Slice across the Chilterns
Posted on Wednesday 30 July 2008 by Aidan Cusack
2* from Beaconsfield 27 July
11 people left the train at Beaconsfield and after a brief ‘find the leader’ moment we all joined up and set off riding north up the first of many ‘moderate’ climbs in the lovely morning sunshine.
Along the first of many lanes to Penn Bottom where we turned east and headed to Holmer Green and to the lovely village of Little Missenden. There we admired the Georgian Manor House and the St John the Baptist Church, a place of Christian pilgrimage which dates back over a 1000 years. A busy stretch of the A413 followed with a sharp right turn under the railway bridge and up Hyde Lane to Hyde Heath. We stopped at the
common in Hyde Heath for our first mini break and to take on some water supplies in the ever increasing heat of the day. Then it was down Copperkins Lane into the northern outskirts of Amersham where we dropped down the hill to meet the River Chess in Chesham. Riding along the Chess valley we turned north at Latimer and climbed up to Flaunden.
We then rode along one of the prettiest lanes of the day – Holly Hedges Lane which was almost enclosed with trees each side providing some shade and giving us some respite from the overhead sun and into Belsize. The first enquiries were made as to the proximity of the lunch stop and all were glad to hear that we were ‘almost’ there! It was a short ride up to the village of Chipperfield we were lunched at the Two Brewers on the common where we all choose to sit inside to escape the midday sun. The pub dates back to the 18th century and retains most of its original features.
After a nice lunch we back-tracked downhill to Belsize and carried east along Bragman’s Lane where some say the leader’s sat-nav overheated and crashed leading to some navigational confusion at a Y junction. However this was simply a concealed ploy to render a rest stop to some riders who were feeling the effects of the heat after lunch!
We had a nice downhill run along the twisting lanes to rejoin the river Chess at Chenies Bottom followed by a sharp climb up to Chenies Manor. Here the group split with some blasting down the busy Amersham Road and others taking a short parallel off-road section where we all then rejoined, including one who overshot the junction and had to be chased by her partner!
It was then down Lodge lane past the roadworks and into Gorelands Lane passing the Chiltern Open Air Museum and a couple of more lanes where we were joined by a lone recumbent rider on the run into Chalfont St Peter. The ‘new’ member departed soon after Paul asked for the contribution for the day ride and we pressed on in the sunshine to our well earned afternoon tea stop at Chalfont St Giles. We had to sit either inside or under the awning to escape the afternoon sun.
Back on the bikes for the final leg passing Milton’s Cottage and riding west along Botterells Lane to Coleshill and down through the woods to rejoin the point at Penn Bottom where we had turned east in the morning.
Another small climb was rewarded by a quick blast down the hill to Beaconsfield at 5pm. Another nice day in the Chilterns!
My mate John tells me that we covered 44 miles with an average speed of just under 12 mph.