Inspired by our Henley Highwayman road sportive, we wanted to bring a CX event to the Chiltern Hills above that venerable Thames-side town. As we know from our now well established Wildwood CX, the Chilterns are a near perfect mix of roads tracks and trails for CX/gravel riding, and spinning out a route a little further up the chain allows us to explore some of the darker, grittier folds of this deceptively demanding range of hills.
While Henley-on-Thames might enjoy a genteel reputation today, it’s hidden history recalls it as a hotspot of dashing villainy, and for awhile at least, the dark hills north of the town were justifiably known as the badlands. Henley was the last stop on the Thames for trading vessels, and as the boats unloaded their valuable cargo, Highwayman and robbers watched from the overlooking hills to make their crooked plans. The truth of these robberies usually far from the romantic image of the gentleman robbers we have today, making this part of the country a forbidding proposition for tradesmen and travellers.
And the very things that made this area perfect for highway robbery, make it ideal for CX riding today. The densely folded and wooded hills conceal a network of lanes, tracks and trails the wind and climb and fall continuously. It’s a surprisingly harsh corner of the home counties; where the crumbling tarmac on the back roads can prove perilous for skinny road bikes, but where CX or gravel bikes come into their own. 29ers and 27.5in hardtails will eat up the miles on the dirt, and the constantly switching surface provides an entertaining ride and acts as a great leveller between the variety of bikes on the route.
68, 50 & 35km course options.
He never really expected anything different, he's just building up his CV in advance of the GE (look how many questions I have aske of ministers!).
Sympathies for the victim...
The wide road where no-one lives and people say 20mph makes no sense...
I see about one person/month riding along with the forks on backwards. Usually this is a kid at the local BMX track and the parents don't know...
I mean seriously people - it's an open goal right there...
Yes, most unexpected. I was so surprised at not seeing the usual Gammon bollocks under a cycling-related story that I nearly stopped for a red light.
I've seen Pogacar on 170 and 165 cranks too
I was waiting for a cyclingMikey character to stop in the middle of the cycle route incanting "You will not pass".
There's discussion of that here: https://road.cc/content/news/uk-government-review-motorists-caught-out-c...
Also to reduce the likelihood of payments by insurance companies if they can show that a cyclist victim wasn't wearing a helmet or wearing it...