Quite a few of my regular Wednesday riders are on holiday or busy this week so it was to be just 5 of us today, including 2 leaders. It had been a horrible temperature overnight last night, and one rider pulled out after a lack of sleep. I only managed about 3 hours myself, so as I write this, am feeling very weary, but was fine on the ride. Today, forecast for mid to high 20's, was thankfully overcast much of the time, and I had also planned this route with plenty of woodland cover in mind.
Route link screenshot at end.
Karen and Rose met Jeanette and I at Shiplake Cross, where we started by heading downhill to Lower Shiplake, passing harvested fields.
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| Views from Memorial Avenue, Shiplake |
Climbing back up from Shiplake, and crossing the A4155, we joined the beautiful Woodlands Avenue. After a climb, we dropped steeply into the Harpsden Valley.
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| Part way along Woodlands Avenue which has a huge Beechwood forest. |
We would pass this junction in Harpsden towards of the end of our ride, but for now, we took a right turn to climb on Gillott's Lane, which meets Greys Road, towards Rotherfield Greys.
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| Hawthorne Berries as we catch our breath on Greys Road |
A few undulations, and then a longer climb as we passed the entrance to Greys Court, and soon a left turn to pass through the next wooded area called Broadplatt and to Bix Village.
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| Broadplatt, before the tree canopy to Bix. |
Over the A4130, and we stopped for few minutes at Bix Church, where we had a discussion about "why are there always yew Trees in Church Yards?" Are they for Longbows, for keeping cattle from grazing on the burial grounds, or other reasons? Jeanette found this interesting site Yew Trees in Church Yards.
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| Why all the Yew Trees? |
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| "The Old School" opposite the church. |
A warning now for those who hadn't previously ridden down the next hill, called Rectory Lane.... it's steep and the surface is shocking. But its worth it for the views on the way down.
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| Vies from Rectory Lane, Bix |
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| Towards the bottom, the gradient is fine, with this beautiful farmhouse. |
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| Bix Hall which you would miss unless you stop on the way down, since its kind of over your shoulder opposite the views. |
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| photo by Rose, waiting for me at the bottom of Rectory Lane. |
Before we continued with our route, a chance to do a "there and back" of about half a mile, to visit the Medieval Church, called Bix Old Church, which the others had not seen before. According to the information this lane is possibly one of the earliest in the area, possibly 1600 years old.
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| oops not quite ready for the timer! |
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| Rose in no rush to leave. |
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| Ready to go, and back through a tunnel in the hedge. |
We continued on a downhill now to join the main Stonor Valley road. (We would join this again later almost opposite after we drop down from Fawley Bottom). The valley road, a very gradual climb all the way through Stonor Village, where Rose spotted a PYO Sunflower sign.
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| Sunflowers in Stonor. |
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| At Stonor Park. One or our longer climbs now out of the valley up to Turvile Heath, then easy going through Southend to our teastop on Dudley Lane.  Drovers Lane, Southend  Chiltern Valley Vineyard. Not busy today!   It was after 12, so I opted for a sausage bap. 😄 Its always a surpise that when you backtrack on Dudley Lane, through the lovely Beech canopy, it feels like hard work, after having stopped for a cuppa! But soon, a big downhill to follow through Fawley and Fawley Bottom, with some amazing views peaking through the hedges.  |
Jeanette said she couldn't believe how long this downhill was. It went on forever! 😊😊😊
Joining the Stonor Valley Road once more in Middle Assendon, but downhill now all the way to the edge of Henley on the Fairmile. Where, after miles of downhill, a bit of shocker .... 11% gradient to join Hop Gardens, skirting the estate of the late George Harrison. Phew!
Our final 5 miles were along the Harpsden Valley and up Perseverance Hill to pass the Bottle and Glass (which is tomorrow's coffee stop!), and a fab downhill to Shiplake Cross to the start. Well done team. A few tough climbs today to enjoy the big downhills.
