Turville & Hambleden

A nice ride this afternoon joining up bits of recent rides with an old favourite, for a 38 mile loop round Henley, Christmas Common, Turville, Hambleden and Marlow. After a grey morning the weather turned sunny and wam this afternoon. It was a little bit windy, but otherwise nothing to grumble about.

It's quite a hilly route, but the glide down through the woods from North End to Turville for a couple of miles more than compensates for the climb up from Henley to North End. I'm not so sure about the lumpy bits between Hambleden and Marlow. The local cycle route through Rotten Row and Bovingdon Green is a great improvement over the A4155 that I used to follow, but the climbs are still a bit too steep for comfort. Maybe in time I'll get in better shape, and they will seem less crinkly, but I'm not there yet, and I seem to remember feeling the same way months ago.

They were serving teas in the churchyard at Hambleden, so I stopped and had a cup of coffee and a slice of fruit cake (I don't like tea). That was a very pleasant break, and the whole outing was good, but the ride down through the woods from North End to Turville was the best bit. It's a steady downward slope, on a narow road that is completely enclosed by trees. The trees made it quite dark, but the sun was breaking through gaps in the cover, and there were glimpses of views down the valley. I kept thinking I should stop to take a photo, but I was having too much fun. So for illustration an extract from the OSM cycle map will have to do instead.