Upper Thames 5th November 2022

[Euan Uzami]

What was the name of the estate we passed where a stonemason was doing what looked to be a superb job on a hell of a long wall?

oh yeah, I saw that as well - he looked like he was taking stones OFF the wall when i past. Maybe he was adjusting one of them that wasn't quite on right.

[Simonb]

who owns that f off house that was lit up as we rode past at dusk?

Gorgeous, isn't it? Belongs to Paddy McNally.

[kcass]

Had a lovely day. Weather and clothing choices, perfect. It was great having the start 5 minutes from my parents' and I thought the new route layout worked well. The first and third legs were a joy - still had trouble in the middle though.

Rode all but the first 10km with (and mainly behind) Martin T* who was far stronger than me and gallantly refused my suggestions that he ride on without me. Consequently I really suffered trying to stay with him on the Bicester - Chipping Norton section but ended up riding my fastest ever 200 and got back in time to go to the firework display in nearby Wallingford.

Thanks Phil and his helpers for all their hard work and thanks again to Mary for the soup. I hope I left enough for everyone else!

(* EDIT - drgannet. Here's the link I promised Art In Action at Waterperry)

[L CC]

What was the name of the estate we passed where a stonemason was doing what looked to be a superb job on a hell of a long wall?

Dunno, but he was very pleased when I called out "Nice wall!". Which it was.

He must have had a day of it. I called out "nice work".

[PloddinPedro]

Back home and recuperating. I managed once again to cock up my timing and didn't allow quite enough time to ride from my local B&B to the start, arriving at 7.28 a.m., leaving just enough time to grab my Brevet and set off in pursuit of the pack. A forlorn quest of course, since I hadn't removed the rain jacket I'd put on when leaving the digs in order to warm up comfortably. An early stop to remove this meant I resumed my usual place at the tail end of the field, after which the only people I saw were mostly those who'd suffered visitations from the p*n^t"r* fairies. Spoke briefly with Judith Swallow and another YACFer as they went past me, the latter identifying himself as LittleWheelsandBig, so another face put to a name! Saw boab at the roadside happily (?) mending a flat. I bounced through Waterperry quickly, relying on only Phil's bananas (thanks Phil!) for sustenance and thence enjoyed my usual experience of having everyone and his brother catch and pass me on the way to Chipping Norton. Correctly predicting that the Old Mill cafe would be heaving by the time I arrived and running low on energy, I stopped at the Jet garage at Hopcroft's Halt and scoffed a bun or two before continuing to CN where I collected a sticker and repeated the tortoise and hare procedure all over again. The run south to Stanford-in-the-Vale was enjoyable, seeming to be mostly downhill (or am I deluding myself because for once there wasn't a howling headwind?) The final miles home after darkness fell seemed to pass quickly and of course I had the knowledge that there wasn’t the sting in the tail of having to struggle up through Ipsden!

Many thanks to Phil and team for another great ride. I agree with the apparent consensus that Cholsey makes a far better start point; being able to see the stretch through the woods at Ipsden Heath in the early morning sun was a delight and having the two good cafes at one-third and two-thirds of distance was well nigh perfect. We were lucky with the weather; benign winds and no precipitation. It even seemed less hilly than I remember from last year!

[mattc]

I went off route twice. One was planned, and i think Scott agreed it was a success. Basically we took the very quiet road parallel to the busy B4030 after Bicester. No more instructions than the official route. It may have been flatter as well, but certainly no worse:

vs

Checking the GPS tracklog - yes, that section is all uphill - with an interruption at Lower Heyford where you drop down to the river, and have to get that height back all over again.

Here's an annotated profile.

[phil d]

Thanks for all the positive comments, made on the day, posted above or sent by email.  It is a real pleasure putting this event together, and the size of the entry field is a great endorsement.  There were 78 finishers (including Mick Simmons and me, who rode it last Monday).  Only 4 packed on the day - one due to running out of spare tubes (and time), one for a failed rear mech, one who was accompanying the latter, and one for personal reasons.  One didn't leave his card at the end, so the official record will show 77.

I am delighted that everyone had such a good day out, despite all the visitations in the first section.  Only one person mentioned preferring the old 3-stop route, with many commenting that the new 2-stop format worked better.  If nothing else, it took half an hour off most riders' finishing time

Once again the weather was fine (probably the best yet - can I keep it up?) and the lack of any significant wind on that gradually rising section between Bicester and Chippy also speeded things up.  To the extent that we weren't fully ready for the first back at Cholsey, who were a clear 30 minutes earlier than anyone has finished before.  Last man back was well within time.  And still smiling!

My returns have been posted back to the validation team, though I don't expect they will look at them until they have finished all the old-season rides.  Naturally I'll get your cards back to you as soon as I can.

I'm sure you will echo my thanks (apart from to all the riders that entered) to Mary (Mrs D) who prepared all the food in advance, to Mick and Sue Simmons and to our son Andrew who helped keep everything together in the evening (and Mick was there first thing too).

[Philip D]

Nice one Phil.

Can't help but think it would have been a very different ride in today's weather!

[Manotea]

I always feel as though I'm getting lost traversing Bicester, though I also always seem to pop out the other side in the right place.  

Here's this years trail. An obvious short cut comes to mind.



Reading Mattc's post again I see we were at the same junction in Bicester. FWIW I'm not a fan of the Middleton Stoney Road which is quite busy and does rather run on for a while. Mattc's alternate route may well bear investigation.

p.s., This year I was following a GPS track generated from a 'follow road' route of rather dubious vintage. Riding just ahead of Rich Forrest & grupetto on the approach to the first Info, I reached a crossroad. My GPS said turn left & right though I could see on the map that SA then left was equally viable and more likely the right option. A passing car made the decision for me and I swung into the left turn rather than stop at the junction. Alas, I soon discovered I had made a Terrible Mistake as my right turn was the aptly named Sandpit Lane, an unmetalled track. Oops. There's a moral there somewhere.

[scottlington]

Indeed, Mattc's diversion at Bicester was great, hardly any traffic and reasonably flat. Not sure about his shortcut to Waterperry though... 

[drgannet]

I went off route twice. One was planned, and i think Scott agreed it was a success. Basically we took the very quiet road parallel to the busy B4030 after Bicester. No more instructions than the official route. It may have been flatter as well, but certainly no worse:



I also considered that option this year, but in the end stayed with the route sheet as conditions were benign. I really don't like the road after Bicester until you get to the Barfords. The diversion indicated is about 0.5km longer but about the same climbing (maybe 30m less, according to Anquet). Anyone who has ridden the Heart of England would recognise the descent to Somerton and climb up to North Aston.

[PloddinPedro]

I always feel as though I'm getting lost traversing Bicester, though I also always seem to pop out the other side in the right place.  

Here's this years trail. An obvious short cut comes to mind.

Yup, staying on the A41 is a viable option; the carriageway has a “non-cycle lane” on the left which you can shelter in and it isn’t far to the roundabout where, incidentally, there’s a garage for scoff and water if required.

p.s., This year I was following a GPS track generated from a 'follow road' route of rather dubious vintage. Riding just ahead of Rich Forrest & grupetto on the approach to the first Info, I reached a crossroad. My GPS said turn left & right though I could see on the map that SA then left was equally viable and more likely the right option. A passing car made the decision for me and I swung into the left turn rather than stop at the junction. Alas, I soon discovered I had made a Terrible Mistake as my right turn was the aptly named Sandpit Lane, an unmetalled track. Oops. There's a moral there somewhere.

It's not to rely on Garmin auto-routing - the Navteq map data it relies on is often faulty, mixing up bridleways with tarmac roads and vice-versa.

[PloddinPedro]

Indeed, Mattc's diversion at Bicester was great, hardly any traffic and reasonably flat. Not sure about his shortcut to Waterperry though... 

Shortcut to Waterperry?

We should be told!

[mattc]

Indeed, Mattc's diversion at Bicester was great, hardly any traffic and reasonably flat. Not sure about his shortcut to Waterperry though... 

Shortcut to Waterperry?

We should be told!

"short" may not be a good description.

Hopefully Scott* has now learned not to trust anyone's "local knowledge". In my defence, i was following someone else (not a local, AFAIK), and a quick glance down at the routesheet seemed to match. And there is a prettier (1km longer) route than the official one which I _thought_ we were on ... but then we all ended up on the old A40 adding 2.5 miles to the route. Oh well, at least it was a flat 2.5miles.

*Conversation was something like:
Scott: hmm, my GPS shows us going way off route ...
Matt: don't worry, this is just a parallel road, it'll all join up in a couple of miles!
Scott: hmmm <too polite to disagree>

BTW there IS a shortcut to Waterperry - about 500m of bridleway which I have never tested, especially in November.

[phil d]

I always feel as though I'm getting lost traversing Bicester, though I also always seem to pop out the other side in the right place.  

Here's this years trail. An obvious short cut comes to mind.



Reading Mattc's post again I see we were at the same junction in Bicester. FWIW I'm not a fan of the Middleton Stoney Road which is quite busy and does rather run on for a while. Mattc's alternate route may well bear investigation.

And I will indeed investigate Matt's alternative.  IIRC I did look at it before and found it to be slightly further. but I will recheck it.

The "shortcut" that comes to mind involves either travelling further along the A41 (fine if you like that sort of road) or going the wrong way down a one-way street.  Take your pick 

[Chris S]

With the main road option up to Cane End coming first thing in the morning in the new (most excellent) format, it's perhaps a better option now than Ipsden. I found it 2km shorter - so it might be viable to "spend" that 2km on matt's northern alternative out of Bicester.

Gosh - so many route options!

FWIW - the main road to Cane End is clearly much easier than the Ipsden route - I leap-frogged quite a few riders, who were convinced I was behind them  .

[Manotea]

The "shortcut" that comes to mind involves either travelling further along the A41 (fine if you like that sort of road) or going the wrong way down a one-way street.  Take your pick 

The A41 was the one I had in mind. A bit grim but more direct. Like I said, I always feel like I'm getting lost in Bicester. There is no right answer...

[phil d]

Given that the shortest distance between the controls is only just over 200k, but the actual route described is 214k, it is clear that there is quite a lot that could be shaved off.  Yes, the A4074 is shorter, and the A41 south of Bicester cuts a bit off.  You could come back to Cholsey through Didcot.  To be honest I don't see any of these as pleasurable, and since we are supposed to be riding for pleasure I have chosen to describe the longer route.

I gather that a few riders on Sunday did indeed take a shorter route to Waterperry, based on local knowledge (still visiting the two infos in that section).  Not MattC, of course - his "shortcut" was distinctly further  

According to Google Maps the Ardley - Somerton - Duns Tew alternative after Bicester is a mere 0.4km further - neither here nor there, really.

[Greenbank]

I'd leave it as it is.

It's much easier/better for someone to take the organiser's suggested "best" route and adapt it to their own requirements (shorter route at the expense of time on some less desirable roads, etc) than compromise a good (or simple) route for almost everyone for the sake of a few hundred yards.

[mattc]

With the main road option up to Cane End coming first thing in the morning in the new (most excellent) format, it's perhaps a better option now than Ipsden. I found it 2km shorter - so it might be viable to "spend" that 2km on matt's northern alternative out of Bicester.

If the roads were seriously skoggy (as opposed to early stage of skoggy that we had this weekend) I'd take the A-road. But on Saturday I found it pretty busy just upto the Ipsden turning, so wouldn't have enjoyed carrying on. (I have ridden it an hour earlier on a Saturday, and it's lovely!) Some folks don't mind traffic, whatever works for you.

I looked at a Didcot variation for the final leg, but for non-locals the navigation is no easier[unless you took the A4130, which would be appaling], so I wouldn't recommend it just to save 1-2km. Plus of course you see more fireworks from the darker lanes towards the end  

[As GB says, it's nice to have the options if you want to research them and decide for yourself.]

[Chris S]

TBH - the only reason I took the alternative to Cane End was because I knew I wouldn't be able to get up Berins Hill without a walk  .

[Greenbank]

Chopped off my final point.

Everyone has the tools to find the shortest/simplest route between two controls but, what you can't get from using Autoroute/Google Maps/etc is the 'nicest/best' route, which is what you get from the organiser.

[mattc]

Agreed. (and I've had riders who complained when I sent them up the shortest-but-hilliest route   )

Nevertheless, I know I'm grateful for suggestions to improve my routes (including those from Phil!). It's always worth some discussion, even if the status quo turns out to be best. Roads change over the years, as do cafes etc ...

[phil d]

There is an easier alternative to Berins Hill, but it takes more lines of instruction.  If you look at the map of the area, it's the next road up the escarpment to the south - hardly any further, but significantly gentler.

While in principle I agree with Greenbank's comments, I am nevertheless quite interested in altering the route between Bicester and Chippy - I don't much like the Stoney Middleton road either.

[Manotea]

TBH - the only reason I took the alternative to Cane End was because I knew I wouldn't be able to get up Berins Hill without a walk  .

Ditto. +10"! Anyway, I've never seen the A4074 in daylight!

But seriously, it's not about shaving distance but discussing what constitutes the nicest route. For me, the benefit of getting off the A41 is offset in part at least by my FUD* about getting lost in Bicester. Mattc's route to Tew may be an improvement on the B4030. My suspicion is that Phil may have discounted this alternate route because of 'organiser guilt' over the UT being overdistance as is. But none of this is a big deal, really.

*Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (archaic IT terminology).