.
The run to Brackley for the first cafe stop was largely uneventful, save for the testing terrain & Alex throwing a chain whilst trying to engage the chainring reserved for old ladies & lightweights (confess that I sneakily employed mine on the odd occasion).
The cafe we found in Brackley earned 37 points, due to the quality of the coffee, ambience & Alex's scrambled egg on toast. It would have earned more had the scones not been quite so dry.......oh and Kev said the waitresses could of been prettier ........and older! Good toilet paper though - apparently 🙄
NB: We've decided to score the cafe stops with an aggregate points system. Retrospectively, Desford scored 34 & the Dunchurch McDonald's 17 (harshly marked by Alex, Dave & Kev)
Anyway, we strung out the Brackley stop till the rain abated and then got on with it, heading south towards Bicester & Oxford. The weather continued to improve & the views opened up as things flattened out. Christ, I was even beginning to enjoy it 😎
Then we ended up off piste.
Fortunately, for some, others had half an idea of how to get back on track, or rather off the track. A couple of miles of light off-roading proved to be good fun though.
A few miles later, the rain jackets were off for the duration and we rolled into some out of the way Strawberry picking facility near Stanton St John, to indulge in a spot of lunch. We had to make do with hoovering up the last of their poncy frittata & savoury tarts - which were actually very good - due to being too late for anything else. Neil's 'Mojito' flavoured chrisps & Ginger flapjack were alright too!
The weather continued to improve as we continued south of Oxford & on towards the Thames. Passing the 'Crazy Bear' in Stadhampton brought back a few memories - I recall spending a rather cozy couple of nights there a few years ago with a certain person 😛 - nuff said 😉
We were all pretty tired when we arrived at Streatley on Thames Youth Hostel, but we still managed the 1 in 4 climb up its driveway to the front door.
Decent place, but rather snug:
After a quick 'Triple S' (think about it) and a little laundering, we walked into the village for a little refreshment. Nice village:
The food in The Swan was rather good and not at all outrageously expensive. The caterpillar in Alex's starter hadn't eaten all his lettuce & the tooth filling Dave found in his risotto hadn't belonged to the chef, so all good there then. Well nothing that a tube of Araldite wont fix 😉
A tough (ish) but great day. Looking forward to a good nights sleep in a shoe box with four other blokes who've been on the beer all evening...........💨💨
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