Any Oxfordshire or Berkshire riders who can suggest a route?

[Globalti]

Gti Junior and I will be down in Salisbury for family reasons in a couple of weeks and will be taking our bikes in the hope of a change of scenery from our normal Lancashire routes. On the way home we want to "bag" two of the easier climbs in 100 Best Climbs, Dragon Hill Road to Uffington White Horse near Woolstone and the climb to Combe Gibbet near Inkpen. They look to be about 25 miles apart so I guess a circular route linking the two would end up being about 50-60 miles, which is probably a bit too much considering that after that we will have to brave the motorways through the Midlands and worse, the Cheshire M6 car park. So I'm thinking one small warmup ride then jump in the car and do a second bigger ride with a decent pub lunch thrown in. Obviously we want to avoid traffic (not being used to automobiles up here in empty Lancashire!) and for Gti Junior there always needs to be some interest, scenery and a decent lunch.

So can anybody suggest a couple of car-linked rides of around 30 - 40 miles in total?

Just before pressing Go it occurred to me that we could do one of them on the way down (we will take the M5 - A419 past Swindon route to Salisbury) and the other on the way back (passing by Oxford).

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I don't know those areas really so can't help directly but my go to response is the Landranger 1:50,000 map.

 

[Aperitif]

For a nice slope or two, you could do the NCR45 (I think) from somewhere like Broad Hinton. Follow the road ahead...towards white horses and up and up...to Free's Avenue, then Kingsbury Street...offering a long descent into Marlborough. One of the nicest pieces of 'straight line riding' with added scenery I have ever done. (Was probably the company of @martint235 et al...definitely wasn't the 'going up' bit.) All the food you could wish for at a Tescos hypermarket (or a Waitrose)* discreetly positioned in England's green and pleasant land. Talking of which, the venerable @threebikesmcginty is a treasure-trove of Oxford knowledge and I'm sure he has advice to offer by the bottleful.
*Of course there are pubs selling 'home made' food, silly.

 

[martint235]

For a nice slope or two, you could do the NCR45 (I think) from somewhere like Broad Hinton. Follow the road ahead...towards white horses and up and up...to Free's Avenue, then Kingsbury Street...offering a long descent into Marlborough. One of the nicest pieces of 'straight line riding' with added scenery I have ever done. (Was probably the company of @martint235 et al...definitely wasn't the 'going up' bit.) All the food you could wish for at a Tescos hypermarket (or a Waitrose)* discreetly positioned in England's green and pleasant land. Talking of which, the venerable @threebikesmcginty is a treasure-trove of Oxford knowledge and I'm sure he has advice to offer by the bottleful.
*Of course there are pubs selling 'home made' food, silly.

It is a nice climb. Just be prepared for it (we weren't) as you climb a fairly challenging hill then it levels out and then in front of you there is a similar climb again. The run down to Marlborough is good (would have been great if I'd realised I was still on the 39 rather than the 53 chainring!! ) . We were meant to be following a much flatter route so this road is now forever known as The 'Teef Variation.

 

[Globalti]

*Rushes off to check Marlborough map.... we usually pass through there on the way to Salisbury.....*

So you're talking about the Grand Avenue approaching Marlborough from the south-east, right?

 

[Aperitif]

It is a nice climb. Just be prepared for it (we weren't) as you climb a fairly challenging hill then it levels out and then in front of you there is a similar climb again. The run down to Marlborough is good (would have been great if I'd realised I was still on the 39 rather than the 53 chainring!! ) . We were meant to be following a much flatter route so this road is now forever known as The 'Teef Variation.

Not prepared for it? How very dare you! We had only ridden through the night, got soaked, schoolboyed out, bopped with druids and Morris dancers, searched in vain for a breakfastery and more...why, we were as ready as they would ever be. By the time I got to the top, I was convinced that the white horse was Shergar..or, at least it looked like Shugar...

 

[threebikesmcginty]

For a nice slope or two, you could do the NCR45 (I think) from somewhere like Broad Hinton. Follow the road ahead...towards white horses and up and up...to Free's Avenue, then Kingsbury Street...offering a long descent into Marlborough. One of the nicest pieces of 'straight line riding' with added scenery I have ever done. (Was probably the company of @martint235 et al...definitely wasn't the 'going up' bit.) All the food you could wish for at a Tescos hypermarket (or a Waitrose)* discreetly positioned in England's green and pleasant land. Talking of which, the venerable @threebikesmcginty is a treasure-trove of Oxford knowledge and I'm sure he has advice to offer by the bottleful.
*Of course there are pubs selling 'home made' food, silly.

That's kind of South Oxfordshire, I'm up in the posh bit, @Fab Foodie is down in the Bronx area.

 

[martint235]

*Rushes off to check Marlborough map.... we usually pass through there on the way to Salisbury.....*

So you're talking about the Grand Avenue approaching Marlborough from the south-east, right?

No Fleet's Ave I think from the North West. We were heading back to London from RWB. I'm useless at directions etc but that road seems to match our approach.

 

[martint235]

Not prepared for it? How very dare you! We had only ridden through the night, got soaked, schoolboyed out, bopped with druids and Morris dancers, searched in vain for a breakfastery and more...why, we were as ready as they would ever be. By the time I got to the top, I was convinced that the white horse was Shergar..or, at least it looked like Shugar...

We were meant to be following Davy's route which was flat not climbing the foothills of the Himalaya after 150 miles!!

 

[Fab Foodie]

That's kind of South Oxfordshire, I'm up in the posh bit, @Fab Foodie is down in the Bronx area.

Yeah, and you're dead-meat if you ever come south of Botley you hillbilly ....

 

[EltonFrog]

That's kind of South Oxfordshire, I'm up in the posh bit, @Fab Foodie is down in the Bronx area.

Yeah, and you're dead-meat if you ever come south of Botley you hillbilly ....

Yeah, come down here and we'll take you to Didcot. That'll learn ya.

 

[flatflr]

I live right between the two and both can be done on a 50/60 mile ride. There is also a nice climb I like from Great Shefford up to the Ridgeway which gives a great view over Oxfordshire, turn left (where there is a nice café http://www.courthill.org.uk/) just past the top and follow the road through a few little villages to the White Horse. Dhen down to Wanborough, up Calas Hill (well named), turn off to Aldbourne, follow the road to Hungerford. Through the town following the road though Hungerford Common to Combe Gibbet, then head back through Inkpen to Great Shefford. PM me if you want some more details.