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Apologies Mike, I didn’t see your response yesterday (this website/forum is a bit clunky). I didn’t ride in to work yesterday anyway. Drop me a PM when you are back from holiday and we’ll sort something out.
Cheers
MartinHi Mike, I regularly commute MTB/gravel along the Ridgeway and local trails from Reading to Harwell and know a lot of excellent trails in the area, including those towards Wallingford. Happy to ride back with you if you wanted someone to show you some of the better options.
Cheers
MartinHi, I regularly use the hard shoulder of the A34 on my road bike and have never had a problem with it. To be honest, I actually feel safer on that stretch than I do on bits of the A417 towards Blewbury, largely because of the fact that there is a decent segregated hard shoulder. I agree its not idea though and would welcome a dedicated hard-surfaced cycle track along the edge of the field.
The exposed chalky bits of the Ridgeway can be treacherous after light rain as it does become very slippery. There’s not much that can be done about it being that it is just the local geology being exposed. Top dressing it won’t help as it would soon be eroded to expose the chalk again.
I know the section well and unfortunately it just needs extra care after rainfall. Tyre choice and running a lower pressure should help in those situations. There is actually a worse bit if you follow the course of the Ridgeway from where you describe towards Streatley (the “chalk and flint climb”). Its a great commute route though in dry conditions.
Yes, that track is fine for a mountain bike, or maybe a hydrid at a push, but there is no suitable alternative than the A34 hard shoulder for road bikes. It may be expensive to implement, but it still should be raised as an issue since the A34 really does provide geographic isolation for many would-be cyclists to the site.
The new proposals for the Chilton interchange refer to improvements for cyclists to gain improved access but the fundamental thing that is missing here is the link to the south of the Chilton interchange with the West Ilsley interchange, eliminating the need for (road) cyclists to use the A34. This would open up so many opportunities for cyclists from the south (towards Newbury), east (towards Reading) and west (alternative route from Wantage/Lambourne) with the Harwell campus all along pleasant low-traffic roads. This consultation is a real opportunity to make our voice heard on this important (missing) link. With the disturbance that would occur with the construction of the new Chilton interchange anyway, the addition of a half-mile stretch of tarmac along the west-side shoulder of the A34 would seem to me to be as simple addition.