Information

Distance: varies;
Hills: hilly – but nothing too big;
Traffic: generally quiet;
Surface Quality: varies;
Refreshments: lots of good pubs, also occasional tea shops.

Details

Hertfordshire has great options for country lane skating. One option is to start and finish in Knebworth. The road surfaces are of variable quality: the more minor roads can surprisingly have smoother surfaces than say a B road (perhaps they are made a bit rougher to improve stopping for those using tyres!). There are many quiet roads (particularly the yellow ones on Ordnance Survey maps): and as horse riding and cycling are common in this area this appears to make drivers more cautious.

Example routes:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3259569 (23 miles). http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5109787 (32 miles). See also: http://littlegreenride.blogspot.com/ for ideas – this is a regular cycling group – but the routes they do are generally also good for skating.

Information

Distance: 22.1 miles;
Hills: a hill or two at the beginning (and end), long flat section along the River Pang
Traffic: generally quiet;
Surface Quality: generally good – some rough parts;
Time: I’ve forgotten!
Date:  10/12/2011

Route

Going south from the station, we took the second through road on the right off the A340 – this is much quieter than the first road leading out to the west which goes through Upper Basildon. As soon as we had left the A road the road climbs steeply – also quite slippy with rotting leaves – so could be hard to get a good push. After this the road undulates until, having gone under the M4 motorway, is lovely and flat as it follows the river Pang. This was followed by some more undulation finishing at the pub in Hampstead Norreys (where we had been before). There is a great community atmosphere in this pub – the postman arrived to deliver some Christmas mail, and we kept coming across him on our skate back as he visited farms and villages postman Pat style along the route.

Map

Information

Distance: 21 miles;
Hills: moderately hilly;
Surface Quality: generally poor – some lanes had gravel/grass in the centre, making it impossible to do a full stride;
Time: Start: 10.50, Lunch: 12.30-1.30, Back at Goring: 4.30pm.

Route

The route was generally very quiet and very attractive. We left Goring through a private housing development – where the road quickly became very rough. After this, the route went through open countryside (no hedgerows), and we had lovely views across Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Lunch stop was at the The Black Horse near Stoke Row – very lovely, though limited choice of lunch (baguettes). The roads were often difficult to skate, though there was also very limited traffic.

Map

Information

Distance: 28 miles;
Hills: Moderately hilly, long flat section at the beginning of the second half of the skate;
Surface Quality: generally good – some rough parts;
Time: Start: 10.15, Lunch: 12.30-1.30, Reading: 4.30pm.

Route

The route starts with an uphill stretch out of Pangbourne, with some traffic. We turn right at the village of Upper Basildon, onto a road which is much quieter. The route flattens out and we have nice views from the lane. Continue to Aldworth which had an old fashioned feel – perhaps it was the little 1930s car parked out in the street. Shortly afterwards, we take a cool leafy lane, down hill, towards Hampstead Norreys.

At Hampstead Norreys we stop in the White Hart for lunch. One of us has a steak, and the other had a roasted vegetable baguette and chips – suitably filling!

A couple of miles further on and the road flattens out – and we had several miles of flat skating alongside the river Pang – wonderful!

A mile before Tidmarsh, we could have headed back up to Pangbourne, but instead decided to carry on until Reading. A steep and busy hill just beyond Tidmarsh would have taken us into the back streets of Reading – but we didn’t fancy that. An idea was to take a gravel track and then a footpath up the hill (on foot) to avoid this hill – but due to some miscommunication we ended up going all the way down the track reaching the A4 – M4 junction. We then followed the A4 into Reading – some of it had a good cycle track – in other parts a very narrow pavement – with bushes that could have done with a trim. This final stretch wasn’t particularly pleasant – so returning to Pangbourne as originally planned would probably have been better.

Full route details.