...not today, but near enough.
Cycled along the Grand Union canal to Tring station, joined the Chiltern Cycleway and followed it clockwise to Berkhamsted, then caught the train home. 93 miles: the furthest I've ridden in a day by a long shot and more than double the maximum I've ridden on any day this year. On the "skip-bike", too
. It's surprising how far a steady supply of energy gels and Marmite sandwiches can get you, so well done me!
1916 canal-side quaintness.
A few miles further south: 1914 canal-side quaintness.
And a couple of miles further south the trend continued with 1912 canal-side quaintness, etc...etc..
Pedley Hill - but of course!
At about the furthest point from home my front gear cable snapped. I coasted to a halt at this bus stop (bench is long enough for a snooze & coffee is available from the local shop) and unpacked my tools to find I'd left all the ones I needed at home
. After a few minutes of bodging, a lady wondered up to catch the bus, but unfortunately didn't have a wire cutter. General chit-chat ensued and a few minutes later the bus arrived, we bade our farewells and the bus departed. Almost immediately a red car pulled up, a bloke climbed out and said "Lyn said you needed some wire cutters..." (she'd phoned her husband from the bus and explained my predicament). Result!
10 minutes later with my gears and faith in humanity restored I thanked him profusely and was back on the move.
Not too many pics, as the theme for the day was generally fog & murk. But here's a watercress farm...devoid of watercress.
Finally arrived at Berko, 11 hours after setting out & arrived home 30 minutes later
.
Lessons learned:
1) Chiltern Cycleway has something for everyone (road, bridleway, converted rail-trail).
2) It's undulating & swoopy, with some great descents.
3) Navigation is easy, as it's signposted (although a few of them are missing, or have been turned round the wrong way
).
4) Make sure you download all of the route PDFs, not just some of them...
5) Energy gels & Marmite sandwiches are a winning combination
.
6) Bring the tools & spares you need. And the ones you "won't" need.
Just need to do the other half, now.
http://www.chilternsaonb.org/explore-enjoy/chilterns-cycleway/route-information.html