It's not really been a great week and I missed out on the bike commute yesterday, so pushed the ride home out a bit by going via Kennington, then through the city.
Stopped at the park for some hoop action, and instead of turning off the tow path at Yarnton pressed on to Kidlington.. have tried this before but the starkly inferior surface has defeated me through punctures or mud.
None of it's properly surfaced like the glorious stretch from Yarnton to Oxford, and varies between pretty rough singletrack to smoothish, relatively wide hard pack. None ideal for the Brompton's little wheels.
For a lot of it I stayed out of the saddle in a low gear to give the rear tyre a bit of a break, and thankfully escaped without any punctures, although was down to a sustained 7mph in some places while I'd be doing double this on a decent surface.
My reward for this toil was gloriously lush greenery everywhere and mercifully few people. Followed the tow path north to Thrupp, then across through the motor park, back to the Yarnton road and the car, for IIRC around 17 miles or about double the usual trip back.
Did take some pics but they were all shite so not worth the effort of posting.
Finished the evening off with a drive to Woodstock and some fish and chips.. in bed now and feel better for a bit of exertion - it's nice to get some upper body stuff in while out and about on the bike for a bit of balance without too much effect on your ability to get home afterwards.
