I had to scrape the ice off of the van this morning, and as I drove to Crazies Hill, the temperature fluctuated between -0.5 and 1. Brrrr. But, I had ridden in similar conditions on Sunday, and was confident that the roads would be fine, since the sun was already warming up the lanes nicely, and due to rise to around 6 degrees. No one backed out.... so we were off.
Lovely to have the company of Angela, from Wargrave, on her very first Breeze Ride today, and also Rose, whom I don't see too often due to work commitments. Daphne and Gill joined us too. I did advertise this ride as Challenging, so how would we all get on? There was one hill I knew that I couldn't do, but not a reason not to use it.
Leaving Crazies Hill, we rode across to "Flower Pot" Hill, where we stopped for a moment at the top. before our long descent to the river. Baring in mind there may be black ice, we were super cautious on the way down this morning. It was cold as we dropped down, and 3 of us used our heated hand warmers by the time we got down to The Flower Pot. I always save mine for a cold day.... that day had come.
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Rose made me laugh with her handbag over her shoulder.
(she then put it in the large front bag, normally for her dog 😊 |
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| Last of the morning mist rising off the field next to The Thames |
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| Mist disappearing as we got to the Thames |
Over the weir bridge to Hambleden next, and through the village to use Bottom Lane to enjoy the valley views from a little higher. Feeling warmer already.
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| Views from Bottom Lane. Tiny white speck in the distance of Turville Windmill |
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| Bottom Lane, Hambleden. Great for valley views |
Then we rejoined the main valley road, and soon turned left into Dudley Lane, the stupidly steep hill to The Vineyard, which starts around 7% at the bottom and gets to 18%. I have never managed to stay on my bike on this hill, but today did get further than I ever managed before, so I was happy enough with that.
Time to grab my camera and look behind to see Gill still on (just), and Daphne behind, peeling OFF a layer now, and Angela behind her. Rose on her ebike, ahead with her flask of coffee .😅 Time to ditch the hand warmers.
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| Dudley Lane, with Freith in the distance |
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| Views from Dudley Lane |
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| Catching our breath on Dudley Lane |
Thankfully, at the vineyard, it levels out, and we enjoyed the lovely light in the woodlands as we made our way the junction. I was giving a quick geography lesson occasionally, since some ladies not to familiar with this area. The main thing is NOT to turn left here, or you will be back downhill rather quickly into the wrong valley! (The Stonor Valley).
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| The junction of Dudley Lane. Left to Fawley and Stonor Valley |
Less than half a mile, a right turn, heading to South End on Drovers Lane, which meets Dolesden Lane leading to Turville Heath.
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| The impressive tree lined road to North End, from Turville Heath |
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Chatting to the workmen at Turville Heath. Great that the road is closed to traffic!
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Photo by Daphne. Thanks
(no Red Breeze Kit today. Too cold) |
We continue along the tree lined avenue, and soon climb a little higher to North End.
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| North End Village Green |
And now, the climbing over for now, our reward is to whizz down the half pipe to Turville on Holloway Lane.
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| Holloway Lane |
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| Turville. And nice to see the windmill sails have at last been replaced after the storms of 2 year ago. |
We rode through Turville, and Fingest, and started our gradual climb to Frieth. The temperature
plummeted as we turned up this road! Frost still on the grass, but the road surface was fine.
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| The COLD road with no name, from Fingest to Freith. |
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| Daphne and Angela catching us up. White fields. Brrrr. |
Finally at the top, our climbing all over for a good few miles, as we rode along the ridge. At this point I noticed that I had forgotten to switch on my Garmin. How annoying. I will be 17 miles short on my data this month.
More cones across the road here, so no traffic. Brilliant. Daphne announced that she had walked here just yesterday, as part of her 12 mile Ramblers walk. No wonder she was a little weary today. We cut through Bovingdon Green to Marlow. I had a cafe in mind that I hadn't been to before, which turned out to be a great stop. Rose opted to sit outside on a bench in the sun, and the rest of us sat indoors.
Now over the Thames on Marlow bridge and to Hurley via the quiet lanes through Temple, and along Shepherds Lane, to join the main Henley / Marlow Road. Under a mile before our left turn into Rose Lane. We split into 3 groups for the main road, and met up again in Rose Lane, in glorious sunshine.
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| Half way up Rose Lane. It's getting too hot now. |
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| I love the twists and turns on this lane. |
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| We pulled over to allow the horse to pass at the stable entrance. |
Well done ladies. Great effort, and good to know that it's not just ME who cant make it up that hill to the vineyard. Great ride with you all. Thanks for joining. me, and hope to see you all again soon.
