Goring Gap Cycling

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Goring Gap Cycling

Encouraging and supporting cycling and cyclists in the Goring Gap, where the River Thames sneaks between the North Wessex Downs and the Chiltern Hills

🚃 First the Training bit. For our Monday ride, 11 Goring Gromils took the train from Goring to Reading, where we changed for another train to Martins Heron (on the outskirts of Bracknell). This was a record for us – the most bikes we had ever had on a train at once.

All went very smoothly: both trains on time, lots of room for the bikes and happy Gromils at Martins Heron

🚴 Next the Ride bit. A major difficulty in planning a route back from Bracknell is Nine Mile Ride, which slices through this part of Berkshire carrying a lot of traffic, without much room for bikes. Bracknell’s bike paths were delightfully traffic-free, and our route managed to avoid most of Nine Mile Ride, except for a short length which had a shared-use footway (and roadwork traffic lights that made it easy to cross the road.

☕Coffee @jacksonscalifornialake, then on to lunch @wellingtonfarmshop. We’ve been there before, so knew the way home from there. All in all, not a Nine Mile Ride but a very enjoyable 37 mile ride, with appreciation to @great.western.railway and @SW_Railway.

📆 Apparently Monday was World Car-free Day (who invents these things?) If only we’d known, we could have celebrated… by going for a Training Ride perhaps.

#goringgapcycling
#gromils

#ActiveTravel
#firstgreatwestern
#southwesternrailway
#worldcarfreeday

😊Lovely bit of serendipity this morning when I dropped in to @the.maker.space and bumped into Matt and Bill, alias pennyLEJOG, who had cycled up from Henley. 🎩They are planning to ride their penny farthings from Lands End to John O'Groats in April 2026, raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support - see https://justgiving.com/page/pennyLEJOG 😋Over our coffees and flapjacks (delicious as usual) we had an interesting chat about route options for LeJog. 🤔For more info on planning for LeJog, go to goringgapcycling.co.uk (link in this bio) and look at the Route Planning and LeJog pages. #pennyLEJOG #LeJog #goringgapcycling

😊Lovely bit of serendipity this morning when I dropped in to @the.maker.space and bumped into Matt and Bill, alias pennyLEJOG, who had cycled up from Henley.

🎩They are planning to ride their penny farthings from Lands End to John O’Groats in April 2026, raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support – see
https://justgiving.com/page/pennyLEJOG

😋Over our coffees and flapjacks (delicious as usual) we had an interesting chat about route options for LeJog.

🤔For more info on planning for LeJog, go to goringgapcycling.co.uk (link in this bio) and look at the Route Planning and LeJog pages.

#pennyLEJOG
#LeJog
#goringgapcycling

1 It came as quite a surprise when my front brake seized at the bottom of a steep hill near Tavistock, almost throwing me over the handlebars. It took me a while to realise the cause was that the wheel rim had expanded sideways, reducing the gap between the rim and the brake blocks (this is an old-school bike - no discs here). 2 Looking more closely at the wheel, I found it was worn right down to the wear groove, to the extent that the groove lining was coming away and I could poke a screwdriver through it. 3 By slackening off the brake cable I managed to get mobile again and complete my cross-Devon ride to Plymouth, taking lots of care with the front brake. 4 In retrospect I should have seen this coming, as the rim was quite concave - quite obvious if I put the end of a metal rule across it. Turns out the wheel had probably done something over 36,000 miles. Shows the longevity of robust touring rims - Rigida Alexa, since you ask. 5 I was keen to keep the Schmidt Son dyno hub, which allows me to charge the phone as well as power a headlight, so it was a case of getting all the bits and building two new wheels. The back wheel had done somewhat less mileage than the front, so I decided to fit a new hub. This caused a delay, as Spa Cycles were out of stock and I had to wait for a new delivery from Taiwan. 6 Eventually the bits arrived and I was able to spend a happy morning putting them together, with the help of jolly Roger. Having a second person present is a big timesaver, as the pair of you are much more likely to spot if you put a spoke in the wrong way. 7 It took less than two hours for each wheel - 45 min for lacing, and the rest for truing. With more practice it would probably be quicker, but I’ve only built about six wheels in 12 years. It’s easier than you would think. 8 The timing was quite fortunate as the rear wheel was due a new cassette and chain and I had both in stock, so could just swap the wheel out when the new one was ready. 9 All done, ready for the next 30,000 miles. #goringgapcycling

1 It came as quite a surprise when my front brake seized at the bottom of a steep hill near Tavistock, almost throwing me over the handlebars. It took me a while to realise the cause was that the wheel rim had expanded sideways, reducing the gap between the rim and the brake blocks (this is an old-school bike – no discs here).

2 Looking more closely at the wheel, I found it was worn right down to the wear groove, to the extent that the groove lining was coming away and I could poke a screwdriver through it.

3 By slackening off the brake cable I managed to get mobile again and complete my cross-Devon ride to Plymouth, taking lots of care with the front brake.

4 In retrospect I should have seen this coming, as the rim was quite concave – quite obvious if I put the end of a metal rule across it. Turns out the wheel had probably done something over 36,000 miles. Shows the longevity of robust touring rims – Rigida Alexa, since you ask.

5 I was keen to keep the Schmidt Son dyno hub, which allows me to charge the phone as well as power a headlight, so it was a case of getting all the bits and building two new wheels. The back wheel had done somewhat less mileage than the front, so I decided to fit a new hub. This caused a delay, as Spa Cycles were out of stock and I had to wait for a new delivery from Taiwan.

6 Eventually the bits arrived and I was able to spend a happy morning putting them together, with the help of jolly Roger. Having a second person present is a big timesaver, as the pair of you are much more likely to spot if you put a spoke in the wrong way.

7 It took less than two hours for each wheel – 45 min for lacing, and the rest for truing. With more practice it would probably be quicker, but I’ve only built about six wheels in 12 years. It’s easier than you would think.

8 The timing was quite fortunate as the rear wheel was due a new cassette and chain and I had both in stock, so could just swap the wheel out when the new one was ready.

9 All done, ready for the next 30,000 miles.

#goringgapcycling

☀️Perfect weather on the last bank holiday of the summer – ideal for gently riding the Tour des Clumps and chilling at The Snug at @bishopscourtfarm in Dorchester.

🚴‍♂️📥 For a free GPX of the route, follow the link to the website in the Bio and search for Clumps on the Route Library page.

#gromils
#goringgapcycling
#Oxfordshire
#WittenhamClumps

Record female turnout for Monday’s ride to Henley and back – over 33%!  

Significant parts of our route were on the #RoyalChilternsWay, just unveiled today by #wearecyclinguk. We’re so lucky to live in such a lovely part of the world.

If you fancy the South Chilterns, but like a little more tarmac under your wheels,  check out the 50+ routes on our website,  link in Bio.

#gromils
#goringgapcycling
#Chilterns
#Oxfordshire

🚵‍♂️From Maidenhead @great.western.railway it’s a great 30 mile ride along the Jubilee River, past the playing fields of Eton up to Windsor Great Park and back along NCN 4 by the River Thames. Lots of smooth traffic-free tarmac in the Park.

🚃Only 30 min on the train from Goring and Streatley to Maidenhead and back.

📥Downloadable GPX on the goringgapcycling.co uk website. 

🎵Thanks to @stuntbutt for the appropriate cover suggestion, and for some of the content.

#gromils
#goringgapcycling
#ActiveTravel
#Sustrans 
#NationalCycleNetwork 
#firstgreatwestern

It’s Repair Cafe week again – not just bikes, but anything else you can carry. This time it’s also a book exchange, so time for a summer clearout. As ever, there’s tea, coffee and cake to be had.

💧Still plenty of water left in the River Pang, although it was shallow enough to tempt one intrepid cyclist to ride across.

♒️🚴‍♂️ For once we had a proper reason for being here. Our route to Newbury took us across the ford, along the beautiful Pang Valley and through the shady woodlands of Bucklebury Common.

💦Plenty of water in the River Kennet too, with a lovely coffee stop at the friendly @waterside_centre_newbury.

➡️ Such a good ride we’ve included it in the route library. See Bio for link to website, then search for Newbury.

#gromils
#goringgapcycling
#Westberkshire

🚴“Many sections of the Devon Coast to Coast are traffic-free and flat, making them ideal for families or less experienced cyclists” – Sustrans website.

🚵Many sections are indeed traffic-free and flat, but it’s the ones that aren’t that turn this gentle jaunt into more of an adventure. NCN 27 all the way, including the Tarka Trail, Granite Way and Drakes Trail.

🌗100 mi from Ilfracombe on the Bristol Channel to Plymouth on the English Channel makes it suitable for a two-day trip. @halfmoonsheepwash was an ideal place to stay for the night – friendly country pub in the little village of Sheepwash, well used to dealing with travelling cyclists and their needs.

👏Big shout out to @thesteampacket_totnes, where we stayed on the way home. Lovely place to stay. Really friendly and efficient when I inadvertently left my iPad behind – I had it back again two days later.

➡️ See Bio for link to website. Route details are in the Adventures section, plus 60+ other downloadable routes in the beautiful Goring Gap.

#ActiveTravel

#Sustrans 

#NationalCycleNetwork 

#Devon