Bike ride in Berkshire and Wiltshire

Yesterday the training course I was attending finished early, I rang my mate Mike in Swindon and he had finished his work for the weekend so we arranged to go for a ride. As I was in Reading at the time I decided to scoot down the A4 to Hungerford and then follow the B4192 from Hungerford to Swindon (it beats motorway riding). Anyway I had a really nice ride, the weather was really sunny, which is pretty unbelievable for the UK.
Unfortunately I had to traverse the magic roundabout again only this time it was pretty busy, but luckily I could scoot around the outside.
Anyway after a coffee and a chat we set off for a short ride, I didn't have too much time (allowing for possible congestion back to the port) but we went from Swindon down to Avebury where we stopped for a drink (coke) at the Red Lion pub. It is a really weird place where a crossroads intersects an ancient stone circle

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Anyway I remember now how much I missed the English countryside for riding in, and the weather couldn't have been better :rockon:.

After this we rode past Silbury hill and back up to Marlborough, here I said goodbye to Mike and followed the A4 to just outside of Reading where I jumped on the M4 to head back to the Port of Harwich. I had to do a bit of splitting on the M4 and M25, but the British drivers were very considerate and left plenty of room between the 2 outside lanes :thumbup:.

Thanks for the read and pics Cloggy. I see in one of your pictures some people in the background are fascinated by the enormous rocks....

Back riding on the funny side of the road Cloggy.

I am going down to the Hartz on Monday if the sun comes out a bit. Then I am going a bit further South to stay at Colditz for a night and then maybe back up to Berlin for a night and then home.

It all depends on the weather though because it is starting to get cold here now.

Just be careful with all that traffic Martin. You know what those Brit drivers are like.

Steve

That bike needs a bath.

biker_dude43 said:

Thanks for the read and pics Cloggy. I see in one of your pictures some people in the background are fascinated by the enormous rocks....

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well they are pretty mysterious.

steveindenmark said:

Back riding on the funny side of the road Cloggy.

I am going down to the Hartz on Monday if the sun comes out a bit. Then I am going a bit further South to stay at Colditz for a night and then maybe back up to Berlin for a night and then home.

It all depends on the weather though because it is starting to get cold here now.

Just be careful with all that traffic Martin. You know what those Brit drivers are like.

Steve

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Riding on the left was a bit strange at first but I soon got used to it, but Swindon was a baptism of fire with all of its wierd and wonderful roundabouts.

Hope the weather holds for your trip to the Hartz, maybe you can check out a few roads for next years trip :thumbup:

Well I was pleasantly pleased with the ease I could split the slow moving traffic in the UK, obviously you still get a few idiots on the road but you get that everywhere.

grommit said:

That bike needs a bath.

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true, I was planning to clean it before I left Holland but it rained constantly for about 5 days before I left.
you would have thought after the "wash" it got in and around Brighton it would have been OK
I might get around to it this weekend, but then again....

You passed within 15m of my front door

buggerlugs said:

You passed within 15m of my front door

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next time I'll pop around for a cup of tea. I looked on the map and yes I passed pretty close to your village :thumbup: You have some really great riding roads round your way :rockon:

And you passed within spitting distance of me as well, in Newbury.

There's a regular bike meet at the red Lion every Wednesday night, when it gets really busy the Police get up there to hand out tickets and spoil everyone's fun. Best to go earlier or later in the season when it's quieter.

Nooj said:

And you passed within spitting distance of me as well, in Newbury.

There's a regular bike meet at the red Lion every Wednesday night, when it gets really busy the Police get up there to hand out tickets and spoil everyone's fun. Best to go earlier or later in the season when it's quieter.

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When we arrived there were a small group of 3 bikers just leaving. My mate Mike used to go to the bike meet. Whilst riding between Swindon and Avebury there was a motorcycle cop speed checking, but the guy was very visable with his bike standing next to him on the curb. Here in Holland they hide behind trees and the like.

Looks beautiful there. Cool helmet.:thumbup: What kind is it?

Looks like you had a good time Cloggy. I really like Avebury and have had drinks in that pub as well. It's all a bit weird around that part of England and I don't mean that in a bad way. I certainly think there's a reason all the henges (stonehenge, woodhenge, etc...) were all built there and the huge stone circles are no different.

Anyway, I'll catch up with you when I get to Holland next.

Jman said:

Looks beautiful there. Cool helmet.:thumbup: What kind is it?

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Nolan N101, it has now been replaced by the N103 (I think) but it looks almost the same, the N103 has a seperate "audio in" connection though

Doorag said:

Looks like you had a good time Cloggy. I really like Avebury and have had drinks in that pub as well. It's all a bit weird around that part of England and I don't mean that in a bad way. I certainly think there's a reason all the henges (stonehenge, woodhenge, etc...) were all built there and the huge stone circles are no different.

Anyway, I'll catch up with you when I get to Holland next.

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I know what you mean about that area David it's a real mystery, but it has a certain atmosphere about it too.
looking forward to meeting up when you come over:thumbup: