Managed to get a ride in. At last!

And the Chilterns were foul!

It started OK. Clearish skies, slippery but firm trail. Then it came to bits.

We'd cleaned the first decent climb up to Dunsmore. After the green and pond the trails just descended into quagmire. Some of it was frozen and firm, but a lot of it was soft and gloopy, particularly where horses had been through and churned it up. At the end of the what is normally a flat out, top gear trail (we were mid ringing, like it was a fair climb) was a large and unavoidable puddle.

Add cold and very wet feet to the mix.

Then we got a mix of snow, hail and sleet, riding past Chequers (yes, that Chequers). By the time we reached Cadsden I'd had enough, after about 1.5 hours riding. In the summer the whole loop of about 18 miles normally takes less time than that, and we were no more than half way round.

2 hours after starting we were back at the car, filthy and tired. I'm seriously thinking of locking the shed and leaving the whole game until the trails dry out. Lets see how we get on at Afan in Wales on Tuesday. If we get there.