Get Me To Oxford!

[Mr Scruff]

I miss cycling to work but new job is based in Oxford and I live in High Wycombe - this is 26 miles on the M40, 30+ miles on the A40.

So, is it possible to drive part-way and then cycle, ideally on cycle paths? Anywhere I can find a decent list of them to check? It's not something I'd do every day, just want to explore the option. A 10-mile cycle each way would do me nicely.

Any thoughts? Avoiding roads if at all possibe (I have a mountain bike, not a road bike and while I'll happily put road tyres on it I don't want to buy another bike)

[neilski]

I wouldn't have a clue how to do it off road but for a quiet route try:

West Wycombe -> Wheeler End -> Bolter End -> Fingest -> Turville -> Northend -> Watlington -> Cuxham -> Chalgrove -> Ascott -> Stadhampton -> Chiselhampton -> Oxford.

I don't know the bit beyond Stadhampton but the rest of the route is all country lanes and is usually traffic free whenever I've been out that way. There's some nice scenery too.

[itsnotarace]

Park at Chalgrove and take the B480

[hornetrider]

swerni said:

www.bikehike.co.uk


put both places in and it will work your route for you

Never used that before - doesn't seem to work though? Just uses main roads and sometimes just plots a straight line between two points (rather than a road route) - am I missing something?

[okgo]

swerni said:

www.bikehike.co.uk


put both places in and it will work your route for you

Where??

All I can see if one postcode box, not two...

[neilski]

okgo said:

swerni said:

www.bikehike.co.uk


put both places in and it will work your route for you

Where??

All I can see if one postcode box, not two...

You need to click on the map once for the start point after you've found it using the postcode finder then search for the end point using the postcode finder and click on the map again for the route.

I've just had a look at it and from Windsor to Horsham it took me down a busy NSL dual carriageway and through Guildford town centre instead of the way I normally go using country lanes and back roads. It's not even the shortest route either according to my SatNav. Is there a "bike friendly" option otherwise it's a bit pony?

[okgo]

Yup, just done my journey to work, and its not done the best route at all.

[Mr Scruff]

itsnotarace said:

Park at Chalgrove and take the B480

Hmm, that looks interesting... sort of thing I was after, cheers! I'm not up to cycling the whole route so that's a good head-start

[itsnotarace]

It's flat as a pancake out that side of Oxford anyway so it's a very non-sweaty ride, you could extend the route by parking at Watlington

[Mr Scruff]

I have showers at work so being sweaty isn't a drama.

Work have just issued their Cycle to Work scheme thingumy too, which has definitely got me thinking. I reckon I could get a reasonably nice road bike and then park somewhere near Lewknor/Watlington and then ride the rest in. Ideally I also need to find somewhere that I could leave the bike too (so I don't have to cart it in the car every day) but one step at a time!

[MattYorke]

26 miles each way aint that bad. Ya probably wouldn't want to do it every day, but 2 or 3 times a week would probably work.

[Mr Scruff]

MattYorke said:

26 miles each way aint that bad. Ya probably wouldn't want to do it every day, but 2 or 3 times a week would probably work.

It's not the 26 miles that worries me so much as the M40....