The third iteration of “Let’s use two wheels to transport us to many pubs” took place earlier this summer, on Wednesday 20th May. Following on from the great successes of the last two years, there was much anticipation, and the promise of a brand new route. This year we covered 8 miles, via the Chester, the King’s Arms at Sandford lock, the Prince of Wales in Iffley, and the Magdalen Arms. Nobody fell in the river or went hungry, so it was considered a success!
Last Wednesday, it was the oh-so-very traditional OPIG Punting day (OPunting for those more acronym-prone).
To my surprise, the weather was spectacular! It was warm and sunny, a true perfect day for punting. We set off from our alcoves offices with determination in our hearts and, more importantly, with delicious snacks and a significant amount of Pimms and G&T. Everything was set for a truly amazing day. 
Our group took over 5 punts from the Cherwell Boathouse, constituting what I like to think of as a small fleet of avid punters and merriment-seekers. We punted all the way up the Cherwell, past the lovely Victoria’s Arms into lands unknown (or into some grassy meadows in the vicinities of Oxford). Fortunately no keys were thrown overboard and no one fell off the punts (well, at least not accidentally). Yet, as usual, OPunting was very eventful! Following the customs of our group, we had the traditional punting race. I may have been too busy gorging on Pimms during the race, but if memory does not fail me, the race was won by Hannah (who can be seen in the photo bellow doing her swimming victory lap).
Hannah, in her victory lap swim…
During the punting, we also discovered that Bernhard had some previously unknown Viking ancestry (Austrian vikings?), which manifested in an impetus to ram his punt against others. Suffice to say that he paved the grounds to “Dodgems Punts”, a ride that will become popular in fun fairs and amusement parks in 2027.
Other than that, the weather was so great that many of us decided to go for a lovely swim at the Cherwell.
After a refreshing pint at Victoria’s, we made our way back to conclude yet another successful OPunting day!
In what is becoming the highlight of the year and a regular occurrence for the OPIGlets, Le Tour de Farce – The annual OPIG bike ride, took place on the 4th of June. Now in its 2.0 revision but maintaining a route similar to last year, 9.5 miles and several pints later, approximately 20 of us took in some distinctly pretty Oxfordshire scenery, not to mention The White Hart, The Trout, Jacobs Inn and for some, The One and The Punter too.
Other than my customary Saturday morning hangover, today I woke up with aching limbs – so I am feeling rather poor indeed. The source of this pain, other than the five and a half pints of premium quality Lager, is the OPIG beer and cycling tour of Oxford (aptly named, “Le Tour de Farce”). What can I say, over here they make you work for your beer.
View OPIG Oxford Beer and Cycling in a larger map
We started off at the Medawar building, where we sit on weekdays and occasionally on weekends. Then we cycled to The Fishes, The White Hart, The Trout (the Carne pizza is a must), yet another White Hart, and the vegetarian and vegan Gardener Arms (I know, I know – I was drunk and they forced me in here). For those not familiar with Oxford custom – these are some of the most beautiful (and pricey) pubs this land has to offer.
OPIG members love a laugh and their beer on the cycling trip
The bike hike (devised by Charlotte) was 9.535 miles. On 5.5 pints of beer (Nick spilt his pint, like an amateur – so I gave him half of mine), that means I run on 13.86 miles per gallon (9.535 / 0.6875). So I roughly have the fuel economy of a 2013 Ferrari 458 Spider. Say what you want about these blog posts, but you cannot say I am not thorough about the research which goes on behind them.
This is how far yesterday’s bike ride would have got me in my country (Malta).
This morning I have also noticed my calves are an inch thicker in diameter, which of course means I will go and throw away all my socks and make that long overdue trip to the bicester village. Perhaps I will cycle there.