I write that with some trepidation as there are a couple of days when the plan might change again. I hope not. To reward myself I decided to ride to Headcorn to meet Les and the gang and join their ride. It was a nice day even though I only rode just over 40 miles. I arrived at the cafe first and as I thought what might be likely as we are now in Tier 3, the cafe may be shut. It was. So I rode back along the route I expected them to come. I stopped three of the fast ones and re-routed then to the airfield which we confirmed was still open albeit everyone had to sit outdoors. I rode on another couple of miles but no sign of Les and the remainder. So off I went to the airfield and joined the first three. Then we had a message to say the others had arrived and were standing in the high street drinking coffee. The delay had been Les taking the others on one of his unusual deviated routes, which I think they enjoyed. They had all ridden from Tun Wells to Headcorn about 20 miles so I joined the now full group returning back the more straightforward way. So 40 odd miles is not bad for 87 year old Les on a cold winter’s day! After thy group went left towards Tun Wells, I carried on to Yalding with friend Ian before turning for home before it rained. I had a nice chat with Ian on the way. Tomorrow will be the 2nd anniversary of his wife’s death from cancer. He told me something quite profound. He said that of course, he has his emotional periods but he finds now that instead of his memories being around the awful times in 2018, his brain tends to focus more on the happy memories that he and Mary had together. In addition he told me that he has always enjoyed an active outdoor life especially cycling and he is of the view that he has been helped considerably by his lifestyle and the friends he has made as part of that. I found it very moving.
This evening our daughter-in-law Natalie rang. She is a teacher and a another teacher was tested positive with Covid so now Nat is home to isolate and cannot go anywhere. That has made the decision for us all, now we shall not see the Reading contingent at Xmas. We have some rather large presents for the boys so tomorrow Sue and I are going to take them to Reading. We will phone Stuart just before arrival, he will open his garage. The boys will still be at school , hence going tomorrow. I will put the pressies in the garage and return to the car. We will wave across the road to Stu and Nat, wish them a happy Xmas and we will immediately drive back home. A round trip of 150 miles but worth it so the boys can have their presents on the day.