OPEN INVITE: Sunday 22nd of June for a bimble around the Chilterns.

[er-minio]

Got home a bit earlier as I have to pack for tomorrow's travel + some last minute work.
Thanks a lot Ev for putting this together. It was a very pleasant ride, banter, and food. And nice to meet some others in person!

Panorama:



The man of the hour


Coneheads (because we needed some more sugar intake today ):

 

[AndrewA]

Post ice cream lull at Dunstable Downs.



Thanks for the ice cream Ev, and for organising. It was lovely to meet everyone too.

 

[DJ123]

Thanks EV for arranging, and great to meet all turned up.

A house that was in the film 'Enigma'



A stop for a look at some scenery, or EV's back garden....i can't remember


Said scenery;



A medium sized, South African erection in the Countryside



The scenery around the erection

 

[EVskiy]

What a great turnout this was! thank you to all you you lads who have joined in.

Nice to meet new faces such as Donovan (@adventuredon), you buddy Klaus, (whom though was a lovely bloke, and despite hung German, he had a great sense of humour. It would be good to meet up again) and @AndrewG, who has joined us as we were ticking into lunch.

The day had started really, well, we all met up on time, with plenty of time for a bit of chin wag before departing just a few minutes after 09:00.


(although Joe for some reason decided to first park up at the far end of the carpark,

Nice breeze first thing in the morning to ride through and enjoy the scenery. Everyone found their place in the group, and just got on with it. Admittedly I was nervous that we might end up splitting up somewhere and/or people taking wrong turns. None of that had happened once, which was nice and easy on me as a leaded.

About an hour into the ride we pulled up for a nice scenic valley view, to stretch our legs and for me to make sure that everybody was ok, with the pace, etc.

The view:



And the first picture of the gang:



Legs stretched, pictures taken, next stop was The Apple Orchard in West Wycombe. An excellent cafe with a lovely garden terrace setting, featuring an extensive breakfast and lunch menu as well as a huge selection of various cakes and pasties as well as an extensive drinks menu to choose from. All within very short distance of Hellfire Caves and a Dashwood Mausoleum.

The cafe:









And the gang satisfying their sweet tooth.



We did however have spent just a few minutes too long enjoying the cake and said chinwag, resulting in us missing the arrival of the steam train to Chinnor and Princess Risborough heritage railway by just about 3-5 minutes. Of well, there is always another time.

Onto the next stop. Coombe Hill, featuring a monument for the fallen solders in Boer War.










To be continued…

 

[EVskiy]

Continued…

Donovan being from South Africa, it was a fitting place for a group photo.





The place is only about 8-10 minute walk from the national trust carpark and well worth the walk just for the views. On a clear day like today, the line of sight is 20+ miles.

From here you can also see the HS2 works at Wendover.



Speaking of HS2 we rode under the newly pushed in place Wendover Dean viaduct.
And astonishing feat of engineering even if it is taking ages to complete with ever increasing costs.

Next stop was the The Grove Lock Pub for lunch, right next to the grand Union Canal. An excellent setting, with plenty of parking and decent grub

A group menu perusing going on.



This is where Andrew has arrived, just in time as we were about to tuck into our nose bags (as Wapping calls it)

Thank you Again to Klaus for buying everyone’s drinks. Top man and most welcome to join in on a next ride out (@adventuredon be sure Klaus does know this please)



Did I mention us being sat next to an active canal, with working barges just like this one chugging past?



Lunch over an hour and a half gone by , Donovan and Klaus had to dash, that left the four of us including new group member Andrew to push further up and past Ivinghoe Beacon. There was a plan to stop here, but since we took longer than expected with our lunch, I’ve decided to skip this venue as we rode onto Dunstable Downs. Another excellent view point, where you have a choice of views, kite flying, parasailing taking place and London Glider Club being right down at the bottom, where you can see gliders being pulled up by a winch or by means of a tether rope attached to a small Cessna type aircraft. Hours could be spent here, with so much going on, and if you get hungry, there is also a cafe a short distance away with plenty of parking for both cars and bikes.

We however opted for some…



A bit more chit chat and laughter was had. @er-minio nearly ordered a pizza from an ice cream van . This is were Emilio had to leave us and dash for the M1 at Luton to get back home. Thing happening in the morning so needs must. Thank you for coming along again.

And then there were three…



Joe, Andrew and I then continued to ride back towards Watford via some more excellent roads. Shortly before 17:00 we have arrived at the crossroad. Hand shakes and kisses all round, we all gone into our separate ways. Some 6 minutes later I was back home, lubricating my chain and putting the bike away, next time I shall be using it, will be in two weeks time, when I shall be riding to the south coast to meet up with the Soft Southern Shandy Drinkers.

106 miles in total today. A very pleasant day was had indeed. Perhaps this will become a regular feature, a bit like the SE pub gatherings. It be rude not to in a day like today. Please feel free to participate and to suggest places to go and ride to. I have a couple more routes up my sleeve, but willing to explore something on offer from fellow members.

Thank you to all who have made it, as well as those ho have expressed their interest but for one or the other reason haven’t made it this time.

Till next time chaps and keep the rubber side down

 

[adventuredon]

Continued…

Donovan being from South Africa, it was a fitting place for a group photo.

View attachment 421660

View attachment 421661

The place is only about 8-10 minute walk from the national trust carpark and well worth the walk just for the views. On a clear day like today, the line of sight is 20+ miles.

From here you can also see the HS2 works at Wendover. Speaking of HS2 we rode under the newly pushed in place Wendover Dean viaduct.
And astonishing feat of engineering even if it is taking ages to complete with ever increasing costs.

Next stop was the The Grove Lock Pub for lunch, right next to the grand Union Canal. An excellent setting, with plenty of parking and decent grub

A group menu perusing going on.

View attachment 421665

This is where Andrew has arrived, just in time as we were about to tuck into our nose bags (as Wapping calls it)

Thank you Again to Klaus for buying everyone’s drinks. Top man and most welcome to join in on a next ride out (@adventuredon be sure Klaus does know this please)

View attachment 421666

Did I mention us being sat next to an active canal, with working barges just like this one chugging past?

View attachment 421667

Lunch over an hour and a half gone by , Donovan and Klaus had to dash, that left the for of us including new group member Andrew to push further up the hip and past Ivinghoe Beacon. There was a plan to stop here, but since we took longer than expected with our lunch, I’ve decided to skip this venue as we rode onto Dunstablew Downs. Another excellent view point, where you have a choice of views, kite flying, parasailing taking place and London Glider Club being right down at the bottom, where you can see gliders being pulled up by a winch or by means of a tether rope attached to a small Cessna type aircraft. Hours could be spent here, with so much going on, and if you get hungry, there is also a cafe a short distance away with plenty of parking for both cars and bikes.

We however opted for some…

View attachment 421669

A bit more chit chat and laughter was had. @er-minio nearly ordered a pizza from an ice cream van . This is were Emilio had to leave us and dash for the M1 at Luton to get back home. Thing happening in the morning so needs must. Thank you for coming along again.

And then there were three…

View attachment 421671

Joe, Andrew and I then continued to ride back towards Watford via some more excellent roads. Shortly before 17:00 we have arrived at the crossroad. Hand shakes and kisses all round, we all gone into our separate ways. Some 6 minutes later I was back home, lubricating my chain and putting the bike away, next time I shall be using it, will be in two weeks time, when I shall be riding to the south coast to meet up with the Soft Southern Shandy Drinkers.

106 miles in total today. A very pleasant day was had indeed. Perhaps this will become a regular feature, a bit like the SE pub gatherings. It be rude not to in a day like today. Please feel free to participate and to suggest places to go and ride to. I have a couple more routes up my sleeve, but willing to explore something on offer from fellow members.

Thank you to all who have made it, as well as those ho have expressed their interest but for one or the other reason haven’t made it this time.

Till next time chaps and keep the rubber side down

Loved the day, and company. Thank you for organising. Great stopping points and roads. Nice to meet some new faces off the forum. Thank you

 

[EVskiy]

Thanks EV for arranging, and great to meet all turned up.

You are most welcome Joe.

A house that was in the film 'Enigma'

View attachment 421655

My apologies, I gave you the wrong information, the film is called The Imitation Game. It is the code breaking machine that Alan Turing had built that’s is called Enigma. Excellent film and well worth a watch.

The house in question is this one and located actually up the road after the junction (that we had turned left from) to the right after The Queens Head pub. Bellow is the short video of the scene being shot shot on location.

[

My apologies for a slightly misleading name and the exact location of the property featured in the film.

 

[Davey B]

Great thread gents.

 

[EVskiy]

Loved the day, and company. Thank you for organising. Great stopping points and roads. Nice to meet some new faces off the forum. Thank you

See you Donovan in a couple of weeks

 

[timeandtide]

Very well done for organizing Ev - Congrats!

 

[Santa-2512]

See you Donovan in a couple of weeks

Hmm we've seen your early morning starts, i hope you warned him

 

[EVskiy]

Very well done for organizing Ev - Congrats!

Thank you. I’ll take the pat on the back.

 

[EVskiy]

Hmm we've seen your early morning starts, i hope you warned him

Cnut

 

[Santa-2512]

Hmm we've seen your early morning starts, i hope you warned him

Cnut

Cnut

rolf

 

[er-minio]

I forgot to say I really appreciated the added commentary and geographical context of today’s route.

From film locations, via military monuments, to dogging spots, it was highly informative!