NCN5 Reading - Oxford

[GrumpyGregry]

okay, so bits of it are complete shite, like the wtf staircase in the park in Reading and almost its entire length in Didcot where I couldn't take the footbridge, and the less said about some of the bits in Abingdon* the better, but in the main....

....what a ride yesterday! what views what lovely villages, what considerate car drivers, what little traffic, etc., etc..

Seriously, if you haven't you should. wunnerful, even on 28mm tyres with a pair of ortleibs on the back.

That said, I'm taking a different route southbound on Friday to miss out the route through Didcot and Abingdon

*where the nut holding my rear caliper and rear mudguard parted company with me and the rest of the bike. Rear brake removed and lashed a la zip tie to the rack, mudguard zip tied in place and on we went sans rear brake. (It is a testimony to the power of social networks that when I tweeted a 'help, where's a good bike shop in Oxfrord city centre?' via text I had several answers before I arrived in Oxford.

Note to Mr Tortec. Make you rear bracket out of metal like you make the front one please. The plastic deforms under pressure from the nut, once the plastic gives way the nut is bound to come off, and the bracket is too thick to fit between caliper and brake bridge or under the brake bridge. Otherwise your mudguards are lovely. Cue Simon saying an entirely justified 'told you so.'

Note to Mr Tubus. The Fly. What a superb bit of kit. Ditto Messrs Surosa, Campagnolo, Ortlieb and Brooks.

 

[frank9755]

I rode that, this week last year.

The crossing of the Chilterns north of Reading is extremely pretty, possibly the best bits of the whole area. Worth going back on a clear sunny day in November when the beeches are golden.

I lost the track in Abingdon and ended up on the main road. I deliberately didn't do all the detours in Didcot and stuck to the roads.

Overall, a very pleasant route

 

[GrumpyGregry]

did the return y'day via a different route. Left Oxford on the Cowley Road, the B480, and stuck with that Cuxham, then cross country to pick up NCN5 just south of where it crosses the ridgeway. The B480 route is much shorter, faster, but lots more traffic though all of it well used to passing cyclists or so it seemed to me. I left my hotel in Wolvercote, a couple of miles north of the City centre, just before 10:00 to avoid the rush hour traffic.

Faced with not very much time to cover the last 6 or so miles to catch the 13:04 Reading - Guildford train, I binned NCN5 and clicked into the big ring through Caversham and its outliers. Made it with five minutes to spare. 3:05 riding including one stop to take a lengthy phone call from work!

Intend to find some more excuses to ride the Chilterns and Oxfordshire in the future. Nice bit of country for a mini-tour