Why this ride
Out of Blewbury, one way: 179 km, roughly 2 h 59 in the saddle. Long stretches are under trees.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hampshire Test Valley Roads · part 3
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 179 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 59
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Photo stop near Blewbury
Blewbury is a village of thatched cottages, chalk streams and old cob walls at the foot of the Berkshire Downs, south of Didcot. It has the slightly enchanted feel of a place that has been left alone, and it is no surprise that Kenneth Grahame chose to live here in the years after he wrote The Wind in the Willows. Wander the lanes and you could easily imagine Ratty and Mole somewhere among the willows by the stream.
Read the complete Photo stop near Blewbury write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Blewbury is where the day begins. Next is Hampshire Test Valley Roads checkpoint 8.
2. Near Woodford Green
On fine weekends half the bikers of north-east London seem to end up at the same tea hut in the middle of Epping Forest, at High Beach, drinking from paper cups among the hornbeams. This finish lies just south of the forest's tip, between Walthamstow, Highams Park and Woodford Green, and the forest is the last green thing you see before the city closes around you again.
Read the complete Near Woodford Green write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Hampshire Test Valley Roads checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is Back to Hampshire Test.
3. Back to Hampshire Test
You are near Speldhurst, a quiet Kent village a couple of kilometres north-west of Tunbridge Wells, with Rusthall and its sandstone outcrops just to the south. The oast houses with their white cowls, built to dry the hops, are still scattered across the fields, though most are now houses.
Read the complete Hampshire Test write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 179 km.
Leg by leg
Photo stop near Blewbury to Near Woodford Green
Photo stop near Blewbury → Near Woodford Green is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.