C&M Easter Tour 2026 - Mountain bike rides

Some of the Kingston Phoenix mountain bike riders came to join the Easter Tour, as they have done in many previous years.   Simon M provided a few words to go with the photos:

On Saturday Andy H took us south east where we had a view of the rather skinny Uffington White Horse.  Sadly some bridle ways were impassable due to fields ploughed up or fully planted with crops.  After coffee/snack at a village shop we enjoyed a strong tailwind back via Little and Great Coxwell.  27 miles.

Somehow they managed to get to the pub before
the road riders to celebrate with Dawn

Barry took Sunday's ride north east through Langford and Holwell taking in plenty of tracks, dry but bumpy.  We looped around westward for refreshment in the welcome sunshine at the 'New Inn' - yes, another one! at Coln St Aldwyns - then Lechlade-bound on the road and into a strong head wind. 25 miles ridden - quite enough in for most of us.

Simon also bought a fascinating album of cycling pictures from 1940, showing various trips of a club that seemed to be somewhere in between CTC Kingston DA and the emergent Kingston Phoenix road club.  Here's one, from a trip in the Towy valley (Wales).

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - riding home

We planned to ride back over two days, stopping overnight at Reading.  The route loosely followed the Thames.  Monday was forecast to be warm but with very cold start, so the intrepid six set off from Lechlade wearing every bit of warm weather wear we had.  After a few miles a long steady climb into Faringdon had us reconsidering our attire.  The sun was out and it was already warming up, as were we.

Elevenses, or not as it turned out, was at Stanford in the Vale, closed for the bank holiday, so we carried on to Abingdon.   It was no major sacrifice since we had been eating fulsomely for the last three days in the hotel, where the food was excellent.   Also, the vale (as in Stanford-in-the-), seemed to keep us on flat roads all the way, with light winds and very smooth roads, so it felt almost effortless after toiling up the Cotswold hills.   We were surrounded by birdsong, notably plenty of skylarks up in the blue sky.

Abingdon

Abingdon was a nice place for an outdoor lunch, and then we continued down the Thames and through a few beautiful Oxfordshire villages, notably Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, to get to Wallingford, where our planned tea stop was also closed, so we improvised at Greggs and sat outside the church.

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell

Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Abingdon

So far, so flat.  But after we crossed the river out of Wallingford we were confronted by the hills of Reading, gentle at first, then after stretch of lovely road through the open fields, a fairly fierce climb in the woods, poor timing as it was approaching the end of the ride.    

Still, the climb was worth it as we went to a lovely pub, the Black Horse in Checkendon, to celebrate our weekend.   Unfortunately that was closed too.   At least I was consistent in planning our stops.   I later learned that Keith, who had followed a similar route but ridden faster, stopped for a pint at the Black Horse on the way home.   Well done Keith, we are not envious at all.  Instead we were treated to a long lovely descent through sun-dappled woodland all the way into Reading, if you ignore the occasional bits of uphill.

The Wetherspoons in Reading was very much open and we spent some considerable time rehydrating before retiring to the Premier Inn for a good night's sleep.   The next day's ride home was a shorter flatter affair, and started along the Thames towpath for several miles to Sonning.   After elevenses at Wargrave in the new-ish cycle cafe, H'Artisan, Steve and Ann left us for their next activity trip.   We rode more familiar roads to Eton for lunch and then on to Shepperton before departing on our separate ways.  It was a very enjoyable few days riding to and from the tour, with a great bunch of cyclists, nicely bookending our time in Lechlade.

Leaving Reading

Sonning Lock

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - John and Carolyn's Sunday ride

The Lechlade Lakes’ ride

Forewarned by Pete that Bourton-on-the-Water would be a most unpleasant destination for cyclists during the Easter weekend, due to the large numbers of cars and campervans and people who regularly overwhelm the town on bank holidays. After our experiences of this phenomenon on Saturday when we stopped in Burford and Bibury we knew to take this advice seriously.

So, instead of the planned round trip through Bourton-on-the-Water Carolyn and John decided to lead us on their ‘Lechlade Lakes’ ride, which they had planned but not recced, and on this sunny day with its brisk and gusty wind from somewhere in the West we set off towards Fairford then across a landscape of gravel pits, ponds and nature reserves around the Cotswold Water Park.

Just beyond Whelford we stopped outside the high perimeter fence at the eastern end of the RAF Fairford main runway. We observed and heard the bombers (B-1B Lancer and/or B-52 Stratofortress) preparing for take-off, then off they went with a sky shattering roar and disappeared into their own clouds of black exhaust, leaving us to our own sombre reflections about what we had witnessed. Fascinating but sinister; we knew they weren’t just popping over to Biggin Hill for a jolly air show or delivering Easter Eggs.

Spies at the perimeter, RAF Fairford

We carried on through Kempsford and John was pondering a possible Elevenses stop in Cricklade which could have been ideal except for the difficulty we would have had getting to the south side of the A419 which is something of a motorway. So, near Latton, we joined the Roman road heading NW and navigated through a pair of roundabouts to cross the A-road and just before crossing over a disused canal, which is now the Thames and Severn Way, we found ourselves turning off to Lake 86 to find portaloos and the Ohana Coffee Hut, a modest kiosk under a canvas awning serving excellent coffee and cake.

Martina, Peter S, Carolyn and John at Ohana

We headed out along Spine Road (East) towards Minety and bypassed Ashton Keynes eventually heading north and again through the Water Park towards Somerford Keynes and our Lunch destination, Cirencester. Around a quarter past one John’s instincts lead us very quickly to the Café Mosaic, in the Woolmarket precinct, off Dyer Street where after sitting in the courtyard and ordering our lunches we flocked inside to find a little warmth from the air outside which felt a little too fresh and bracing now that we had stopped riding.

After lunch we knew we could look forward to tailwinds. Looking at the map and planned route we saw that there was a Roman Road, Akeman Street which would take us most of the way back to Lechlade, a great alternative to the busy A417 (London Road). And indeed this leg of the day’s ride was a breeze despite the gentle undulations which took us up to an altitude over 600 feet affording great vistas of the rural landscape. We arrived back at the hotel at 4 pm after another excellent day’s riding.

on the Roman road, Akeman Street

Thanks again to John and Carolyn for their planning and leading us around this interesting 40 mile course. Carolyn, John B, Pat, Steph, Dawn, Angela, Daghni, Martina, Peter S and Tim C comprised our team for the day.

~ Tim C

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - Pete's Sunday Ride

Sunday's ride was quite a contrast from yesterday's ride, heading east instead of north, which means we avoided most of the fierce hills and the tourist hot spots.    Instead we were treated to more gentle undulations and faster cycling generally on high ground, with great views into the distance of the surrounding countryside.  It had rained overnight and after a cold start the air was very clear, but the sun soon came out.

We passed to the north of RAF Fairford, a US air force base, and saw a few bombers taking off on their missions.   A sobering moment.

Pete warned us that no stops were planned and we would just take our chances.   Luckily, our chances were good and we found a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere, just the other side of Cirencester.  It was pretty busy but why everyone had come there on Easter day was a mystery.   We enjoyed good coffee and a snack, mindful that this might be our only stop of the day.

Brenda and Pete showing off their Irish tops

We looped the loop around Cirencester and started our journey back home, loosely following the path of the Thames from Kemble, which I'm told is near its source.   We passed many lakes, water-filled gravel pits, on our way back home in very enjoyable varied countryside, now with the bonus of a decent tail wind to help us speed along.

Cerney Wick lock

Pete treated us to another bonus of an unexpected gravel track for the last mile or so back to Lechlade.  Some people quite liked it.  And with half the climbing of Saturday, but a bit more distance at 48 miles, we were back at the hotel after another very enjoyable day out.

It has been a wonderful weekend of rides (a gravel ride and two different road rides each day) and the hotel, food and organisation has been superb.   Just great to spend a few days together with friends, riding and socialising, in a beautiful location.   Many thanks to Lilian for masterminding it and to everyone else who supported running such an enjoyable weekend.   Also to everyone who took and shared photos.

Evening sun at Lechlade

Here's a round-up of the non-cycling activities:

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - John and Carolyn's Saturday ride

The Windrush Valley ride

John and Carolyn had 10 riders with them for their Saturday ride from Lechlade. No sooner out of the hotel we were on quiet rural roads. However one reason for their apparent lack of popularity for the motoring public became evident after we turned up a nameless lane towards Little Faringdon and found ourselves navigating a safe route through a minefield of potholes. There were so many potholes in this road that some agency had painted a line around each one and given it a number, no doubt to record the details in a spreadsheet for the local authority’s Pothole Department. By the time we turned off towards Kencot the number had exceeded 100.

Despite dire warnings of stormy weather throughout the country for the Easter Weekend the rain held off for us all day but the wind didn’t. It was certainly a gusty one. We saw a few discombobulated crows overhead and an occasional red kite, presumably trying to ride the currents generated by our high performance peloton rushing past beneath them. 

We arrived in the Windrush Valley just south of Swinbrook and followed the river to Burford. We were initially taken aback by the vast numbers of parked cars and of people wandering up and down the high street and didn’t quite imagine that we could find somewhere for a Cake and Coffee break without having to join a long queue. However we navigated the parked cars and the crowds and the streetside scaffolding to lock our bikes and settled down in a splendid café called Huffkins for our refreshments. It was a little sad not to go exploring in the town which is a marvel of Cotswolds architecture but the ambience in the café held most of us captive until our agreed departure time.

a detour in Shilton

St Peters, Little Barrington in the Windrush Valley

St Peters, Windrush

Relaxing outside Huffkins in Burford

We rode on through Little Barrington and Windrush where the river itself decided to wander off in a northerly direction for the touristy attractions of Bourton on the Water. What we had mostly forgotten was that the beautiful Windrush River is a main point of focus for the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution campaign to highlight the illegal discharging of untreated sewage into the river by Thames Water. And we passed through Northleach whose Sewage Treatment Works came under detailed scrutiny in Channel 4’s recent documentary, ‘Dirty Business’.

A couple of miles south, after climbing the long ramp out from Northleach, we had become a little too spread out with a result that our paths diverged, some sticking with John and his original plan and others taking a different tack, but all reconverging at Ablington for our parade into Bibury. We were shocked to find this exquisite Cotswold village heaving with traffic and people, the main attraction evidently being the Bibury Trout Farm where they must have been having one of their ‘Catch your own Fish’ days. By the time we arrived it had become very cold and buying a fresh Rainbow or Brown trout at their fish counter would have been far more sensible.

a rare quiet corner in Bibury

At Bibury Helen felt that after 30 miles or so, after persevering with her regular old bike all day rather than her now preferred eBike, that she had had enough. So Paul valiantly rode with the rest of us back to Lechlade via Coln St Aldwyns and Hatherop then drove back to Bibury to pick Helen up.

Despite being buffeted around in the gusty and increasingly chilly wind we did have a marvellous day of cycling. The ride was superb for which we thank John and Carolyn who designed and recced the route, and then led us on Saturday. John, Carolyn, Helen, Paul, Daghni, Angela, Steph, Keith, Peter S, Lilian, Martina and I comprised the crew.

~ Tim C

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - Pete's Saturday ride

This year there were two organised rides on offer each day.  Pete B led a ride in the general north-west direction: details were scant but he promised that his ride would be completely flat, although the route seemed to show quite a few hills.

Outside the New Inn

After a group photo outside the hotel we set off towards the Windrush valley which houses several beautiful villages including Windrush itself.   We stopped for coffee at the village shop at Sherborne, sitting outside in the sunshine.   Pete advised us that lunch was "flexible" and so we should buy provisions to take with us.   

Elevenses at Sherborne

Duly refreshed, we continued on our way.  Pete decided to short-cut a planned detour to Bourton-on-the-Water because it would have been very busy.  Later on we saw what he meant.   Instead we found some different hills, quite a few in fact, winding our way through open countryside, blossom filled hedges and a few sheep here & there.  The views were fabulous and every village or even just a house was a picture postcard.

Lunch was taken at a roadside junction in a beautiful valley in the middle of nowhere.   We were quite close to a Roman villa, which we never saw, but we continued to see signs to it for the next five or so miles.   It seemed that all roads led to the Roman villa, except the ones that we were on.

In the afternoon the wind got stronger and became quite strong in places as we approached Withington.  At that point we turned round and headed back home down the Coln valley.   If it sounds like a gentle downhill ride, that's only partly true, but it was very beautiful and peaceful... until...

...Until we arrived at Bibury, which was heaving with tourists  - like us.  Except these ones were clogging up the narrow roads by walking two abreast along the road (dreadful), parking their cars on the verge (awful), and trying to drive through in both directions (disgraceful).  It was not fun to cycle through, and we were pleased to get away up a hill out of town.  After that we had about five miles of flat, straight road leading us directly back to Lechlade.   A lovely day out - thank you to Pete for a memorable and enjoyable ride.

Celebrating Dawn's birthday

C&M Easter Tour 2026 - riding to Lechlade

This year's Cheam & Morden Easter Tour is to Lechlade, in the Costwolds just west of Oxford.   Since at least 1951, group of intrepid C&M riders has sallied forth in variable weather for a weekend of good riding and good company.

Greenham Common

This year a group of us rode to Lechlade over two days: seven set out from Walton to ride to Newbury, and Peter S and Keith joined us for the second day to ride to Lechlade.

An early and cold start on Thursday saw us leaving Walton on familiar leafy roads at first, heading towards Farnborough and stopping for a canal-side lunch just before in the Mytchett canal centre.

 

Mytchett canal centre

The sun came out and it was quite warm as we headed north on the Hawley valley, dodging Camberley and up to Eversley, where we turned left and rode all the way to Newbury on mostly quiet roads.  We had tea at the Wellington Farm Shop sitting in the sun with views over the open countryside.

 

After Aldermaston  we detoured across Greenham Common, site of many protests against US nuclear missiles.  It has since closed as an air base, the concrete runway has been removed and it has returned to nature, just leaving the control tower as a relic of its previous use.

 

Friday started with a bit of drizzle, but it never came to much.   It was a shorter ride today so we stopped in Hungerford for coffee, at a garden centre selling ornaments for thousands of pounds, but we were about to go up a hill so we decided not to buy any. 

Over a hill of lovely open Wiltshire downs and we were in Lambourn for lunch.  Unfortunately so was everyone else, as it was Lambourn Open Day, with many of the racing stables open to the public.   It was so busy that we bumped into Keith there.   He had ridden from Reading.  There was very little room at the cafe, so half of us lunched in the comfort of the cafe, and half of us bought samosas and hummus salad in the market, and lunched outside in the drizzle.   

Lambourn

A few more gentle hills took us to Faringdon and then a few miles of A road took us to our first sight of the baby river Thames, and then Lechlade shortly afterwards.