On 6th March we held our first Sunday Meetup ride, the North Wessex Downs AONB Winter Ride. The idea is that the Sunday Meetup rides will provide more riding opportunities, we know that we have many members of the Oxford Motorcycle Riders (OMR) Meetup group that are not often available mid-week so hopefully this will be useful. Booking for these rides is the normal Meetup way you have to be a member of OMR. If you would like to join in please the OMR joining information page.
The weather was quite cool but dry on Sunday 6th of March when we met at Chievely Services for the coffee and pre-ride briefing, 12 people participated in the ride. We headed off towards Wantage on the B4492, always a great ride with views over the Vale of the White Horse near Wantage. We then followed the downs out past Uffington to Ashbury, and then through Marlborough. We were forced this way because of road closures! The next stretch of downs led us down to the Honeystreet Mill Cafe at Honeystreet near Pewsey, again with some great views off the high ground.
We had a reserved table and parking st the Honeystreet Mill Cafe, arranged by Manoj, and we had a tasty range of cakes, scones and sausage rolls. Although not officially the lunch menu this was pretty filling☺️. Well worth a visit but can be busy at weekends.
Leaving the Honeystreet Mill Cafe we had a good view of the Alton Barnes white horse before heading towards Pewsey. The next section of the route was over the Salisbury plains through Upavon towards Lugershall. The road is faster with sweeping bends and the ‘tank crossing’ markings to keep you on your toes! We then picked up the Fairmile, before Lugershall for a lovely ride over the high ground towards Hungerford. We turned off the A338 to route through Hungerford Common and turning towards Gun Mill Lock on the River Kennet we had a great view of one of General Ironsides Pill Boxes, built in June 1940 to combat invasion. We ended the ride at Dobbie’s Garden Centre on the A4 for a well earned coffee before heading home.
We also collected £42 for our two charities TVAA and the Green Biking initiative, many thanks to those who contributed so generously☺️. Look out for more Sunday rides on the Oxford Motorcycle Riders (OMR) Meetup group.
