I woke with a stinking red wine hangover! I got up early to have plenty of time to prep for my bike ride with Ray. Then made a wet for us both and some toast for me - I managed to eat one piece. It had been quite windy overnight and was cloudy this morning but quite warm. The cloud was lifting so I thought the threat of rain might have missed us. Cathy was meeting up with Julie later for breakfast at The Cabin by the beach, so I left her in bed.
I headed off to Ray's grateful for some fresh air and arrived at his house, banging loudly on their front door for a long time to make sure he and Julie were up. I could hear her swearing at me from within - just like the old days. All set up, we headed off on our 20 mile route that would take us through Stubbington, Titchfield and Warsash. Just a few minutes in the wind picked up and rain started - and did it rain! We sheltered from the worst but were still soon soaked to the skin with our shoes squelching. Hangover? - what hangover! We stopped off at Warsash to use the loo and make use of the hand dryer to warm up a bit! Thankfully the rain had now stopped so we had a decent run along the coast and Lee seafront to our usual coffee stop at the Bluebird Café - the 'Bluey'. Two lattes and a twin helped revive us we we sat in there dripping and steaming! It had started to rain again so the run back the the campsite was ridden as fast as we could. Back at the campsite the hot shower was very welcome. Ray drove over about an hour later to take all my wet gear home to dry it overnight as we plan to go out again tomorrow morning - hopefully this time in sunshine.
A short while later our good friends Jane & Ron turned up for a wet and a chat. Jane has just had a full knee replacement so getting up into the van was interesting for her, but we were soon settled with a cup of tea and the iced buns they brought. It was good to catch up; they have just become grandparents for the second time, this time a little boy and were looking forward to meeting him for the first time tomorrow. An hour later our son Chris arrived to pick up some belongings we'd brought down for him, so the kettle went on again. After they'd all left we took a walk down the Bay in the sunshine (the rain was well gone and sun was out). There was a windsurfing competition and so loads of campervans parked on the grass by the sailing club, with a great view over the Solent to the Isle of Wight - very lucky!
Back at the van we had a quick turnaround then walked down the The Old Ship on Lee on Solent seafront ( seeing a beautiful orange sunset), where we met Chris. Dinner was the usual deep fried or microwaved stuff you get in these 'Sizzling' pubs then out friends Chris & Michelle turned up - they live just about 2 minutes walk from the pub. We had a good catch up but soon it was 2230 and we were flagging, so we said our goodbyes and Chris dropped us off at the campsite. It was a clear and very chilly night and we slept well.
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| Ready for our spin - before the rain |
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| Windsurfers looking like leaf-cutter ants |
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| Sunset over the sea at Lee as we walk to the Old Ship Inn |