Steady Pedals

Despite my aversion to taking any sort of break during school holidays, I was persuaded by my friend Sunil that it was time I went camping again. So we planned a short ride with overnight stop. This would be on the Surly, a big change from the most recent tours.

My journey started at the very exotic Southall station, where a direct Elizabeth line train whisked me to Reading to meet Sunil.

Nothing complex was planned, just a short circular ride of around 45 miles, ending up at a campsite at Pangbourne, a few miles from Reading, then a similar distance ride home.

Along the way we travelled through time, from the walled Roman town of Calleva near Silchester, to more modern history, at Greenham Common. Site in the early 80‘s of a Peace camp, protesting about the deployment of American cruise missiles. The camp itself stayed for many years, even after the bombs and planes had left – maybe they didn‘t notice !

In both cases, nature has worked it‘s magic and covered much of what was there, but at Silchester you could still see the remains of a small ampitheatre and the walls that once surrounded the town.

At Greenham the transformation was more spectacular, with a huge American Airbase returned to nature in only 30 years. Runways ripped up, with the concrete used as hardcore for building work on the A34, and huge underground petrol tanks dug up, with the holes turned to lakes. The concrete bunkers built in the 80s to house the missiles remain, as does the control tower, which houses a cafe and museum, but not much more.

Sunil couldn’t resist posing with the “hotline” perhaps with a little encouragement.

It was a bit of a shock to us that the phone actually had a dial tone ! So we quickly out it back in its correct place and promised to say no more about it.

History done, it was off to the campsite for the night and then a meal in town.

Recognizing our status as VIP tourers we given a prime spot with picnic bench and awning, but no key to the executive toilets, just a row of Portaloos, and no ice for the G&T, so had to innovate.

We were also treated to several flypasts of WW2 fighters, including a Spitfire, presumably from an airshow nearby.

Day 2 was a simple run back home along country roads, the main challenge been the heat, which has been building through the day.

A pleasant non challenging couple of days cycling, with some interesting history thrown in. Time to relax now and plan for my next little excursion in a week or so time. A first for me if I can sort out the packing, camping with the Brompton.