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The Dibley Dawdle - STARTING IN BENSON | 3* |
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Leader:Nick Dunton |
Start Time:9:30 am |
Start Location:Waterfront Café in Benson - http://www.wate |
Description:A route for all you Dawn French fans – visiting Turville, where the Vicar of Dibley was filmed. Not for TV couch-potatoes, though: 109 km and 957m climbing at three-star pace.Start at the Waterfront Café in Benson - http://www.waterfrontcafe.co.uk/ [parking in St Helen’s Avenue – coming from Oxford direction, left opposite the café and immediately right]. Café opens at 08.00, so plenty of opportunity for caffeine loading and loo visits before the depart. We take the back way through Wallingford and over the Ridgeway to Ipsden, with a grungy, grass-down-the-middle lane to climb towards Stoke Row. After that, easier roads to Henley and the attractive riverside road to Remenham and the climb of Remenham Hill. From there it is fairly flat to the lunch stop at Jenner’s Café, Maidenhead. We then ascend Winter Hill [the easier way], through Marlow, then lovely lanes through Freith and Fingest to reach Turville. Then it’s hard work up the Turville Tunnel to Christmas Common and a fast descent of Watlington Hill. Then pretty flat home through Chalgrove. Afternoon tea at the Waterfront. PLEASE LET ME KNOW BY TEXT OR EMAIL IF YOU INTEND TO RIDE. |
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Report:A fully caffeinated mini-peloton set off on time. Chief problem of the day was the large amounts of gravel that recent storms had washed into deep drifts, usually on right-angle turns at the bottom of fast descents. Caution was our watchword. Pretty uneventful to lunch, where the lack of panini at Jenner’s was lamented. Nick S punctured on the descent of Winter Hill. We were delayed in Marlow by the carnival and took a detour which, at one point, had me cycling into someone garage! My two weeks of indolence and indulgence in the Languedoc finally caught up with me on the hill out of Turville where I just managed to maintain forward momentum: definitely lantern rouge here. We saw the John & Dulcie Walker memorial road race go past at Chalgrove [they were going faster than us]. We finished with a civilized afternoon tea back at Benson. | ||
Distance:109.00 km (67.73 mi) | ||
Proposed Route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/10024599" | ||
Comment on this ride |
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Written by : Lyn Taylor Posted on : September 20, 2016 at 2:43 PM |
A good ride ,good company and a good pace, Pity I didn't see the vicar of Dibley ,but you can't have everything . |
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