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Sat May 17th 2025

1* Saturday Half-Day Ride - Awayday from Standlake	1*

Leader: Steve Swanton	Start Time: 2:00 pm	Start Location: Standlake Village Hall car park, OX29 7SB
Description: Our regular social and family ride on the third Saturday of the month, usually with a cafe stop. We cover 16-32km (10-20 miles) at a leisurely pace of 13-16km/h (8-10mph), tackling the occasional hill (nothing too long) and easy off-road track (conditions permitting). Please let the ride leader know if you are planning to come. For a change of scenery, a repeat of a successful awayday ride to Witney starting from Standlake (11 miles from Grove), which I first ran in May 2022. We'll start from the large car park outside the village hall. We'll ride out on narrow lanes through Northmoor and Bablock Hythe to Stanton Harcourt. We'll then pick up the delightful winding lane through the old gravel pits, passing Rushy Common Nature reserve, to enter Cogges the back way. A series of cycle paths will bring us to Cogges Manor Farm Museum. After a tea stop at the museum cafe, we'll continue through the centre of Witney under the A40 to Witney Lakes. After an easy grit track we'll turn onto a concrete path to Ducklington and after winding through the village will pick up the minor road to Aston and Cote. We'll pass the isolated St, Marys chapel at Old Shifford and return to Standlake via an easy track to avoid the A415. A round trip of about 19 miles, this is a relatively flat ride with only a few undulations, one gentle climb and one nice descent. I plan to cycle over to the start from Grove to make a longer ride - please let me know if you would like to join me.
Riders: Carin Tranter Des Higgs Diana Whidborne John Tranter Judith Agnew Michael Tayler Nick Portsmouth Patrick O'Leary Phil Jeffery Steve Swanton Tim Hoyle Riders = 11 Weather: Report: A lovely clear sunny afternoon for a ride although a nagging north-easterly breeze meant that it never felt hot. Good to see Judith and Phil back out on a ride with us on their tandem. Although we were on backroads for most of the ride, we split into 2 groups of 5 bikes to help cars pass. A wise move, as the single-track roads through Northmoor, and later from Stanton Harcourt to Cogges,were surprisingly busy and, together with the poor conditions of the road surfaces, meant that we were regularly pulling over to let vehicles pass. My thanks to John for leading the second group and Michael and Nick for sweeping the first and second groups respectively. Nevertheless, all went smoothly. At Bablock Hythe we turned down to the Ferryman Inn to stop by the river and the site of the former "on-demand" chain ferry across to Eaton (which used a provide a great link across the river away from the traffic on the A415). We continued on to Stanton Harcourt and then on to the winding lane to Cogges. This is still signposted as part of the long-defunct Oxfordshire Cycleway - this was part of one of the linking routes between Oxford, Witney and the main round-the-county-boundary route. We had a good refreshment stop at Cogges Manor Farm, sitting in the sunshine - the large slabs of lemon drizzle cake were excellent! On resumption, we carefully negotiated the Cogges shared-use path to cross the Windrush into Witney town centre. The cycle route peters out at the top where it meets Witan Way, making for an awkward rejoining of the road at a roundabout. However, once through, we were soon turning by the Buttercross onto the road beside the town green. Witney was buzzing with a fete on the green and the town fair in full swing beyond on the Leys. We rejoined a shared use path at the bottom of the Leys to recross Witan Way and drop down to the cyclepath under the A40. We emerged into the relative tranquility of Witney Lakes. We continued along the lakeside path and then crossed a bridge to pick up the concrete SSE road into Ducklington. Through the village, we crossed the A415 and climbed up onto the Aston ‘roller-coaster’. After an initial climb, this road is great fun, with a series of descents and gentle ups that steadily drop down into the Thames valley. Despite modest elevation, this road gives marvellous views south across the Thames valley to the North Wessex Downs. At the bottom we turned off to Cote and continued through the fields to Old Shifford. We briefly joined the B4449, before turning off onto the track past the water-sports centre. Despite being a bridleway there is an ugly "Danger keep out" sign at the entrance - duly ignored! A final mile through pretty Standlake and we were back at the village hall just before 5pm. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon out. My thanks to everyone for your good company and particularly to Tim for accompanying me both on the ride over and then back as far as West Hanney.
Distance: 30.74 km (19.10 mi)
Proposed Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39433530""
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Start Locations: WMP
Wantage Market Place; OMH
Old Mill Hall, Grove

Categories: 1* - Suitable for irregular, social, beginner or family riders, pace will match the slower riders. Not hilly or long. Expect rides up to 3 hours. Gentle exercise.; 2* - Suitable for regular riders who prefer to cover some distance but at a more relaxed pace. Likely to be half-day rides. Solid exercise.; 3* - Suitable for experienced riders, may be hilly, long, quick, or any combination! Likely to be half or full-day rides. Challenging exercise.; 4* - Suitable for athletic riders who can ride safely above the 3* standard. Quick rides for the fit.; More Information