So, day one of our adventure is complete and what a fantastic days riding it was! Nothing technical at all really but nice long lanes that were covered at a moderate pace and fantastic scenery with rolling landscapes and wide open expanses, just glorious.
The day started early with brekkie at the hotel for 7:30 then assembly in the carpark where bikes were unloaded and riders got geared-up ready for the off. The weather was a tad chilly, 4 degrees - no overnight frost thankfully - and dry, as was the forecast for the rest of the day, perfect. All kitted up we grabbed fuel and drinks/snacks from the garage opposite the hotel then we were off. The 100 odd mile loop took us initially NE towards Chiseldon then SW towards Devizes, then South to Salisbury Plains and Amesbury then NE again back towards Marlborough.
Reviewing our GPS track as I type this its very hard to recall distinguishing features and where they may have been where as we're not local so I'll just give you some of the highlights and refer you to the pictures which portray the events of the day.
The Ridgeway is a famous part of this area and much of it is open to ride however some parts which were on our route we were not able to ride as there are seasonal restrictions which was rather frustrating but hey ho. The ride around presented some great views and in particular one of the many white horses sculpted into the hillside (no pictures, sorry)
Salisbury plain present its usual challenge of staying 'on track' given theres SO many tracks in and about that area! Still, no military police encountered so all was good on that front. We did however skirt alongside a field that had several artillery guns all hidden under full camo with soldiers and land rovers. No sooner had we passed then they all let rip firing live rounds (the red flags were up!) which certainly made us jump!
At the most southerly part of our journey, at Bulford near Amesbury we encountered a lane on our route which despite Russell, Knowle and I having ridden before, some 11 years ago! with Knowle's local-to-the-area mate Keith leading us just didn't seem right to be ridden again this time. We'd checked the lane on the TRF GreenRoadMap and it DIDN'T show as a legal route and it wasn't hard to see why! An idillic little shallow stream, with immaculately manicured lawns leading down to the waters edge, pristine country cottage houses with thatched roofs adorning the riverbank. Surely you cant ride down there?!?! Well, we did all those years ago but we didnt today. We just surveyed each end to show the rest of the guys who couldn't believe we'd once ridden through there. I also actually reached out to Knowle about this in short time prior to us setting off on this ride and Knowle sent me Keith's email address to ask him directly, which I did. Keith came back to me promptly (all be it after our ride) and said that we did right not to ride the stream. His brother has lived at the end of the steam for some 50 odd years (I'd call that VERY local knowledge!) but also due to the fact he could see the stepping stones in one of the pics I sent him were covered with water this would mean that the central part of the stream - around the bend - would likely have been fairly deep. He also informed us that there is an old - but active - cast iron sewerage pipe that runs across the stream bed which is partially exposed and if that became damaged we really would be in the Sh1t, literally!! Eeekk
As we got to late afternoon the temperature dropped somewhat and with some slightly lengthy sections of roadwork some were starting to feel the chill but we were hotel-bound by this point and all looking forward to a hot shower then a few beers at the pub before dinner at 8pm.
Fair to say everyone enjoyed the days riding and were all looking forward to day two.
Well done Geoff. Reminded me of how we used to do a run with Keith most years, just after Xmas, when the army were not using the ranges and we had a lot more access.
That 'bike wash' lane near the Bulford army camp is legal according to the research done by the Wiltshire TRF but it is very contentious and if used regularly was guaranteed to get a TRO, so a pragmatic approach was to not encourage its use ..........
Some might argue that weve got the right so eff em but once you put a route like this on the GRM it opens up the potential for large groups to use it, ( for a short time ) and for everyone to get angry and upset on both sides of the fence.
And if you go back there in a small group with quiet bikes, you need to have done the research and have the evidence ready in the event of a challenge, because I suspect the TRF will not rush to support you in this use, having done the work to create the GRM
I would happily follow Keith along this route and it has been worringly deep on occasions and we would have generally made it the last trail of the day (-:
I now feel the need to revisit the area and as a result of your inquiry, I emailed Keith and inevitably have been invited up to his for just such an adventure, heh !
Well done Geoff. Reminded me of how we used to do a run with Keith most years, just after Xmas, when the army were not using the ranges and we had a lot more access.
That 'bike wash' lane near the Bulford army camp is legal according to the research done by the Wiltshire TRF but it is very contentious and if used regularly was guaranteed to get a TRO, so a pragmatic approach was to not encourage its use ..........
Some might argue that weve got the right so eff em but once you put a route like this on the GRM it opens up the potential for large groups to use it, ( for a short time ) and for everyone to get angry and upset on both sides of the fence.
And if you go back there in a small group with quiet bikes, you need to have done the research and have the evidence ready in the event of a challenge, because I suspect the TRF will not rush to support you in this use, having done the work to create the GRM
I would happily follow Keith along this route and it has been worringly deep on occasions and we would have generally made it the last trail of the day (-:
I now feel the need to revisit the area and as a result of your inquiry, I emailed Keith and inevitably have been invited up to his for just such an adventure, heh !
Thanks for the prompt.
Totally understand the outlook on lanes with such sensitivity - you've been there and ridden it as I have but despite having not ridden it this weekend the other riders in our group had the same outlook, i.e. best give it a miss as it was likely bound to raise more than a few eyebrows with a large group wading through there! Keith's knowledge and comment ref the apparent water level also helped to reinforce that we'd made the right decision not to ride it.
I hope you enjoy your ride as a result of the invite you now have. Glad my prompt was of use
