Sunday's ride – 22 May

At 6am there was rain and it rattled on my conservatory roof until gone 7am, prompting the possibility of an abort text to Andy. In the end, however, we opted for the 'wait and see' approach and decided to meet at 8am on the Green as the weather had improved immensely.

After our encounter with a morbidly obese man, we headed

across the road to a track Andy uses as a shortcut sometimes

on this way home.

Going out later meant cutting the ride short. We cycled to Botley Hill, turned round at the roundabout and stopped halfway along the B269 for our tea. Unfortunately, the place we'd chosen for a break was occupied by a morbidly obese gentleman with a creased faced dog of some sort. The man had a white stool, which amazingly supported his weight, but when we arrived, the dog decided to go mad. The fat guy  held on to the leash but was pulled off of his stool. 

Andy looked at me as if to say, "let's go", later telling me that there was no way we could pick him up. We crossed the road and rested at the top of a downward track that Andy uses as a shortcut on many of our return trips. Moments later we saw the fat man, back in his car and heading towards either Westerham or Oxted.

After taking the shot accompanying this post, we parted. Andy's not riding on Saturday or Sunday of next week, so we'll meet on the Monday (a bank holiday).

This week, dad's funeral takes place. It's on Thursday 26 May.