100-and-a-bit km forum ride from Leighton Buzzard, SUNDAY, 24th September, 2017

[Aravis]

I finally bought my rail tickets today. I left it too late to buy cheap Advance tickets this time so the trip is costing me £18.35 more than it needed to - hmmmph!

Bad luck - I know I would find that extremely annoying!

Everything's looking OK. My plan is to ride down from my in-laws at Horton, SE of Northampton, which looks pretty straighforward and flat. There'll be a roast dinner when I return.

 

[ColinJ]

Bad luck - I know I would find that extremely annoying!

It is my own fault - I should have bought the tickets a couple of weeks ago.

I have another rail trip coming up in October (to my uncle's 100th birthday party!) and I will buy my tickets for that as soon as I get back from this one!

Everything's looking OK. My plan is to ride down from my in-laws at Horton, SE of Northampton, which looks pretty straighforward and flat. There'll be a roast dinner when I return.

Excellent - see you at 9 o/c in front of Leighton Buzzard station then!

 

[ColinJ]

I have now attached a GPX file for the route to the first post in the thread.

The forecast for Sunday is currently looking pretty good!

More riders welcome to join us ...

 

[toffee]

Sorry but I am definitely not able to make it.

 

[ColinJ]

Sorry but I am definitely not able to make it.

Oh well ... maybe a ride in the Spring then? I will make another family visit a few months into 2018 and will take a bike with me.

 

[Pennine-Paul]

Can't make it either,am getting married in October and I've far too much to organise to go riding bikes at the moment ,another time maybe.

 

[ColinJ]

Can't make it either,am getting married in October and I've far too much to organise to go riding bikes at the moment ,another time maybe.

That is a pretty good excuse - enjoy the wedding and I will see you another time!

 

[ColinJ]

I will check in again tonight after the party finishes to see if there are any problems or last minute offers to join us.

The weather forecast is still looking good for tomorrow!

See you at the station at 09:00.

 

[Aravis]

Many thanks to @ColinJ and @shirokazan for sorting this out. A lovely route, helped by the perfect weather. And almost exclusively roads I hadn't ridden before. Hope you both returned to Leighton Buzzard without issues.

Here's my final route - 106.14 miles, my 300th century:

 

[ColinJ]

300 centuries deserves a special round of applause!

I covered 106 distance units for the day too, only mine were kms rather than miles.

I was feeling better and better as the ride progressed so it was tempting to carry on in the sunshine and get an imperial century in but my family needed my help to eat the remaining food from the previous night's party!

I am nearly home now and the weather has been dull, damp and depressing since I set off. We really were lucky yesterday to get that warm sunshine.

I liked the route too. Even the unavoidable busier roads were not horrible.

The next ride is likely to be in the Spring. I am thinking of riding up towards Silverstone and back. I'll come up with a route nearer the time and will post details then so any local trouble spots can be rerouted around.

I enjoyed riding with you both, @shirokazan and @Aravis and hope to meet up again in the future.

Oh, one last thing ... I found the route almost perfect on my singlespeed bike's 52/19 gear (~72"?). I had to walk a few hundred metres of the steepest ramps, but the rest was fine.

 

[ColinJ]

FYI my regular South-North route through Silverstone from that area is quite pleasant. It is as follows:
Starting at my M25 crossing point (Chandler's Cross)
Belsize, Orchard Leigh, Wigginton, Tring Station, Pitstone, Mentmore, Wing, Stewkley, Mursley, Whaddon, Caverton, Deanshanger (stop at shop), Whittlebury (short section of A413) Silverstone.

I then head off to Priors Marston via Preston Capes (a bit of a roller coaster road)

Thanks. I will check that against the route that I did down from Coventry in the Summer. I remember Silverstone, Priors Marston and Preston Capes but the rest is a bit hazy in my memory!

I will be aiming for just over 100 km again.

 

[Aravis]

Oh, one last thing ... I found the route almost perfect on my singlespeed bike's 52/19 gear (~72"?). I had to walk a few hundred metres of the steepest ramps, but the rest was fine.

That's still making my head spin! I went down to 28/28 a few times (it may be inaccurate to say I needed to).

For a future ride, the route I took yesterday after Winslow could have possibilities. Skirting round Milton Keynes via Deanshanger and Potterspury through to Hanslope, then past Bozenham Mill to Ashton, a road mentioned, justifiably, in the "Favourite back roads" thread. It featured an almost total absence of motor vehicles; whenever I thought I heard one, it turned out to be the thrum of an electric train moving very fast.

There might be an attractive route of about the right length through places like Castle Ashby and Olney - I'll try a bit of planning.

 

[Aravis]

OK, here's an idea - not stretching as far north as I'd thought. It's based on local knowledge for the first two-thirds or so, thereafter on the OS map, but there seem to be plenty of possibilities through the Woburn area (and a nice final kick).

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/25595953