Riding the Royal Chilterns Way with Newbury Road Club

An irresistible challenge for Claire Hardwick

First, some history: In 2022 I started cycling the King Alfred Way in leisurely style with a friend, starting from Winchester. We stayed in B&Bs, carrying some essential items in back packs. Neither of us had frame mounted bags or panniers. Life got busy and I finally completed the rest of the way, as day cycles, in 2024. It felt good to complete the

challenge and I did feel smug knowing that by using a full suspension mountain bike

I had had no need to put a foot down on any of the climbs or descents.

Meanwhile I was aware of several groups affiliated with NRC completing the route in one hit and some by bike packing too. I heard several tales of woe regarding the

terrain, and I think I was luckier with my weather!

Then, this year I heard that there was an NRC group tackling the Royal Chilterns Way. I was unable to resist signing up. The RCW is 280km and has 3383m of ascent. It is broken into three loops, the Southern (74km), the Central (105km) and the Northern (102km). The plan was very civilised. The idea was to complete the two longer loops by cutting each loop in half and going back to base for an overnight stay. This added a little extra cycling as each loop effectively became a figure eight.

Here are the Stats (data taken from my Strava)

Day	Loop	Distance km	Ascent m	Moving Time
22 June	Northern	66.9	797	4 hrs 41
23 June	Northern	71.4	1090	5 hrs 17
22 July	Central	70.9	1249	4hrs 47
23 July	Central	77.6	1181	5hrs 02
4 August	Southern	79.7	883	4hrs 56

The moving times are deceiving. Each day we set off around 0900 and were on the go for 8 to 9 hours. I think we had three café stop most days, which was essential for hydration and refuelling. Then there are the usual delays, route finding, punctures, losing team members, canal swims!!

Day One – Graham Butler, Graham Joyce, David Entwistle, Dave Portwood, Alison Brashier, Luke Brashier and me.

The first trip was based in Tring, using a stretch of the Grand Union canal for our link back to base. We managed to time this with one of the heatwave weeks. Day one felt tough. Hydration was a concern. I can’t say I have ever poured water over myself as a means to cool off while cycling before, but with sun protection sleeves on it did help.

Day Two - Graham Butler, Graham Joyce, David Entwistle, Dave Portwood, and me.

This ride was right up my street. More technical, with single tracks through the woods and some awkward descents. Can’t say I noticed because I was too busy grinning! The longer gravel ascents of day one had made me feel at a disadvantage on my full suspension MTB, but today definitely opened the debate of mountain bike versus gravel bike! Again, the heat was off the scale.

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Days three and four – Jerry Rolfe, Graham Butler, Graham Joyce, Dave Portwood,

Dave Turland and me.

This time we were based in Marlow. There had been debate about the cut through and whether to shuttle a car across the mid-section, but it was as easy just to unload and do another full loop.

At last, another sensible person on a mountain bike (sorry Graham, your e-bike doesn’t count!). Dave T made light work of the trails. There were some stiff ascents and descents. And, did I mention, it was HOT!

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Day five - Jerry Rolfe, Graham Butler, Graham Joyce, Dave Portwood, Dave Turland, David Entwistle, Dave Glenn, Marion Foster and me.

By now I felt a bit blasé about this. Rock up and go. Guess what. It was quite hot again! But Graham B had been very diligent finding Cafes on route, so I need not have worried about hydration.

This route felt familiar, Having once lived in Checkendon I think I had cycled most of it before, including the big dipper on the Thames path near Whitchurch. I’ve done it before, but the dry gravelly surface was too much, even for my gears. I took a “technical dismount” while the rest of the group were not looking. Oh well C'est la vie.

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My highs 

• Single tracks through woods

• The descents and even the odd technical climb to conquer 

• The companionship and laughs

My lows

• The Heat (just a bit too much)

• Having to use a first aid kit!

• Paying for a guide-book that did not even have the whole route on the maps pages (top tip. Don’t buy the Cycle UK guide!)

What next, I wonder?

Graham B and Jerry Rolfe worked quite hard looking at the route and finding a way to make it work. Well done guys. But there’s no point doing all the planning if there is no group. |So well done everyone who joined in, even if they could not be there all the way.

For me, I am considering something called “The White Horse Round” in Wiltshire. It's 117 miles and a little far for me to complete in two days on my mountain bike. But it would be a comfortable outing over three days, maybe carrying some overnight kit. So, watch the “Whats App” messages. There may be more trips on the horizon.