Riding from home in my Bedfordshire home in Cranfield to Milton in Oxfordshire, the base location of the 2025 Constellation Group Ride and Marathon Walk. My route takes me through Milton Keynes, Winslow, Bicester and Oxford.
So, I’m just leaving Cranfield heading for just the other side of Abington, which is the base for tomorrow’s Constellation group ride. I’m Roger. This is Roger Rides for AT. So today’s ride is going to take me through Vista and Oxford as I make my way to see the other side of Abington. I don’t know if you can see on the uh video is pretty windy and headwind pretty much all the way around 18 mph wind gusting obviously exposed wind like You ready? Anyway, is this what it is weathering with rain but nothing too much forecast more than light rain very light rain. So, this is uh part of NCN51. Been cycling on this um off-road trail since the edge of Milton Kees. Um probably about four or five miles so far. To my right is um some of the new track that’s been laid, part of the East West Railway that ultimately will link uh Cambridge and Oxford. So, having uh navigated Milton Kees mostly on redways, dodging abandoned rental scooters and rental bikes, probably saw about 30 of them lying on the on the redways. Uh so after clearing Milton Canes I’m now on this off-road section or traffic free section heading out towards Bista. Uh Marut actually takes me through Bista following minor roads mostly uh vaguely parallel to the A421. After Bistla, it’ll be following again, minor roads, maybe cycle paths, vagely following the route of the A34 down to through Abington or through Oxford, through Avington to uh Milton where the event starts tomorrow. I received an email this morning giving an update on the fundraising for this year’s ride. Currently, we stand at about £55,000 as a group. I think if we can get to I think it’s about83,000 that will be a million pounds that consolation group have raised over the past 10 years or so uh for action for at Be nice to see us get that figure. One of those people that nice round number looks good. So my plan for this trip is today is showing us about 67 68 miles. Be the same coming home on Friday. Tomorrow I have a choice of routes. Shortest is about 65 miles I think it is, then 83, then 102. Not sure which I’m going to do as yet. Previous years I’ve supported the um less experienced riders. If I do the same again this year, then that’s going to point me to the 65 mile route, which will put me on about 200 miles for the 3 days. Obviously, if I go for the 102 mile route, that’s going to push me closer to 250. And it obviously depends on what I do on the way home on Friday. Do I just repeat or reverse this route or do I go a bit further? We shall see on Friday. Certainly today, this amount of miles into this strength of headwind is hard going. Anyway, just get on with it. Stay on this road. [Music] So, riding on a minor road alongside the A34 just uh off this side of the M40 junction. That’s obviously the A34, not this minor road heading into Edson Stony. I think I left and carry on south. direction. I think I’m heading into Western on the green and hanging a left. Not going as far as Stay there. All [Music] right. You don’t you can’t Uh heading away from Oxford now. They negotiated the multitude of school kids on bikes. Good to see burning down a bit. They’re all over the cycle paths and roads and whatever. Anyway, down to I think it’s about 10 miles to go uh before I get to the My face is ready for tomorrow. about heat. So coming up to the hotel [Music] been a surprising amount today of um cycle paths, shared paths uh the side of the road or um away from the road completely. Quite a bit of that. Certainly more than I expected and quite welcome. It’s been breezy today. Headwind. I think the forecast was saying something like 16 17 miles per hour if I could believe it. and Gustin uh notably more than that. Anyway, let’s wrap up for today. I’m not sure if I’m going to do this as one video or um put it in with the going home video uh on Friday. I decided near time. So, it’s either goodbye or it’s goodbye from part one. And stay tuned for part two. So, just need to find where the hotel is now. Heat. Heat. [Applause] So I have a hotel in my sights now. [Music]