Route advice: Richmond to Oxford

[αdαmsκι]

Nienke & I are thinking of a day ride from Richmond to Oxford, but first off I'd need a route.  I've found someone's route on bikely and I understand that there's a Sustrans route, but I don't have any details of their route as the sustrans website is rubbish.  Does anyone know what the sustrans route is like or have any better suggestions?  Quieter roads and a longer route are preferred to a direct route on busy roads.  Thanking you

[Wascally Weasel]

I think it's NCN4 and it mostly follows the Thames.  I don't know it past Walton on Thames but on the bits I do know, surface quality varies a bit.

Maybe quieter roads via Windsor, Henley on Thames then the B480 might do you?

[sas]

The Sustrans route is ~100miles from Putney to Oxford. It follows the Thames path (NCN4) out of London before breaking off and wandering through to Reading, then from there it takes the scenic route through to Didcot, Abingdon and Oxford along the Thames. It's designed for people looking for a nice leisurely ride rather than a direct route which would be <60 miles.

[ronstrutt]

It looks like the Sustrans map for this route is out of print and the new edition hasn't arrived yet, though some bike/book shops may still have copies.

The route should be on the OS maps covering West London, Reading, and Oxford, which you can borrow from most public libraries.

[Cunobelin]

Here is the planning route for my recent tour along this route

[RichForrest]

I've got the Sustrans map if you want to borrow it.

Rich.

[border-rider]

Here is the planning route for my recent tour along this route

I'd avoid that swing south through Reading and head cross country through the Chilterns

[Martin]

do the London- Oxford route; it starts from Gunnersbury which is near as dammit; thence S Ealing - Isleworth- Cranford- Harlington- West Drayton- Iver- Fulmer- Burnham Veeches-Littleworth Common- Hedsor- Wooburn Green - Flackwell Heath - Lane End- Christmas Common- Watlington- Oxford

Not Flat

[αdαmsκι]

Thanks for the tips.  I've discovered that my road atlas has an outline of the sustrans routes across the UK, so from Richmond to Reading I'd need NCN #4 & then NCN #5 from Reading to Oxford.  However, I hadn't expected the Sustrans route to be 100 miles, considering a direct-ish route is only about 60 miles & the mixture of surfaces will make it impassable on my bike with 23c tyres.  However, I'd be tempted to follow part of the Sustrans route once north of Reading. 

Rich:  I will bear your kind offer in mind & I'll drop you a PM when I've actually got a date for this ride.

Marcinek: I'll take a look at the route on the atlas when I'm at home.

[Jules]

+1  for Marcinek's route. I've done this a couple of times from Richmond.

Most of it is flat. There just that bit up to Christmas Common that's a bit steep.

[αdαmsκι]

It seems like this will be happening on Saturday, following this route, which is a combination of my ideas and suggestions from up thread. 

[Adam]

Have fun on the hairpin down from Cookham Dean to the A404. 

One more tip - take care on the road out of Marlow, as cars tend to whizz past very fast and a bit close on that stretch, as you have to remember that they own the road out that way.

Looks like you'll have some nice weather on Saturday.

[teethgrinder]

Have fun on the hairpin down from Cookham Dean to the A404. 

One more tip - take care on the road out of Marlow, as cars tend to whizz past very fast and a bit close on that stretch, as you have to remember that they own the road out that way.

Looks like you'll have some nice weather on Saturday.

Yes.

That route isn't shy of the hills, but not as hard as it could be.
It'll level out after Watlington, once you descend off of the Chilterns.
Should be a good ride.

[Jurek]

Have a fine ride! 

[mukkinese]

that looks like a nice ride - i've used this route from Marlow to Oxford a few times and it's most pleasant. A hill coming out of Marlow is all that springs to mind.

Have fun.

<edit> I'll have to look into the alternative route from London to Marlow there - I've always bombed along the A4 and while flat it's not the most picturesque. Unless you like tech companies.

[her_welshness]

Probably not much of a help but here goes:

Some of route 4 is rubbish quite frankly. Especially around Windsor and Eton.

Route 5 however between Maidenhead and towards Goring is beautiful.

Have a lovely ride! 

[αdαmsκι]

<edit> I'll have to look into the alternative route from London to Marlow there - I've always bombed along the A4 and while flat it's not the most picturesque. Unless you like tech companies.

I figured out the route from London by studying the map and I'm hoping the A315 is relatively quiet.  I decided against the A4 as I realise that won't be too friendly for cycling along. 

Have fun on the hairpin down from Cookham Dean to the A404. 

Yeah, I saw those on the map & they look fun.

One more tip - take care on the road out of Marlow, as cars tend to whizz past very fast and a bit close on that stretch, as you have to remember that they own the road out that way.

Thanks for that and yes we will.

Have a fine ride! 

I'm sure we will.

[thing1]

Hope it went well!
I'm a day too late posting this, but for reference here's the route we took on the first day of our tour to Wales
Google Maps

We went out through Henley (on first day of regatta, it turns out  and returning again on last day  ) then up through the fantastic road through the Assendons and Pishill. Saw lots and lots of red kites.
We went through Oxford and pushed on to Hook Norton for the night (staying in a Camra recommended Inn...)

[αdαmsκι]

Well that was fun. We got the London Overland train to Kew Gardens and then set off down the A315.  Being a single carriageway Roman road makes the A315 a great way to escape London, esp. at 10 am on a Saturday morning 'cos it was still relatively quiet.  Disaster nearly struck at Honslow when one of the bolts on my rack worked lose (I'm assuming I didn't tighten it enough, tho I'm not entirely sure what happened).  Fortunately I had a spare bolt and the thread was not sheared or else Nienke would have been carrying the panniers.  The A3113 road past Heathrow was horrible, but it didn't last very long before we out over the M25 and onto leafy roads.  Going through Eton was fun because I've never been there before, but the road through Eton Wick (the B3026) was busy and narrow.  We therefore decided to take NCN4 from Eton Wick to Dorney just to avoid that road, which was a mistake.  The route goes across what felt like peoples lawns, not even on gravel tracks.  A really stupid route.  I do not recommend it.

After we had fought our way through Maidenhead things rapidly improved.  The lanes around Cookham Dean were lovely, as was the pub lunch at The Jolly Farmer.  Mmmm.  Getting through Marlow was straightforward and then we were onto little lanes all the way to Oxford and basically every junction was straight on, making the navigation really easy.  These lanes would make a super duper night ride!  There were two main hills, one coming out of Marlow and the second one was between Turville and Christmas Common. 

Going through the Chitlons was lovely.  We saw a red kite and some other big birds of prey and it was a beautiful autumn day, with various colours in the trees and bits of sunshine appearing through the canopies of the trees and lighting up the sunken lanes. After Christmas Common we swooped into the Thames valley and start looking for signs of the Oxford spires.   Overall, a great route and a route I'd recommend to other people.

PS: There were no trains running between Oxford and Didcot and so we got the Oxford Tube back to London, which was fine because they take bikes on the coaches.  Something worth remembering.

[Nienke]

What Adamski said Autumn is gorgeous!

A great ride, definitely to be recommended as a weekend away from London as it was also very easy to get back on the Oxford tube.

[teethgrinder]

Maybe you two would like to join us at Tring station on Saturday morning at 1000 for the Red Kites ride?
We'll be passing through Christmas Common again.

[Nienke]

Ooh that sounds lovely but we'll on hols in Norfolk for a week from Saturday, probably doing a fair bit of cycling as well. If the weather is anything like we had you should have a great ride. Enjoy!

[αdαmsκι]

Thanks for the invite, but we'll be in Norfolk that weekend.  Had that not been the case then we'd have signed up for the Red Kite ride a while ago as I've been looking at the Red Kite ride thread with interest.

Bah.  Beaten to it by Nienke.

[Nienke]

I'm always one step ahead. Always.