That was, I think, the best day/night/day...let's settle for 24 hours...I've had on a bike.
First off, many thanks to Hummers, Pete and Richard for the GFrttS. Great idea, great company, perfect weather for it..it really did all work out perfectly. Pete was a bit worried about his pace, but I think that he well and truly put those doubts to rest. I reckoned 12 mph for six rolling hours was easily doable, but I thought H's original target of getting to Haslemere and the planned rendezvous with Pete was a little optimistic. I'll readily admit, as I did to the guys yesterday, that I was wrong. The Pompey three left our meet-up point on the Eastern Road at 4.05, we were at the pub at Grayswood, just north of Haslemere two hours later. I lagged a little behind at times, but the pace was still very comfortable for all of us. The roads were pretty quiet, and the terrain favourable too. Rolling, for sure, but no killer climbs, a good gentle work-out really. The three of us had a drink before Pete made the pub just about 6.45, and we moved on as they weren't serving food until 7 & we thought it better to move on to somewhere else. A rather trendy pub wasn't far up the road, and we all had pizzas, which proved rather good. At 8ish we moved on, and continued to make great time, Pete's protestations about his climbing speed not entirely accurate, no-one was having any real problems. Up through Guildford we went, then a short run on the bike path alongside the A3 before turning off for Ockham, then up through Esher and Kingston. Into Richmond Park, and through to Roehampton Gate and Priory Lane. As we had more than enough time in hand, we decided to go to Victoria to refuel & help out with signing in. Then we went over Putney Bridge and up an extremely quiet Kings Road, before we went to Victoria. We made it at 10.40- average speed for 75 miles a rather stonking (IMHO) 13mph.
The ride itself went extremely well. No waymarking or TECing for me this time, but despite having already done more miles than we were doing down to Bognor, my legs weren't feeling it, I was spending as much time as usual at the front. I once again failed to crash, despite the usual jibes, and Davy successfully avoided the curbs in Tesco

The regroups were more down to the size of the peloton than any mechanicals- Rebecca among others might have struggled a bit at times, but apart from Nigel I don't know of any who didn't make it to Felpham. Mark and team at the Cabin did their usual, exemplary work, before we all carried on. I'm not over-fond of the off-road section, but the scenery was lovely, of course, and I can't imagine the route we took on the Not a Christmas Bognor ride working on a FNRttC, far too lumpy for many riders.
The Boat House was again, a delightful place to spend a Saturday morning. It was lovely to see Miranda and Becs (go for factor 50

) and the cake in honour of Luke's birthday went down very nicely. H and the Hampshire peloton headed west before I was ready to move, so I ended up going west with Simon, Susie and Claud, where we slowly progressed through as far as the junction for Chichester (me) and the Witterings (them). Made it back home not long after one, not long after that I needed a nap! My one-day mileage record (140 on the day of Loughbrough-London) well and truly smashed, 168.6 miles (including the section from HPC to Balham, not on my GPS track after I forgot to start the Garmin's clock again).
Thanks everyone for an absolute cracker, with a particular 'well done' for Rebecca, Kim, User10571 (been there, done that with a frozen bottle!) and the others who didn't let their various ailments impair their or anyone else's evening. Hope those assailants get caught soon, Matthew.
For those who aren't joining the Republican movement to Hastings, see you for Brighton hopefully!