I have a few routes I like to regularly cycle that are between 10 and 25 miles for a round trip starting from Botley.
Wolvercote/Marston
For shorter rides I’ll often go to the top of Port Meadow in Wolvercote – there are some picnic benches next to the Thames there for a sit down to watch for birds. I’ve often seen heron, little egrets and goosander there and very occasionally a kingfisher. I’ll usually ride there via Wytham (taking the cycle path from Botley over the A34 interchange). Coming back from Wolvercote I have a few different routes:
- South along the canal and then St Aldate’s down to the Thames Path to come back up to Osney Mead and then home via Willow Walk.
- South along the canal but then cutting across to Marston Ferry Road and its fully segregated cycle path and then picking up the Marston Cycle Path back to the city centre with the potential for a stop off at “Parsons’ Pleasure Bathing Place” (and then St Aldate’s, Thames Path etc as above)
- South along the Thames Path (gravel surface at this point) and then after The Perch I can either cut across to Binsey Lane for a really short ride or cut across to Jericho to come back via the city centre (or even carry on the Thames Path to the Botley Road)
Iffley Lock
Iffley Lock has a gorgeous old lock house and a number of benches so it’s a pleasant place to sit for a bit (with the background sound of geese honking).
I’ll usually go from Botley via Willow Walk to Osney Mead and then take the Thames Path down to Iffley Lock. To come back I’ll either walk the bike across the lock and then pick up Meadows Lane parallel to the river – which is a nice quiet mostly car-free route – until coming out on Iffley Road. Then over The Plain roundabout, across Magdalen Bridge, up The High to St Aldate’s and then down to the Thames Path back to Osney Mead. Meadows Lane also gives another couple of nature walk stop-off options with The Kidneys and Aston’s Eyot.
Abingdon
To head towards Abingdon I usually take Cumnor Hill through Chawley to join the B4017 down through Wootton and Whitecross. If I want to go into Abingdon centre itself (to e.g. visit the Ock River Bakery) I’ll continue down the B4017, otherwise I’ll skirt across north of Abingdon to Sunningwell and then take Sugworth Lane over the A34 to the bottom end of Kennington. There’s then the option to visit the Proof Social Bakehouse for a pastry and/or go sit by Sandford Lock. To return I take the shared path parallel to the rail tracks (part of NCR 5) back north to pick up the Thames Path towards Iffley Lock and then either stay on Thames Path or cross to pick up Meadows Lane.
For a bit more of a work out after Wootten, if not going into Abingdon, I can turn off to Wootten Village and head up the climb towards Boars Hill before coming down through Bayworth to wend my way to Sugworth Lane.
Another pleasant spot near Abingdon for a visit is Radley Lakes for a walk with opportunities for bird photography.
Witney
Witney is one of my favourite destinations for a weekend cycle to enjoy a beer. It’s a comfortable distance to ride on country roads and they aren’t too busy (Eynsham Road being the exception) and The Crafty Pint Bar there has a frequently rotating selection of beers on tap, including interesting IPAs and other pale ales, so it’s a fabulous place to just sit for half an hour with a half pint and read my Kindle before riding home.
The shortest route is taking the shared path along the A40 but it’s very noisy with traffic, boring and a rough surface. So instead I cycle towards Eynsham (via Farmoor) to begin but then go left on to the B4449 and head south-west through Sutton Green and passing Hardwick to Standlake Road before turning off to pass through Ducklington. After Ducklington I pick up a shared path towards Witney Lake & Country Park then turning left to take the shared-path underpass under the A40. Next through the Parkside Industrial Estate to the cycle path along Station Lane and then turning left go up past St Mary’s Church and the Church Green to park my bike near Langdale Court. Coming back from Witney I use a slightly different route to start with and head east along Langdale Gate to take a segregated path to Cogges Manor Farm before turning right down a shared path to the road that consists of Stanton Harcourt Road/Tar Lane/Cogges Lane. It’s a single track road with quite a rough surface but pretty quiet and the few drivers I’ve encountered are pretty respectful (and if I get a car behind me I’ll pull off into a passing place to let them pass). That then joins Standlake Road and from there the rest of the journey mirrors my ride over.
There are some nice options directly on the routes to stop. There’s Ducklington itself with a pond by the church with a couple of benches, Witney Lake & Country Park for a sit or a walk, and Rushy Common Nature Reserve and Tar Lakes for walks/sit (with benches just inside the entrance to Tar Lakes).
There are another couple of options for walks just off the route. There’s Farmoor Reservoir, which can have some interesting birds on the reservoir itself but also has walks (and some bird hides) to the west of the reservoir near the River Thames. There’s no cycling on the paths around the reservoir itself and no bike hoops in the car park, although it’s possible to get through from Meadow Close in Farmoor via a footpath on to an access road for Pinkhill Lock (the vehicular gate for that access road is locked) and find a fence to lock a bike to for a walk. There’s Eynsham Lock, walking down a footpath from just before the toll bridge to the Thames Path. And finally at Stanton Harcourt there’s Devil’s Quoits.
Note that Eynsham Road often has a lot of heavy goods vehicles during the week – however I’ve always found them to give me plenty of room when passing – and can be a bit busy with general traffic too. Sometimes drivers along that road do perform somewhat dubious overtakes a bit close to bends scaring drivers coming the other way being somewhat late pulling back in.
Woodstock/Kiddlington
Woodstock is a lovely market town north of Oxford. It’s home to Blenheim Palace and decent area of the palace grounds are open to the public without having to pay for entry, although while the grounds are pleasant enough they’re quite busy and very spread out – my preferred walk at Woodstock is actually next door.
Opposite the public entrance to the palace grounds, on the other side of the A44, are the Woodstock Water Meadows containing a stretch of the River Glyme with a path running alongside it. It’s a much quieter walk than the palace grounds, with trees shading some of the river side walk.
My ride to Woodstock goes via Wolvercote – I usually take the route via Wytham to Wolvercote and then pick up the canal towpath until it reaches the A44 at which point I cycle on the shared paths (which are part of NCR 5) to Woodstock. The part of the route adjacent to the A44 is a bit tedious and noisy – the cycle path is properly segregated from the dual carriageway for much of it at least, and you do have views out over fields and Oxford Airport, so it’s nowhere near as bad as the A40 path. One bit to watch out for is where the cycle path dumps you on to a stretch of residential road that runs parallel to the A44 as it passes a BP garage and some drivers coming out of it seem to either forget it’s a two-way stretch of road or are paying more attention to that dual carriageway than the road they’re on (usually focussing on a cut through junction just past the garage to re-join – I got knocked off my bicycle by a careless driver here).
Coming back from Woodstock I usually stay on the canal past Wolvercote and then come back via the city centre. The road surface on Wytham Road as it comes south towards Botley is pretty horrible on the side you have to ride on (it’s not so bad on the other side) so it’s not just for variety that I use a different route coming back!
Another option riding out towards Woodstock is to go right in Yarnton along Sandy Lane to Kiddlington. Pretty much the only reason I go to Kiddlington though is to visit the King’s Arms for a half as they tend to have a decent rotating selection of IPAs!
Breweries
There are a number of breweries within 15 miles of Oxford and so I’ve been using them as an excuse to go out for rides as well.
By far my favourite locally has to be the The Little Ox Brewery in Freeland. I’ve found that many of their IPAs and pale ales are to my tastes and they usually change one of their line-up every month so there’s often something new to sample. The most direct route for me is to cycle to Eynsham, briefly along the A40 and then on the road to Freeland (which does have a little bit of a climb as you get near to Freeland). For variety I’ll sometimes take my route towards Woodstock turning left at Yarnton on to Cassington Road and then right in to Burleigh Road up to Main Road (and then along through Long Hanborough to Freeland). Main Road has a shared path along side it which does go through Long Hanborough but it’s a bit messy to ride as it crosses lots of side roads there.
Other breweries I’ve cycled to are:
- Loose Cannon Brewery in Abingdon – a lovely brewery but their focus is not on keg beers so their selection is not really to my tastes.
- Oxford Brewery in Horspath – they do carry an IPA and an APA. The IPA is an English IPA and wasn’t to my tastes. The APA is probably more to my tastes but wasn’t in stock when I visited so I’ll have to have another ride out there some time!
- Woodstock Brewery in Woodstock – a small selection of characterful bottle-fermented beers
Ones I haven’t yet cycled to are:
- Tap Social in Botley – they’re so close it’s not a proper ride to get to them and I’ve picked up some of their beers from the local Co-op when doing a food shop!
- Barn Owl Brewery near Cothill – they do real ales, so not to my tastes
- Earth Ale Brewery near Tubney – I will cycle to this one at some point as a couple of their beers seem worth a try
- LoveBeer in Milton – they have a couple that I’d like to try at some point
- Church Hanbrewery near North Leigh – they do a great variety of beers, but I’ve bought a couple of their IPAs from Teardrop in Oxford and while they were pleasant enough they weren’t really to my tastes, but I may still give them a visit some time to try a couple more.