Up early for brekkie again and one of our friends from Essex tells us his watch is saying its zero degrees outside and when we stepped out of the hotel I think his watch was right! It was Baltic and it even started snowing as we were gearing up. Still, fortune favours the brave.
Today's route headed NE initially towards Wantage, then due South towards Hungerford, then East to Newbury where we stopped for lunch. We then headed slightly further South before heading West to Everleigh before heading North back towards Marlborough.
To summarise the day; the first part up until our fuel stop and eleven'sis (if thats how you spell it?) was good, the middle part was not so good - due to extended roadwork which was bl00dy cold!, and the last part of the ride was the best part of the day with lots of lovely looooong lanes and some spectacular views.
Some highlights of the day were a somewhat frustrated homeowner who challenged us at the end of one particular lane as we approached a ROAD CLOSED sign from behind. I our defence there was no signage at the end of the lane we entered. After the encounter with the angry resident, at the far end of the lane/ driveway to the houses where the lane met the road there was a local Council notice attached to the BYWAY sign saying the lane was closed for repairs ....... but the notice was posted 18mths ago! (Barely readable due to expose to the elements!) and the notice said the lane repairs were due to be completed within 6mths from issue of the notice (which I'll remind you was 18mths ago!!) I think the resident was happy nothing had been done and the road closed signage remained in place as it likely would deter 'an' amount of trail riders but as I said, we approached frim thenother direction so ..... onwards and upwards.
A detour around a major A road as from the planned route we'd have been on the wrong side of the carriageway to access the lane, however, we decided to ride down the lane from the opposite end to see how it could be accessed from the major A road. When we arrived at the intended access point off the main A road David informs us that he's ridden this lane before in a Long Distance Trial. Looking at the map again, had we have continued on the opposite carriageway there was the option to take an exit slip, double back amd rejoin the A road heading in the other (correct!) direction to access the lane. Oh well. It was a good lane so happy we got to ride it in both directions.
The Wayfarers Walk presented fabulous panoramic views across the countryside and being such a lon glane allowed us to warm up as we negotiated whoops amd rutts and twisty in-the-trees sections. This lane seemed to have it all.
The last lane of the day brought us out to a race horse stud farm with several A...MAZ....ING houses in the grounds. From there it was a short road commute back to the hotel where we laoded the bikes, changed out if our gear, said our goodbyes and headed for home.
Another fantastic weekend with great friends, thanks all for the chat, banter and riding. Great to see everyone and already looking forward to the next time.
