First footing

 The first weekend in January is usually the date that the Ayr Roads Cycling Club go down to their club hut for First Footing..but snow and ice made that unadvisable!

I went by car to the house the other side of the burn to the hut, down by the Stinchar River. It is the next one down from the Girvan and meets salt water at Ballantrae.

That is where Pirate's ..and now my..great friends live...so it was coffee cake and discussion first! Then I went round to the club hut to see who had come down by car with the soup! 

The hut has benches and chairs a cooker and a stove. Up until at least the nineties I think some would overnight there to be able to extend the area they could ride on a weekend.  There aren't many club huts like this left nowadays unfortunately, but it used to be a fairly common thing, and not just in Scotland. A little like the bothies, but not for allcomers.

Our friends came from their house after a little while and their arrival made it 20!! They have had 24 one year....but the last four had to stand!!

Great fun, great craic, old friends and new.

Soup,cakes, biscuits, bread, tea ....and a wee dram! ( Not for me as I had to drive home)

Then they were off, with an average of 30 miles to ride home.

We went back to the house for our lunch (not having shared the soup in the hut...those who rode down deserved that!) and more talking....

It is so enjoyable and energising to share good talk , discuss all sorts of things...

Then an hour to drive home in the afternoon arriving still in daylight..always a bonus!!