Jag hunting - Making it up as we go along

Jags Not Bottom Lane Winter classic adventure

Cold but bright, we had 14 Jags signed up at one point, but a couple dropped out leaving us with 2 groups of 6, including a guest rider trying us out!

So after a bit of the usual chit chat, 2 groups emerged, comprising Jay, Michael, Geoff, Rory, Andi and guest Soyen in the first, and Bob G, Mike W, Paul E, Ian C, Rob W with Jerry T picked up en-route.

The first group set off with group 2 a minute or two behind. Out through Bourne End, Flackwell, and up White Hill to Beaconsfield. Past Jordans, and on towards Gerrard’s Cross. So far, so good. Everyone taking a turn on the front, in nice formation.

Unfortunately the low sun in everyone’s eyes and bouncing off Garmin screens meant that a turn was missed in GX. No worries, thought Andi, we’ll just take the next left. At this point, local boy Jay suggested that actually we could go right not left. So a quick confab was called to discuss what best to do - i.e. go back to the route. This diversion meant that group 2 caught up, meaning a large group for traffic to negotiate. After a quick catch up chat, the two groups split up again.

Now down into Fulmer, when we saw a group of Leopards (Tim O on the front) toiling up the hill, cheery waves all round and then the climb back up the other side. Now on to Farnham Common where James S caught up. After a late start he decided he had more chance of catching Jags than Leopards - which he duly did - despite stopping to offer his services as a witness to an accident (an impressive feat!).

Skirting Burnham Beeches and then the real fun began, a full on road closure at Dorney Wood Road meant an on-the-hoof reroute. As group one retraced its steps the second Jags group appeared and so did a mixed assortment of Cheetahs, none of whom seemed to know where the rest of their group was, or what was going on (see Cheetahs’ report for an explanation).

So now the classic phrase, ‘We’re only a little bit lost’ was uttered, but soon enough familiar roads were found, Maidenhead Bridge crossed, and back on route. As the group raced for MSC - some faster than others - Geoff and Rory split directly for home. The final rag-tag of Cheetahs flew by (just pausing to say hello) on the climb up Dean Lane, and one very kindly donated some photos from his new rear light/camera.

As ever, at MSC there was a warm welcome at MSC with coffee, bacon rolls and cake. Sadly, no group shots this week - too cold to stop. Well done to everyone that got out - we had the ideal weather window.