South Bucks Winter Warmer

[Wycombewheeler]

Tidmarsh Rd to Pangbourne is never great, although better than it used to be. It is possible to take an almost parallel detour via Bradfield along country roads (take 1st left after joining A4, follow lane, left at end and up hill, over crossroads at Bradfield, 1st right at next crossroads, under M4, then straight across next cross roads, follow lane to end, then turn right down Pangbourne Hill to get back on route), and although it throws 4 more hills in, they are fine

an additional 3km as well as 100m of extra climbing, although surely more pleasant.

[PAC]

Tidmarsh Rd to Pangbourne is never great, although better than it used to be. It is possible to take an almost parallel detour via Bradfield along country roads (take 1st left after joining A4, follow lane, left at end and up hill, over crossroads at Bradfield, 1st right at next crossroads, under M4, then straight across next cross roads, follow lane to end, then turn right down Pangbourne Hill to get back on route), and although it throws 4 more hills in, they are fine

This is a top tip - If the weather is good and the 'going firm' - I'll try Nunhide gravel lane further to the east starting behind Ikea. Otherwise I'll use your detour. 

https://www.komoot.com/highlight/2647491

Yes, local knowledge😬. Nunehide is also a really good, flatter, one to go along if it’s dry. Through Theale, over the M4 footbridge, left at bottom and left again onto Nunehide Lane, left at end of Nunehide, then immediately right down Sulham Lane to Pangbourne, turn left at end and into village to control point and back on route👍

[GdS]

I'm out
have to isolate as flying back from Madeira tonight, got a negative test here though

[trundle]

That's a shame. Damn Covid interruptions...

I'm still in - looking forward to it. I'm very slow so I'll be heading off as soon as possible - I might need the extra 15 minutes to hit the 21:48 cut off!

It will be great to meet some audax folk at last - and even better to say hello to the Elan club

[Lightning Phil]

Good luck tomorrow. I was looking at this one but have my Covid Booster this afternoon. Going to be cautious and restart my audaxing in January instead.

[trundle]

We had great weather yesterday - a touch cold and windy in places, but dry with glorious sunshine.



Alas, I didn't get all the way around. The mind and energy were willing, but I got thigh cramps from 80km onwards so had to ride extremely  gently. I took a flat route from Theale avoiding the Chiltern lumps to get back to the car.

Once you turned off the main road out of Alton - the lanes were really enjoyable: I was gutted to miss the Chiltern lanes - I know them well and love where the route went going north to Wheatley. But the lumps would have kept triggering cramp and at times I was only covering 8km in an hour.

I was also looking forward to the night slog along the A40 - because the lights of the cars draw the outlines of hills as they roll over the landscape.

It was great to have a chin wag with Neil as we compared steads and say hello to so many Audax cyclists as they came past.

Before the next one, I need to do some stretching, put lumpy miles into the legs and have a play with riding position to see what works best.

[LiamFitz]

It would be churlish to complain about the weather yesterday - it's a December ride and was a bit windy.  But dry and above freezing so what's not to like (apart from the wind!).

The run down to Alton uses a lot of semi busy roads which is not terrible. Although I was in a group on a busyish road and someone kept shouting "car back" every 15 seconds which was funny really.

The return up through the lanes is always a treat with open views up into Berkshire and then Oxfordshire. And then the wind hung around long enough to push us home the last 50k.

This is the third or fourth time I've done this event and the highlight is always the number of familiar faces and a few new ones - generally a very sociable ride.  Plus lots of newbies out  including four carbon speed merchants who passed me several time but always arrived at Controls behind me - I fantasised that they were stopping regularly for a pint!

Looking forward to next year

Liam

[Neil C]

It would be churlish to complain about the weather yesterday - it's a December ride and was a bit windy.  But dry and above freezing so what's not to like (apart from the wind!).

That's how I feel as well. There were plenty of riders on the road but they were almost all going faster than me. I stopped for a second breakfast at the Java Cafe in Winnesh and from the warmth of the cafe watched more riders stream past. The section from Alton to North Waltham was a bit of a slog into the wind.

When I got there I recognized trundle's bike by the audax hotel and we had chat about the fine differences between our matching bikes. Sorry you didn't make it all the way round.

Having ridden the event a few times before, I knew not to spend too long in Pangbourne before the sudden stiff drag up Whitchurch Hill. At Wheatley I bumped into Liam and then it was the dark roads back to Beaconsfield.

There it felt strange not to have the usual cheery welcome from Terry and his helpers, but hopefully we will all be able to do it again next year.