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 - 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 - 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.

Autumn tour day 2 - Milton Keynes? Bucks and Northants

I was up early and on the road by 8am.  I thought I was coming into Milton Keynes, but surprisingly it was Newport Pagnell, overshadowed by its famous M1 service station.  In fact, I was only half wrong: Newport Pagnell is conjoined with the much bigger Milton Keynes.   

Newport Pagnell is a regular little town with shops, roads, people and so on, but I couldn't tell you about Milton Keynes.  I went through the north of it on 'the Railway Path', maybe five miles of  old railway, lined with trees and slightly uphill all the way.  Of Milton Keynes I saw nothing - no cars, a few backs of houses, and a few cryptic signs to places like Wolvercote and CMK (central Milton Keynes?).  Emerging out the other side, I also dodged Stony Stratford and followed a few more miles of cycle path alongside various roads, with occasional subways to change sides.  The highlight of Milton Keynes was passing one of those little delivery robots rolling along the pavement towards an unseen destination.  Easy, safe cycling, but soulless.   

Buckingham University, The Radcliffe Centre

Back on the lanes, I was now in Buckinghamshire, somewhat more rolling than yesterday, and heading to the bustling town of Buckingham itself for elevenses.   The way out of town was along a grand avenue leasing to Stowe - I went through the first grand entrance, and saw the second, even grander, entrance, but turned off & never saw Stowe itself.

One of a pair of entrance houses to Stowe

The Avenue, Stowe (2nd entrance in the distance)

Weston

Definitely hilly now, nothing huge but continuous ups and downs.  The little villages were pretty, with a lot of Cotswold style stone and a bit of thatch here and there.  Veering north into Northamptonshire, I stopped at Canons Ashby for late lunch at the National Trust cafe for the Tudor Manor house.  There seem to be quite a few big estates around.

Church at Canons Ashby

After lunch, the hills got serious as I headed north towards Daventry and Rugby.  At the top of the hill, I would be greeted by a vast plain ahead of me - great!  But the route seemed to find another big hill, and another.  Daventry was a mix of old fashioned High Street with a lot of modern surroundings, and some nice cycle paths.

Grand house

Grand house

Eventually I found the plain and picked up a bit of speed, but I needed food.  Stopped at the Co-op in Crick and couldn't resist a four-pack of jam doughnuts, reduced to 75p.  It felt good, but also bad, so I gave two of them to a couple of workmen.  In return, they offered to do me a new roof.

It was plain sailing for the last ten miles, crossing the M1, the grand Union canal, and getting almost to Rugby, but I stopped in a farm campsite in Catthorpe, where I found the only flat pitch and had time to shower before walking to the excellent pub.  Luxury.

Back at the tent, it was another clear night, but the moon wasn't up, so I could see millions of stars.  It was already very cold, so I put every item of clothing on, and settled into a deep sleep.

It got down to 3 degrees overnight, but I was wrapped up warmly.  In the morning, the tent was dripping with dew, and it was a chilly 7 degrees.  Outside, it was thick fog.  I spent an age trying to wipe the tent as the dew was still settling.  It wasn't very appealing to go for a bike ride, so I went to the farm shop to consider my options over breakfast.  To make matters worse, my overnight warm hat had given me a hairstyle like 1970s David Bowie.

Setting off from the campsite

I'd had a hilly 65 mile route planned, into the Cotswolds, but the forecast was for mist all day, so there would be nothing to see, and it might be dangerous on the roads.  If I was going to abandon the ride, I could either ride to  Rugby (2 miles), or carry on to Banbury (20 miles).  The ride to Rugby settled it, and I got a train home to Watford from there.  £11 to Watford Junction, and then free on the Lioness & Mildmay lines to Richmond.  Not bad.

So that was the rather abrupt end of my planned four day trip.  I would have persevered if I'd been trying to get somewhere - but this trip was all about enjoying the countryside.   It will still be there another time.

In hindsight, I wouldn't use the tiny, lightweight tent for a multi-day trip again.  It's OK on a dry day with no overnight dew.  But if there's dew, it's hard to manoeuvre inside it without the inner touching the wet outer.   And it would be extremely difficult to pack up camp in the rain.  Worth the extra kilogram for a two-man tent.

Day 2 Emberton-Catthorpe

< Day 1

Mini autumn tour day 1 - Bedfordshire

A week of fine weather, and a few free days, so it's time to go camping!  I scratched around for somewhere new and nearby,  came up with a blank stripe of the map north of Bedford, Buckingham and Oxford.  Not quite the midlands; maybe northern south England?

A train to Bedford saved a day's ride out, so I took the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon & then Thameslink to Bedford.  Gosh, Farringdon is a busy station!  I was only there ten minutes, and four trains came through the sole Northbound platform, trains to Peterborough, St Albans, Cambridge and Bedford, and from all over the south of England.  I'd packed light, banking on dry and not-too-cold nights, with my tiny lightweight coffin-sized tent.

Bedford

My plan was to do a loop eastwards first, to visit the village of Sandy, before turning back westwards.  Bedford is situated on the river Great Ouse, with smart old houses along its grassy bank.  I rode out along the river, a delightful  cycle path meandering around several lakes and different waterways.  It was warm enough while riding, with the sun trying but generally not managing to shine through the flat clouds. Then across flat, open countryside with a few lovely villages, beautiful autumn foliage and berries and picture-perfect thatched cottages.

Autumn riding

Sandy was a nice village despite its proximity to the thundering A1.  I turned north and east to loop back to Great Barford for lunch at the local convenience store.

After lunch, the hills started.  Straight after lunch, very cruel, a stiff 18 metre climb, and immediately followed by the other hill of the day, even worse at 25 metres!  To be a bit more serious it was rolling countryside,  almost never flat but no big or steep hills either.  There weren't many notable villages, just open countryside and big views, and the remaining 30 miles passed pleasantly and uneventfully. 

Riseley

I arrived at the village of Emberton, which is in the "County" of Milton Keynes but still well in the countryside.  I ended up at a farm campsite with one other camper van in the field, pitched up and went straight to the pub, which was packed at 6pm.  A good choice.  They had no food but a speciality German hot dog van was parked outside.  It was the wurst.  They offered up to four free toppings, so I had them all, resulting in a delicious hot dog that was impossible to eat politely.

No photos of me eating it.

By 8pm I was back at the campsite.  A huge globe of a moon hung low in the sky, blotting out most of the stars, and I went to sleep to the soft sound of the emus(!) in the next field.

Day 1. Bedford to Emberton

Day 2 >